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 Shaun of the Dead Production NotesEver felt like you were surrounded by zombies?
An everyday tale of life, love and the living dead which centers on a group of friends who encounter a literal night from hell at their local pub resulting in a zombie holocaust.
Already a smash hit in the U.K., Shaun of the Dead, a “rom zom com” (romantic zombie comedy), follows the bloody funny adventures of underachiever Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his best mate Ed (Nick Frost) as they cope with a zombie invasion of North London and attempt to rescue Shaun’s girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) and his Mum, Barbara (Penelope Wilton). It’s going to be one hell of a weekend.
On Friday, Shaun is in a rut. At 29, he’s coasted through life -- and still hasn’t gotten very far, usually winding up at the local pub, the Winchester. His roommate Ed looks up to him -- when he can take his eyes off the TV, that is. Liz is re-evaluating their relationship, particularly after Shaun fails to do something special for their anniversary on Saturday.
That day, there are train delays, people fainting in the streets, TV news reports of unexplained calamities -- and did that homeless man just try to eat a…? No, it can’t be…But, it is -- the dead have risen. Saturday’s isolated incidents mushroom into a full-on zombie assault and, once daylight breaks, it’s Sunday bloody Sunday.
As manners and flesh take a beating, it’s time to separate men from meat, humans from zombies, and living from undead. Shaun and Ed grab whatever is at hand (cricket bat, shovel, LP) to repel the attacking zombies, summoning reserves of strength they didn’t know they possessed and straining muscles they forgot they had. Rounding up friends and family, they press on towards the sanctuary of the Winchester. All that stands (or lopes) in their way are hordes of the flesh-eating undead...
About the Production
In 1999, the U.K.’s Channel 4 broadcast the first series of Spaced, a sitcom about slacker twentysomethings in North London that garnered critical acclaim, several awards, and an international cult following. The director of the show was Edgar Wright, its co-writer and star was Simon Pegg, and its producer was Nira Park.
One notable episode featured Simon’s character trapped in the game “Resident Evil 2” and fighting off zombies. Simon and Edgar enjoyed doing the episode so much that they hit on the idea of making a full-length zombie feature film. Edgar enthuses, “We’re both massive fans of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead [1978]. One sequence in the episode had Simon fighting off zombies with a shotgun. During filming, we looked at each other and said, ‘Oh, we should really do something like this!’
“While the jumping-off point was Spaced, in terms of the sensibility and the humor, Shaun of the Dead encompasses a larger world. There are darker elements.” Simon explains, “We never wanted to make the film into a spoof. We wanted to be true and faithful to the genre. Horror is generally the domain of 16-to-35-year-old males, but we wanted to make a film that had broader appeal. This is a visceral and scary zombie movie – with comedy coming from the characters and the dialogue.”
Edgar adds, “We’re crossbreeding the zombiefied existence of latetwentysomethings with a full-scale zombie invasion. Violent things happen, with people dying, and the black comedy comes from the characters’ responses to the mayhem. The central joke is the much-vaunted English reserve and how little that changes, even in the face of a crisis. In a lot of horror films, the script calls for all hell to break loose and people just go ‘AAAAGGGHHHH!’ In Shaun of the Dead, we take a much more deadpan – if you will – route.”
However, as Simon points out, “The zombies themselves are not humorous. They’re not figures of fun; they’re a serious, malevolent presence.”
After making the second series of Spaced, the pair began working on a script in 2001, with Nira on board to produce. Simon remarks, “Both Edgar and I write from a very truthful perspective. We always try and draw on reality, because that’s where a convincing story or character will come from.”
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Dylan Moran, Kate Ashfield, Simon Pegg and Lucy Davis in Shaun of the Dead.