Comprehensive information and links about Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead is a zombie-themed romantic comedy, or "rom zom com" as it dubs itself, released in 2004 (9 April in the United Kingdom, 24 September in the USA). It was written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, directed by Edgar Wright, and stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Despite the title—a pun on George A. Romero's films. It is better understood an affectionate tribute to the genre of zombie horror, with many background references to classic zombie films. "Shaun" focuses on the common men who simply keep acting like they always do throughout the entire ordeal, rather than focusing on the more typical, heroic characters.

The production was filmed entirely in London, primarily at Ealing Studios, and involved production companies Working Title Films and StudioCanal.

In its opening weekend in the US, earned US$3.3M, taking 8th place at the box office despite a limited release to only 607 theatres (compared to the usual 2000-3000 for other top 10 entries). In the UK it took in £1.6M at 307 cinemas on its opening weekend and netted £6.4M by mid-May.

In 2004 the magazine the 49th greatest British film of all time.

In 2005, it was rated as the 3rd greatest comedy film of all time in a Channel 4 poll. [1]

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Plot

Shaun (PeggShaun of the Dead is a dissatisfied appliance salesman trapped in a dull rut in his life, largely due to the negative influence of his lazy, shabby, (occasional) Cannabis-dealing best friend and flatmate Ed (Frost). His job is dull and his social life largely consists of playing Playstation 2 games with Ed and going to his local pub, the Winchester, with his girlfriend Liz (Ashfield), who is consequently dissatisfied with lack of spice in their relationship. After one-too many nights at the Winchester and a broken promise on Shaun's part about doing something different, Liz breaks up with him, and after drowning his sorrows with Ed, Shaun resolves to sort his life out and make something of himself.

Unfortunately for him, this realization about his life comes at the same time that London and the rest of the England is swamped by a sudden zombie outbreak, as the recently dead return to life and begin to attack the living. As society breaks down, Shaun is forced to take charge and lead Ed and Liz, his beloved mother Barbara (Wilton) and his hated stepfather Phillip (Nighy) and Liz's best friend (Davis) and her condescending boyfriend (Moran) to the imagined safety of the Winchester; thus proving to himself and his friends what he's capable of, possibly winning back Liz and hopefully not becoming (Un)Dead. High-jinks, naturally, ensue.

Shaun: The central character. Living an aimless life and stuck in a dead end job, he has issues with both his mum (Barbara) and his girlfriend Liz, Shaun aims to set things right. However, Shaun also has to cope with the dead rising from their graves.Ed: Shaun's sofa bound mate who has spent most of his life eating, drinking and playing video games. It is mostly because of him that Shaun spends most of his life in the Winchester.Liz: Shaun's girlfriend. She has waited on him, hoping to spend a night somewhere other than the Winchester for their three year anniversary. Unfortunately, Shaun's irresponsibility gets in the way of things as he forgets to make reservations, and Liz dumps him.David: One of Liz's flatmates and Dianne's boyfriend. It is evident to everyone but himself that David is infatuated with Liz.Dianne: David's girlfriend who has known Liz since school. Described by Shaun as a failed actress, Dianne must come to terms with the fact that her boyfriend is in love with someone else.Yvonne: Shaun's friend. During the movie she leads a group of people attempting to escape the zombies that bear a very strong resemblence to Shaun's group. Their fates (excepting Yvonne, who hooks up with soldiers) are unknown.Pete, Shaun and Ed's flatmate, is the first from the group to be zombified. He is bitten on his way back from work which he originally dismissed as muggers, and by the next morning he has died and is left a zombie which inconveniently happens when he's stark naked in the bathtub for a shower. He later returns to attack Ed in the Winchester, and Shaun is forced to kill him by shooting him in the eye.Phillip is bitten, but does not immediately turn into a zombie. Unfortunately, while he is being rescued he is bitten, mortally wounding him. After reconciling with Shaun in the car, he passes away and becomes one of the undead. The only thing that's left of his former self's personality is his aversion to loud music.Barbara, Shaun's mother, is bitten and left bleeding at the wrist after an encounter with a zombie on her way to the Winchester. Not wanting to worry Shaun, she doesn't say anything until it's too late and bleeds to death. The prospect of Shaun shooting his zombified mother and David's coldness on the matter leads to a conflict between the two.During a heated confrontation with Shaun, David gets too close to a window that is broken by the zombies about to apologize to Shaun for his behavior, he is grabbed, taken by the crowd, and, despite the best efforts of the other members of Shaun's party, disemboweled, dismembered and decapitated, in roughly the order listed.Following the loss of her boyfriend, Dianne grabs one of his legs and enters the crowd of zombies, apparently intent on killing as many as she can. Whilst the film itself seems to imply that she dies, the "Plot Holes" feature on the DVD reveals that she actually survived; she fights her way through the horde and climbs a tree, subsisting off David's leg for a few days until it appears to be safe. She goes to live with her aunt in Birmingham and "remains in Christmas-card-contact with Shaun and Liz".Ed is attacked and badly bitten by Pete and another zombie. When Shaun and Liz leave the Winchester, they leave him behind with the gun and two bullets. He is able to fend off the zombies, but bleeds to death and becomes a zombie himself. Shaun later retrieves him and locks him in his shed so he can have a buddy to play video games with. It is mentioned by a news reported in the final scene that the zombies appear to retain their primal instincts, implying that playing video games has become instinct for Ed.Shaun and Liz are rescued when the British Army arrives outside of the Winchester and starts shooting dead the zombies. Yvonne, Shaun's friend, is also rescued and escapes with them.

It is noted on the DVD that the characters names rhyme with their fates at the end of the film:

or were residents who saw the filming and asked to if they could somehow be involved (the zombies in the scene where Ed is tearing down a suburban street in Philip's Jaguar were mainly residents of that block). (also directed by Edgar Wright), in which Tim (Simon Pegg) blasted several zombies with a shotgun in a In keeping with Pegg and Wright's adoration of the genre and films in general there are many in-jokes and references to other films including character names, scenes and snippets of dialogue.The film only received a 15 certificate in the UK despite the gore, violence, the use of the word fuck some 77 times in 99 minutes, one instance of the word cunt, and one of the word nigga.It is never explained what causes the zombie plague, but hints throughout the film suggest various causes, including a satellite burning up in the atmosphere, a chemical spill and genetically modified crops (most are explanations used in other zombie films). As in the original , the zombies' true origins are never revealed, though a news broadcast at the end of the film is heard debunking the theory of a virus transmitted by "rage-infected monkeys" (a reference to In the beginning, when Shaun is talking with some customers at his workplace and showing them the featured TV channels on a TV, there is a brief segment where you can see a woman and her husband on the TV show Shaun gets to be manager for a day at his dead end job of a salesmen because the actual manager, Ash, is feeling "under the weather", a direct reference to Ash of When Shaun calls his mother Barbara at the outbreak of the zombie attacks to make sure she is alright, Ed calls out, "We're coming to get you Barbara!" This is a direct reference to the most famous line of coming to get you Barbara!"). In another reference to the same film, Ed uses the word "zombie", Shaun tells him not to use the "Z-Word". In left the game" messages are voiced by Peter Serafinowicz; they're not actually in the game and were added for comedic effect. Possibly as a way of thanks, the sequel to TimeSplitters 2; features a reference to Shaun of The Dead in the form of the line "Do I have red on me?" which was given to a zombie.Many details (the landlord's names, the quiz, the "Breville out back") of the Winchester are based on the Shepherds, a real pub once frequented by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (and mentioned briefly in the film). The pair were regular attendees of the Shepherds' quiz night, under the team name Q.W.Ak or Quizzers With Attitude (also briefly mentioned in the film). A television series about a pub quiz team, titled has been announced for 2007 about this group. The Winchester takes its name from the Winchester lever-action rifle, which was used in Uncredited zombie cameos include Paul Kaye (Dennis Pennis), Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith (music video and ). Many other celebrities are rumoured to be among the zombies, including Lucy Akhurst and Bill Bailey.George A. Romero, creator of the films that this movie lampoons, was so impressed with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's work that he asked them to appear in The car that Shaun drives in the film is a late 90s Renault Megane that mysteriously has its front badge missing in certain shots.When Shaun meets up with Yvonne for the second time, he sees her group of survivors: her boyfriend (Liz's counterpart), her two friends (the opposites of Dianne and David), and her mom (opposite of Shaun's mother). However, Ed's opposite is not exactly like Ed; it's her cousin, not a slacker, dope dealing, flatmate. When each meet their opposites, their "hi's" are alike, and for Ed's and Yvonne's cousin's greetings, they didn't acknowledge one another just grunted.The part in the film when Shaun realizes that he left his mother without noticing, and then jumps on a trampoline over a fence to save her is a direct reference to the classic Sega game Numerous chunks of dialogue, actions and character fates are foreshadowed or repeated over the course of the movie:Many of the people who appear in the opening credits later reappear either as zombies or as people running away from zombies.At one point, the camera follows Shaun as he walks from his house to the local shop, taking in many of his neighbours going about their activities. This scene is replicated shot-for-shot later in the movie, with the key difference being that the street is smashed up and silent, and most of his neighbours are either zombies or actually dead. Shaun doesn't actually notice anything amiss during the second scene, such as a man jogging one day, and fleeing for his life the next.Part of the dialogue from the scene where Shaun and Ed are drowning their sorrows is repeated when Shaun and Ed are facing zombies in the pub.Pete while arguing with Ed before he eventually becomes a zombie mentions about Ed moving out or living in a shed like the rest of the animals.After Shaun's mother catches up with the others on the other side of the fence, you can see her coveringMost of Yvonne and Shaun's conversations are like the first one they had in the movie next to a man dead in his car. In fact most of the lines are the exact same things and in the same order with little changes here and there.When Ed and Shaun are in the bar after Shaun and Liz have broken up, all of Eds predictions of what they are doing the day after are correct. They have a Blody Mary (Mary, the Zombie checkout girl). They pick up a couple (Dave and Dianne) at the Princess (Liz). They stumble back to the Winchester (Their zombie walk) and they have a few shots.