Monster Complex ™

View Original

Shaun of the Dead (2004): How the zombie comedy borrowed a TV plot and became so much more

“Any zombies out there?”

Looking for a good zom-com? When we came up with our list of Top 13 Zombie Comedy Movies, we totally had to include the 2004 zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead. A man’s uneventful life is disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.

Shaun of the Dead was written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg—Wright also directed the film, and Pegg starred in it. The film aso stars Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, and Penelope Wilton.

Novelist Stephen King called Shaun of the Dead is “a 10 on the fun meter and destined to be a cult classic” and Newsweek calls it “a bloody hoot!”

Watch the video playlist below to see the official trailer, a clip of Pegg’s character being oblivious to the zombies, plus an assortment of glimpses at the process behind making of the film.

Related links:

Monster Complex uses Amazon affiliate links.


Monster Complex playlist: Shaun of the Dead (2004)


When writing Shaun of the Dead, Pegg and Wright pulled from some ideas they had during their TV show Spaced, in particular the episode where Pegg’s slacker character hallucinates a zombie invasion.

Shaun of the Dead references the Dead films directed by George A. Romero.

The 2004 zombie comedy movie Shaun of the Dead was the first installment in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, followed by the 2007 cop action comedy Hot Fuzz and the 2013 apocalyptic sci-fi comedy The World’s End (which I absolutely loved).


Find more about SHAUN OF THE DEAD online


Want more articles about zombie fiction? Click on our Zombies category, with articles about living-dead books, movies, TV shows, comic books, and more!


More from Monster Complex


More Zombie Comedy Articles

10 Funniest Zombie Movies (ReelRundown)

Is There Any (After)Life Left in the Zombie Comedy Movie? (Gizmodo)

How The Zombie-Comedy Became The Ultimate Genre For Our Times (KQED)

12 Best Zombie Comedies (EW)

100+ Best Zombie Comedies (Ranker)

Zombie Comedies Ranked (Den of Geek)

10 Funniest Zombie Movies (IFC)

10 Zombie Movies That Will Make You Die (Laughing) (Screen Rant)

8 Great Zombie Comedies (That Aren’t The Dead Don’t Die) (Vulture)

Why More Zombie Movies Should Be Comedies (AMC Theatres)

9 terrifyingly underrated zombie romcoms (SYFY Wire)

Indie Focus: The mournful zombie comedy of ‘The Dead Don’t Die’ (LA Times)

'Little Monsters': The sneaky, heart-wrenching zombie comedy where parenting is the scariest part (Mashable)

How Hulu’s zombie-comedy ‘Little Monsters’ scored big with Lupita Nyong’o, Taylor Swift, and Star Wars (Fast Company)

Little Monsters review: Lupita Nyong’o wins this school-trip Aussie zombie comedy (BFI)