History Film / ShaunoftheDead

* KarmicDeath:
** [[spoiler:David]], who's been a [[TheLoad useless]], [[{{Jerkass}} annoying twat]] towards the gang, finally pushes it by goading Shaun after he just had to [[spoiler:kill his own mum]]. Not too long after, he tries to leave the pub and gets ripped apart for his troubles. There's a deleted scene in which he apologizes before he dies, at least.
** [[spoiler:Pete biting Ed is a straighter example. It almost comes off as revenge.]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler:David]] gets a ''far'' more excessive death than any character who dies on screen, with the rest of the (shown) deaths being due to a combination of blood loss and the Zed-Virus, they tend to go out peacefully at least, [[spoiler:David]] get's dragged out a window, disembowelled and finally, literally, torn to pieces by the horde, the only saving grace seems to be that the aforementioned disembowelment either sent him into shock or outright killed him in seconds.

* ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'': father and daughter duo Frank and Hannah are holed up at the top of a block of flats, barricading the stairs with shopping carts, and Frank has procured a set of police riot gear to fight the infected off.

** The car's child locks first annoy Shaun but later prove to be a life saver when they help keeping the zombified step-dad arrested in the car. Though they do briefly almost get him, David and Dianne killed by zombified Philip in the first place when they're unable to get out to safety themselves.

* DyingReconcilliation: Shaun was never happy that his mother remarried, and had a rocky relationship with his step-father, Phillip. However, before he dies, Phillip tells Shaun that he was always trying to look out for him, and that it wasn't easy to be a father, and that he'd always loved Shaun, and always thought he had it in him to do well. Shaun is devastated at that point when Phillip dies, knowing the antipathy between them had been unnecessary. He tearfully tells Ed to stop the car, as he mourns Phillip's passing, and even acknowledges that Phillip ''was'' his father when he has to explain to his mother that there's nothing left of the man in the creature now locked in the car.

* CoolGuns: The Winchester rifle, after which the pub is named, is given a huge amount of reverence in universe by Ed. [[spoiler: And with good reason, because it's loaded and functional, making it extremely useful during the climax.]]

** A fantastically in-jokey scene where the gang run into a [[SimilarSquad very similar gang]] headed by Shaun's friend Yvonne (played by Jessica Hynes, Creator/SimonPegg's co-star and co-writer on ''Series/{{Spaced}}''). The alternative gang are all played by well-known British comedy actors (Creator/MartinFreeman from ''Series/TheOfficeUK'' [[note]]who a minor role with more lines in ''Hot Fuzz'' and [[AscendedExtra finally played a main character]] in ''The World's End'' and then in [[Film/TheHobbit an obscure and niche fantasy movie]][[/note]], Tamsin Grieg from ''Series/BlackBooks'', Matt Lucas from ''Series/LittleBritain'', Reece Shearsmith from ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'' and Julia Deakin from ''Series/{{Spaced}}'') even though they're only on screen for seconds. They synchronise man-for-man with Shaun's gang. The implication is that Yvonne's the [[HeroOfAnotherStory main character in a movie with a much higher budget]], or at least with a smarter lead character.

** The outbreak itself gets some standard foreshadowing, with newspaper headlines blaming mysterious illnesses on genetically modified crops, people being visibly ill or off sick, one particular businessman fleeing from something in terror down the high street, a woman collapsing at a bus stop, and ''lots'' of missing person ads.

** [[spoiler:After risking their lives to break into the Winchester, tension immediately flares up among the group when it becomes obvious how unsafe their shelter is.]]

* DevouredByTheHorde: [[spoiler:Before he can apologize to Shaun for a rude comment after Shaun has just had to execute his zombified mother and trying to shoot him in a fit of anger, David is torn apart by zombies reaching through the Winchester's glass windows. Attempting to pull him back in, his girlfriend ends up holding his leg and using said leg to beat her way into the zombie horde to rescue him.]]
* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:After risking their lives to break into the Winchester, tension immediately flares up among the group when it becomes obvious how unsafe their shelter is.]]

** [[spoiler:Had Shaun and Ed remained stagnant, everyone could have survived. Shaun and Ed would have only needed to leave to save Barbara and then either return home to barricade it once the zombies have spread out or find somewhere else to hunt for humans. Their time in stagnation taught them how to stay occupied at home or how to find ways to entertain themselves. The zombies weren't interested in Liz, David, Dianne because the zombies believed their apartment complex was abandoned. David's attempts to seduce Liz wouldn't have worked since she didn't pick up on it and didn't see him that way, especially since he was with Dianne at the time. Granted, they didn't think the zombie outbreak would only last a day and Shaun was fearing for Liz and Barbara's safety.]]

*** Deconstructed as while David is right about Shaun's ill-thought plan, the other characters point out Shaun at least is trying while all that David does complain and doesn't actually do anything to really help their situation and the reason he even went along with Shaun's plan is that he didn't know what else to do. They also point out that his criticism of Shauns stems from his own personal dislike of him.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: [[spoiler:A rare example in a ZombieApocalypse movie that averts MilitariesAreUseless. In a normal situation zombies that movie with a very slow gait and can only attack by biting would get mowed down like weeds by trained professionals with automatic weapons -- which is exactly what happens in the finale. It's implied that they crushed the outbreak in London in a single day.]]

** During the intro credits.

-->'''David:''' It wasn't me blowing our cover by arguing with my boyfriend.\\

* BlatantLies: [[{{Catchphrase}} "Two seconds!"]]

** A fantastically in-jokey scene where the gang run into a [[SimilarSquad very similar gang]] headed by Shaun's friend Yvonne (played by Jessica Hynes, Creator/SimonPegg's co-star and co-writer on ''Series/{{Spaced}}''). The alternative gang are all played by well-known British comedy actors (Creator/MartinFreeman from ''Series/TheOfficeUK'' [[note]] who a minor role with more lines in ''Hot Fuzz'' and [[AscendedExtra finally played a main character]] in ''The World's End'' and then in [[Film/TheHobbit an obscure and niche fantasy movie]][[/note]], Tamsin Grieg from ''Series/BlackBooks'', Matt Lucas from ''Series/LittleBritain'', Reece Shearsmith from ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'' and Julia Deakin from ''Series/{{Spaced}}'') even though they're only on screen for seconds. They synchronise man-for-man with Shaun's gang. The implication is that Yvonne's the [[HeroOfAnotherStory main character in a movie with a much higher budget]], or at least with a smarter lead character.

* {{Catchphrase}}: Ed always says "two seconds" before he does something that will take quite a bit of time.

* ComingOfAgeStory: The late bloomer variety for Shaun. [[spoiler: Shaun has to grow out of his stagnation in order to mature and find motivation without the safety net of his parents to fall back on. He also learns that his parents were never perfect as [[ParentsAsPeople they were people too and equally flawed]]. In the end, he finally matures but at the cost of his childhood friend and parents. He finally takes the next step with Liz and takes responsibility for himself.]]

* DeadpanSnarker: David.

--> ''[Ed boots up the slot machine and it plays a loud Jackpot tune upon Ed winning it]''\\

* DwindlingParty: By the end of the movie, [[spoiler:only two of the eight team members are still alive]].[[note]] three thanks to AllThereInTheManual [[/note]]

--> '''Shaun:''' Alright. But dogs ''can'' look up!

--->'''Ed''': Are there any out there, though?\\
'''Shaun''': Can't see any. Maybe it's not as bad as all that. ({{beat}}) Oh, no, there they are.

--->''"First thing tomorrow, we'll have a Bloody Mary[[note]][[spoiler:Kill the girl in the garden, whose name is Mary]][[/note]], grab a bite at the King's Head [[note]][[spoiler:Go get Shaun's stepfather Philip, who then is bitten on his neck by a zombie]][[/note]], have a couple at the Little Princess [[note]][[spoiler:Couple=Dave and Dianne, little princess=Liz]][[/note]], stagger back, [[note]][[spoiler:Impersonate zombies]][[/note]], stab the monkey [[note]][[spoiler:yell at Ed]][[/note]] then come back to the bar for shots."[[note]][[spoiler:use The Winchester's rifle]][[/note]]''

---> '''Ed:''' I'm not going to say 'If you love her, let her go,' I'm not going to say 'There's plenty of other fish in the sea,' and I'm not gonna bombard you with cliches. But what I will say is this - ''[snorts derisively]'' - it's not the end of the world...

* HeadacheOfDoom: As Pete inadvertently reveals, one of the earliest symptoms of the zombie plague is a splitting headache: having been bitten in a "mugging" on the way home from work, Pete loses his temper at the racket Shaun and Ed are kicking up at four in the morning and makes it abundantly clear he isn't in the mood thanks to his headache. [[spoiler: A few hours later, he's found to have succumbed to the infection and become a zombie in the shower - resulting in a FullFrontalAssault.]]

-->'''David''': It wasn't me blowing our cover by arguing with my boyfriend.\\
'''Shaun''': He's not my boyfriend.\\
'''Ed''': ''[handing pint]'' Might be a bit warm, the cooler's off.\\
'''Shaun''': Thanks, babe.

* IdiotPlot: A rare [[InvokedTrope invoked]] example. Much of the plot revolves around Shaun struggling to balance his reasonable judgement against his old habits as an alcoholic slacker.

--->'''David''': How can you trust a man you binned for being unreliable? A man whose idea of a romantic nightspot and an impenetrable fortress are the same thing?

** [[spoiler: Had Shaun and Ed remained stagnant, everyone could have survived. Shaun and Ed would have only needed to leave to save Barbara and then either return home to barricade it once the zombies have spread out or find somewhere else to hunt for humans. Their time in stagnation taught them how to stay occupied at home or how to find ways to entertain themselves. The zombies weren't interested in Liz, David, Dianne because the zombies believed their apartment complex was abandoned. David's attempts to seduce Liz wouldn't have worked since she didn't pick up on it and didn't see him that way, especially since he was with Dianne at the time. Granted, they didn't think the zombie outbreak would only last a day and Shaun was fearing for Liz and Barbara's safety.]]

--->'''Shaun:''' Who the hell put this on?!
--->'''Ed:''' It's on random!
--->'''Liz:''' For fuck's sake!

---> '''Pete:''' You want to live like an animal?! GO LIVE IN THE SHED, YOU THICK FUCK!

-->'''Liz''': What, you want to hang out with ''my'' friends? A failed actress and a twat?
-->'''Shaun''': Well, that's a bit harsh.
-->'''Liz''': Your words, Shaun!
-->'''Shaun''': I did '''not''' call Dianne a failed actress!

** Phillip's zombie shuts off the music he hated [[InstantlyProvenWrong right after]] Shaun was convincing his mother that it wasn't Phillip anymore.
** [[spoiler: At the end of the film, Ed is still able to play video games despite being a stiff. He even stops when Shaun reprimands him for attempting to bite him and doesn't try anything more.]]
** [[spoiler: Remember when Shaun told zombie Pete he and Ed were heading to the Winchester and that he could join them? [[ChekhovsGunman He listened.]]]]

--> ''[Shaun clubs a zombie with the butt of the Winchester]''\\

** [[spoiler: Pete biting Ed is a straighter example. It almost comes off as revenge.]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler: David]] gets a ''far'' more excessive death than any character who dies on screen, with the rest of the (shown) deaths being due to a combination of blood loss and the Zed-Virus, they tend to go out peacefully at least, [[spoiler: David]] get's dragged out a window, disembowelled and finally, literally, torn to pieces by the horde, the only saving grace seems to be that the aforementioned disembowelment either sent him into shock or outright killed him in seconds.

** Ed's insistence on going to the Winchester [[spoiler: caused some people [[TooDumbToLive (including himself)]] to die.]]

---> '''Shaun''': I love you.
---> '''Ed''': Gay.

---> '''Shaun''': Oh, bollocks.

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Over the course of the film, it's shown that [[spoiler:they degrade to an animal-like sentience, will still answer to their names, retain certain habits (e.g. Phillip turning off the stereo, that kid playing football, Ed ''playing video games''), and can be trained like domesticated animals, which is a ShoutOut to ''Film/DayOfTheDead1985''.]]

* PlotIrrelevantVillain: [[spoiler: David is the closest to being an antagonist in the film, as he does nothing but whine and moan about Shaun. He does a few villainous things in the movie; he doesn't help Shaun when the latter is tackled by a zombie, he tries to shoot Barbara but forces Shaun to do it instead, and he tries to kill Shaun after the latter had outed David's feelings for Liz and punched him for his callousness.]]
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: [[spoiler:Subverted]] with "Sorry, we're closed."

--> Please can we just calm the fuck down?!

---> '''Shaun''': [[spoiler:I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE!]] ''[headshot]''

--> '''Philip''': Will you ''please'' turn that racket down?!

** Speaking of appropriate zombie-bashing tunes, this combines with a ShoutOut after Shaun drives off relieved that he only ran over [[spoiler: a zombie]]. The first line out of the stereo when he starts the car again is ''"I think my head is gonna explode!"'' ... from the song Meltdown, by Northern Irish band [[Franchise/EvilDead Ash]].
* SuperPersistentPredator: [[spoiler: Pete managed to get all the way to the Winchester and bit Ed.]]

** [[CloudCuckoolander Shaun's mother]]. What did she ''think'' would happen after [[spoiler: opening the door to a ''zombie''?]]

--> '''Yvonne''': Well... at least someone made it.

-->'''Channel 4 News' Krishnan Guru-Murthy:''' Though no one official is prepared to comment, religious groups are calling it Judgement Day. There's...
-->'''Creator/VH1, playing "Panic" by Music/TheSmiths:''' ...Panic on the streets of London...
-->'''ITV News reporter:''' ...as an increasing number of reports of...
-->'''[[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball Football]] commentator [[note]]It's Motty![[/note]]:''' ...serious attacks on...
-->'''Channel Five news reporter:''' ...people, who are literally being...
-->'''Nature documentary, leopards eating a gazelle:''' ...eaten alive.

* UnfoldingPlanMontage: Shaun and Ed devise a plan to collect Shaun's friends, mum, and stepdad, and find safety "until this whole thing blows over." [[ZigZagged Then the plan changes and a revised montage plays accordingly.]]

--> '''Shaun''' ''[after Dianne scores a hit]''': ''Yes! In the head! [[AmusingInjuries Aaaaow]]!''

-->'''Ed:''' Why didn't you just shoot him, man?
-->'''Shaun:''' Ed, for the last time, it's not real! [[spoiler:''(gun discharges)'']]
-->'''Ed:''' [[spoiler:I fuckin' '''''knew''''' it!]]

* JustForPun:
** Compare ''Dawn of the Dead'' (Wright and Pegg freely admit this is an awful gag, but were too attached to it.)
** [[Creator/SimonPegg Pegg]] has also joked about making a sequel - [[Film/FromDuskTillDawn From Dusk Till Shaun.]]
** One of the bonus features is an ''It's A Knockout''-style game with zombies as the contestants -- called "Dead Fun", thus playing on two meanings of "dead".

* PreMortemOneLiner: Subverted. Just as the zombies break into The Winchester, Shaun levels his rifle and says, "Sorry, we're closed!" but the gun jams, prompting a hysterical little squeak of panic from Shaun and several seconds of flustered flapping about from the characters before they can actually start shooting.

* ItCanThink: Phillip's zombie shuts off the music he hated [[InstantlyProvenWrong right after]] Shaun was convincing his mother that it wasn't Phillip anymore. [[spoiler: And at the end of the film, Ed is still able to play video games despite being a stiff. He even stops when Shaun reprimands him for attempting to bite him and doesn't try anything more.]]