History Film / ShaunOfTheDead

* RantInducingSlight: After constantly sticking up for Ed and making excuses for his oafishness and stupidity, Shaun finally snaps when Ed answers his cell phone ''in the middle of a zombie horde'', blowing their cover. Made all the funnier because he delivers the rant ''while still in the middle of the zombies,'' who look rather nonplussed.
-->''[Shaun knocks the phone out of Ed's hand]''\\
'''Ed:''' Oi! What are you doing?\\
'''Shaun:''' What am I doing? What are ''you'' doing, you stupid moron!?\\
'''Ed:''' Fuck off!\\
'''Shaun:''' ''You'' fuck off! '''Fuck''' fucking off! I've spent... look at me! I've spent my ''entire life'' sticking my neck out for you and all you ever do is fuck things up! Fuck things up and make ''me'' look stupid! Well, I'm not going to let you do it any more. OK? ''Not today!!!''

* KillEmAll: Averted. [[spoiler: It seems the movie will end this way, with all the main characters except Shaun, Liz, and Ed dead, Ed infected, and no way out of the cellar they are trapped in. Then Shaun and Liz find a way up onto the street- where it seems like this will happen again, with hordes of zombies around them... Until Yvonne arrives with the army, who clear up the zombies without a single casualty, saving Shaun and Liz.]]

A young man named Shaun (Pegg) is dumped by his girlfriend Liz because he lacks motivation and doesn't put enough effort into the relationship. Shaun decides to reform in order to win her back.

His plans, however, are interrupted by the ZombieApocalypse. In the wake of the mounting chaos, he and his even more deadbeat friend Ed (Frost) embark on a daring journey to rescue Shaun's mother and stepfather, as well as Liz and her annoying flatmates, and take them to the safety of the [[MyLocal local pub]], ''The Winchester''.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: [[invoked]] Invoked in-universe, as Shaun and Ed make up stories about the barflies, casting them in roles like mobsters and ex-prostitutes.

* 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.

* ItCanThink: Phillip's zombie shuts of 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.]]

* ItCanThink: Phillip's zombie shuts of the music he hated 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.]]

-->'''Ed''': Are there any out there, though?\\

-->"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...

-->'''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?

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

* NewParentNomenclatureProblem: Has the recurring line, "[[InsistentTerminology He's not my dad, he's my stepdad"]] from Shaun about his stepfather Phillip. It stems from Shaun viewing Phillip as a JerkAss, rather than the JerkWithAHeartOfGold he is. [[spoiler:Before turning into a zombie Phillip tells Shaun he's always loved him and Shaun finally acknowledges Phillip as his dad-with out the "step-dad" qualifier tacked on]].

The film is the first part of Wright's ''Film/BloodAndIceCreamTrilogy'', followed by ''Film/HotFuzz'' and ''Film/TheWorldsEnd''.

* TheMillstone: Ed, so very very much. David to a lesser extent.

** Among Shaun's vinyl records that they use to attack the zombies are Music/NewOrder (he gets upset that an original pressing of "Blue Monday" gets chucked), Music/DireStraits (''Music/BrothersInArms'' gets chucked without hesitation), Music/{{Prince}} (he keeps ''Music/PurpleRain'' and ''Music/SignOTheTimes'', but chucks ''Music/Batman1989'') and Music/TheStoneRoses (he keeps both their albums, even defending ''Second Coming''). He and Ed drunkenly sing Music/DuranDuran's "White Lines".

''Shaun of the Dead'' is the first part of Wright's ''Film/BloodAndIceCreamTrilogy'', followed by ''Film/HotFuzz'' and ''Film/TheWorldsEnd''.

-->-- '''Various characters, to Shaun'''

''Shaun of the Dead'' is a 2004 "{{romantic comedy}}, [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies with zombies]]". A "[=RomZomCom=]", if you will. It was directed by Creator/EdgarWright and stars Creator/SimonPegg and Creator/NickFrost.

A young man named Shaun is dumped by his girlfriend Liz because he lacks motivation and doesn't put enough effort into the relationship. Shaun decides to reform in order to win her back. His plans, however, are interrupted by the ZombieApocalypse. So he and his even more deadbeat friend, Ed, embark on a daring journey to rescue Shaun's mother, stepfather, Liz and Liz's annoying flatmates and take them to the safety of the [[MyLocal local pub]], ''The Winchester''.

Alternately hilarious, scary, and heartbreaking, it can be seen as either a parody of zombie movies or a romantic comedy that happens to use a Zombie Apocalypse as its setting.

First part of Wright's "Film/BloodAndIceCreamTrilogy", followed by ''Film/HotFuzz'' and ''Film/TheWorldsEnd''.

** Among Shaun's vinyl records that they use to attack the zombies are Music/NewOrder (he gets upset that an original pressing of "Blue Monday" gets chucked), Music/DireStraits (''Music/BrothersInArms'' gets chucked), Music/{{Prince}} (he keeps ''Music/PurpleRainAlbum'' and ''Music/SignOTheTimes'', but chucks ''Music/Batman1989'') and Music/TheStoneRoses (he keeps both their albums, even defending ''Second Coming''). He and Ed drunkenly sing Music/DuranDuran's "White Lines".

** Among his vinyls are Music/NewOrder (he gets upset that an original pressing of "Blue Monday" gets chucked), Music/DireStraits (''Music/BrothersInArms'' gets chucked), Music/{{Prince}} (he keeps ''Music/PurpleRainAlbum'' and ''Music/SignOTheTimes'', but chucks ''Music/Batman1989'') and Music/TheStoneRoses (he keeps both their albums, even defending ''The Second Coming''). He and Ed drunkenly sing Music/DuranDuran's "White Lines".

* SocietyMarchesOn: Shaun and Ed decide to hide at the Winchester because it's safe[[note]]For ''now''[[/note]], they know where the exits are[[note]]not that they're likely to survive if they use them[[/note]], and Ed will be allowed to smoke. Perfectly acceptable in 2004, but smoking in pubs (and all other enclosed public spaces) in England has been illegal since 2007.

* TheCavalry: [[spoiler:When things are [[DarkestHour at their bleakest]], Yvonne and the Army show up, and blow away every zombie in sight.]]

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** [[spoiler:[[TheCavalry The British Army arrives]] at the climax and mops up the zombies. It's implied that they crushed the outbreak in London in a single day.]]
** Just because you have an access to a loaded gun doesn't mean you automatically know how to use it.
** Shaun and Ed throwing records and various household objects in an attempts to kill the zombies. Only for them to miss, do minimal damage or harmlessly bounce off them.
** The film makes it very clear just how relatively helpless a group of scared, lower middle class twenty-something Londoners would be in a zombie outbreak. Firearms are illegal in the UK so {{Improvised Weapon}}s are the only option, and even if they came across a working example, [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy nobody is likely to have any experience using it]]. [[spoiler:But the UK is a much smaller country than the US and so the Army is never far away.]]

** 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 Diane killed by zombified Philip in the first place when they're unable to get out to safety themselves.

** [[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, Diane 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.]]

** The first half of the film is an affectionate parody/pastiche of the zombie genre, but [[spoiler:everything goes to hell in a grocery trolley when Shaun is forced to kill his own infected mother, David is torn limb from limb and eaten by zombies, Diane disappears, and Ed becomes a zombie. Fortunately, Shaun and Liz manage to escape by the skin of their teeth, and Diane is revealed in a DVD extra to have survived.]]

** Diane when she [[spoiler:lets the zombie horde in so that she can rescue what's left of David. Granted, by that point the zombies were already breaking through the windows and the backdoor, so she just sped the process up slightly]].

* ThousandYardStare: Barbara displays one of these during Diane's acting lesson.

* TrickDialogue: Shaun and Liz's brutally frank conversation about Ed, Diane and David.. where it's finally revealed that all three of them are within earshot.

* UnwantedAssistance: Friends' help is just as likely to hurt, to the point of a RunningGag. During Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" scene, Diane 'helps' Shaun fend off a zombie bartender by throwing darts, with mixed success.
--> '''Shaun''' ''[after Diane scores a hit]''': ''Yes! In the head! [[AmusingInjuries Aaaaow]]!''

** Liz has a copy of Music/{{Sade}}'s "Diamond Life", which gets chucked.

* AMFMCharacterization: Among Shaun's vinyls are Music/NewOrder (he gets upset that an original pressing of "Blue Monday" gets chucked), Music/DireStraits (''Music/BrothersInArms'' gets chucked), Music/{{Prince}} (he keeps ''Music/PurpleRainAlbum'' and ''Music/SignOTheTimes'', but chucks ''Music/Batman1989'') and Music/TheStoneRoses (he keeps both their albums, even defending ''The Second Coming''). Liz has a copy of Music/{{Sade}}'s "Diamond Life", which gets chucked.

* AMFMCharacterization: Among Shaun's vinyls are Music/NewOrder (he gets upset that an original pressing of "Blue Monday" gets chucked) Music/DireStraits (''Music/BrothersInArms'' gets chucked), Music/{{Prince}} (he keeps ''Music/PurpleRainAlbum'' and ''Music/SignOTheTimes'', but chucks ''Music/Batman1989'') and Music/TheStoneRoses (he keeps both their albums, even defending ''The Second Coming''). Liz has a copy of Music/{{Sade}}'s "Diamond Life", which gets chucked.