Scene Anatomy 101: Shaun of the Dead
Posted by George H. Sirois on 04.18.2007
Crossing genres is one thing. Making BOTH genres work is something else entirely…
For over a decade now, we've been treated to many different attempts by filmmakers to mix different genres. We've seen comedies that have action in them, action films that have comedy in them (there's a difference), horror films that have characters breaking down the rules of their films and making fun of them, and the birth of the word "Dramedy." Most of the time, we see one genre overpowering the other; we've barely ever seen two genres mixed equally and effectively. Combining the genres into one film is one thing, but being able to pull off both at the same time is something else.
In 2004, fans were given a very unique combining of very different genres: romantic comedies and zombie flicks. Considering the genres that were chosen for this project, it would take some very gifted filmmakers to pull this off. Thankfully, the ones who gave us this film are gifted. Oh boy, are they gifted! In an era of film that is struggling to find originality, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg took the romantic comedy genre that is mired in Matthew McConaughey purgatory, and mixed it with elements of the once-dead but now fully revived zombie flick (thanks to 28 Days Later, the re-make of Dawn of the Dead and George Romero's Land of the Dead). What these guys give us is a film that's both a romantic comedy that is funny, and a zombie flick that is scary. It's an absolute success and one of the best films of 2004…
Shaun (Simon Pegg) is your average mid-20s man with a going-nowhere job at an electronics store and a going-nowhere relationship with his girlfriend Liz. He shares a house with his flatmate Pete (Peter Serafinowicz) and his best friend Ed (Nick Frost), who crashes on their couch. Ed is the only one who really connects with him, and after he forgets to make dinner reservations for their anniversary, Liz finally dumps Shaun.
These are all the makings of a typical first act to a romantic comedy, but while all this is going on, there are reports of strange occurrences involving the dead coming back to life. There's no explanation for it, and it's happening in such a way that Shaun is absolutely oblivious to it. He has such a bad case of tunnelvision because of everything that's going on in his life that he doesn't even notice a bloody handprint on his nearby convenience store, and when he slips on something wet, he doesn't look back to see blood on the floor.
When Shaun gets home, he doesn't even notice what's on the television, all the reports of what's going on around London. The only person who snaps him back to reality is Ed, who tells Shaun that there's a girl in the back yard.
Shaun and Ed go outside and see a young woman standing a distance away from them. Her back is to them; she's just staring at the fence around the yard.
SHAUN: Excuse me.
No answer from the girl.
SHAUN: Hello.
Still no answer. Ed picks up an acorn from the ground.
SHAUN: What are you doing?
Ed throws the acorn at the girl.
ED: Oi!
The acorn hits the girl in the back of the head. She slowly turns around, her mouth hanging open and her eyes gazing off to nowhere. She also looks awfully pale and she doesn't say anything.
Now, keep in mind that Shaun still has no idea what's going on outside his home, so there can only be one explanation for what's wrong with her.
SHAUN: Oh, my God... She's so drunk!
Shaun and Ed start laughing.
ED: How much have you had, love?
The girl takes a step towards Shaun, her arms reaching out to him.
ED: Oh, I think she likes you. I think she likes to cuddle.
SHAUN: Shut up.
Shaun puts his hands up in a mock defensive position.
SHAUN: No, I'm serious. I've just come out of a relationship and I –
When the girl gets close enough, she grabs Shaun and forces him down to the ground. Her mouth is wide open. Shaun is keeping her head away from him.
SHAUN: Ahh! Do something!
At this moment, Ed gets an idea.
ED: Wait there.
He runs back inside the house.
SHAUN: Ed!
Ed leans his head out, and then quickly runs back in.
ED: Two seconds.
Shaun keeps the girl from getting on top of him. He holds his arms straight up, doing his best to push the girl off of him.
SHAUN: Look, I'm really flattered and everything, but I just –
Ed runs back outside, holding a camera. He aims it at the two of them on the ground.
ED: And hold it there.
Shaun quickly looks at Ed. His hand pushes the girl's head in Ed's direction as well. SNAP! Ed takes a great picture.
SHAUN: Ed, just get her off me! Jesus!
Ed forces the girl off of Shaun. He notices the deadened look in her eyes as he pushes her away.
ED: Whoa, what's up with her eyes?
Shaun stands up, trying to reason with the girl.
SHAUN: Now, seriously, uh… uh…
He looks at the convenient nametag on her work shirt.
SHAUN: … Mary. I'm gonna have to get physical. I mean it!
The girl stumbles forward again, her arms once again outstretched.
SHAUN: This is it! I'm gonna…
Finally, Shaun's had enough. He gives Mary the best possible shove he can.
SHAUN: FUCK OFF!
Mary stumbles back, and then finally drops on her back. Unfortunately for her, she drops right onto the base of an umbrella stand. The bottom part of the stand impales itself into her.
Shaun and Ed are immediately shocked. Shaun just… killed her. Didn't he?
After a moment, Mary starts to move. She then pushes herself off of the umbrella stand and slowly gets back to her feet. There's a clean hole right through her and she didn't even make a peep about it.
Shaun and Ed are even more shocked by what they're seeing now. Ed can't take his eyes off of Mary as he starts winding his camera. There's total silence between the two of them until Shaun finally speaks.
SHAUN: I think we should go back inside.
ED: Okay.
Shaun and Ed turn and suddenly see another undead person – this time a large bald man with a bloody face – in their yard. The two living guys quickly run back inside.
Shaun grabs the phone and dials 911. It's busy.
ED: Shaun, what's going on?
SHAUN: Shit, it's engaged.
ED: How about an ambulance?
SHAUN: It's engaged, Ed.
ED: Fire engine?
SHAUN: It's one number, Ed, and it's busy! What do you want a fire engine for, anyway?
ED: Anything with flashing lights, you know.
Shaun hangs up the phone.
SHAUN: Are they still out there?
Ed stands up and walks to the window. He opens the curtains and sees Mary and the big dead guy scraping their hands up against the glass, trying to get in. Ed shuts the curtains now that he has his answer.
ED: Yeah. What do you think we should do?
Shaun's never been much of a think-on-your-feet kind of guy.
SHAUN: Have a sit-down?
Shaun and Ed sit down on the couch. They turn on the news, where an anchorman is giving all the information he has.
ANCHORMAN: There are reports of chaos on the motorways as thousands of people attempt to flee the cities. The M1, the M3, the 4 and 6…
ED: Do you think this is the same thing?
Shaun gives him a blank stare, as if to say, "Could it be anything else?" As they watch the news, they never notice that Shaun and Ed's habit of leaving the front door open has come back to bite them. In the background, we can see a man stumbling into the house.
ANCHORMAN: The Home Office has issued a statement urging people to stay in their homes and await further instruction. Ensure all residences are secure with all doors and windows firmly locked and barricaded.
Shaun and Ed both realize that they left the door open… again. As they turn towards the door, they see a dead young man standing before them. He looks very dead, with one arm torn off, and he's dressed in a blue tuxedo.
Shaun and Ed scream and jump off the couch.
SHAUN: Oh, for God's sake! He's got an arm off!
ED: Get him!
The two of them grab random things from the coffee table and throw them at the dead young man. Nothing seems to be doing any good. Finally, Ed grabs an ashtray and smashes it over the man's head. He drops to the ground and doesn't move again.
Ed keeps his eyes down on the man as Shaun walks around them.
ANCHORMAN: More reports just to confirm that in all cases, the attackers seem slow and shambling…
SHAUN: I'm gonna shut the front door.
Shaun shuts the door and locks it. He walks back over to Ed. Ed still doesn't look up; he keeps his eyes on the young man, making sure he won't get back up. He doesn't.
ANCHORMAN: We're expecting information from the Home Office regarding the best way to neutralize the attackers. In the meantime, contact with these assailants is highly inadvisable.
ED: Did you see his head go?
ANCHORMAN: If you're confronted and have the opportunity to escape…
Confronted, yes. Opportunity to escape… well, at least Ed thinks so.
ED: We should get out there.
SHAUN: No, no, no. We should stay inside.
ED: Come on, we can take ‘em.
SHAUN: The man said to stay indoors.
ED: Aww, fuck the man!
SHAUN: Look, as long as they're out there and we're in here, we're safe.
On cue, Mary and the big man's arms crash through the glass. Shaun and Ed are about to run out, but just before they do, the anchorman gives one more crucial piece of information.
ANCHORMAN: The attackers can be stopped by removing the head or destroying the brain.
Shaun and Ed listen a little closer, and the anchorman obliges them.
ANCHORMAN: I'll repeat that – by removing the head or destroying the brain.
Shaun and Ed quickly fill up a plastic laundry basket with as many blunt objects that they can find. Silverware, appliances, tools, whatever will work on these two trying to get inside the house.
The two of them go around the house and stand a distance away in the back yard.
ED: Hey!
Mary and the big guy slowly turn around towards them.
SHAUN: Aim for the head.
Shaun and Ed then proceed to empty the entire basket, throwing everything at them. Barely anything hits and whatever does hit bounces off their bodies. Finally Shaun just throws the laundry basket.
SHAUN: Now what?
ED: We'll have to get more stuff. What's in the shed?
SHAUN: I don't know. It's locked.
ED: Why?
SHAUN: It's always been locked.
ED: Well, how are we gonna – hey…
Ed looks down and sees the Electro album that Pete threw out the window the night before. He picks it up and quickly throws it at the big guy, much to Shaun's chagrin.
SHAUN: No, no, no! That's the second album I ever bought! No!
The record shatters on the big man's head, a chunk of the album remains stuck on his face. Suddenly, the two of them have an idea.
This is one of my favorite moments in the whole movie. We have these two fairly incompetent young guys suddenly confronted with the living dead in their backyard. The only weapon they seem to have that's useful is Shaun's record collection that's been building for almost his whole life. So he's not going to just throw every last record at them, even if this is a possible sign of Armageddon.
SHAUN: Now, some of these are limited…
Ed just grabs the first record he sees, takes it out of the sleeve and throws it at Mary. It shatters.
SHAUN: Whoa! What was that?
ED: I think it was Blue Monday.
SHAUN: Man, that was an original pressing.
ED: Oh, for fuck's sake!
The two zombies walk slowly towards Shaun and Ed, who barely even look at them. They're too busy thumbing through Shaun's collection.
ED: Hmm, Purple Rain.
SHAUN: No.
ED: Sign of the Times.
SHAUN: Definitely not.
ED: The Batman soundtrack.
SHAUN: Throw it.
Good call, Shaun. The Batman soundtrack was very lame. Ed tosses it at the big man.
ED: Okay… Dire Straits.
SHAUN: Throw it.
Ed throws the Dire Straits album at them. It's still not doing any damage.
ED: Um, uh Stone Roses.
SHAUN: Uh, no.
ED: Second Coming.
SHAUN: I like it.
ED: Ahh. Sade!
SHAUN: That's Liz's.
ED: Yeah, but she did dump you.
Ed throws another album. If he keeps this up, his whole collection will be gone. Shaun stands up and runs to the shed.
SHAUN: Fuck this. I'm going to the shed.
ED: Thought you said it was locked.
Shaun throws himself through the shed door, breaking it down. There are quite a few blunt objects in there.
Ed grabs a shovel, Shaun grabs a cricket bat. They stand opposite the big guy and Mary.
ED: Which one you want, girl or bloke?
SHAUN: Uh, the first one.
They switch spots so that now Shaun is opposite Mary and Ed is opposite the big guy. Both of them step forward and give the zombies a good smack on the head. They both drop, and once they're down, Shaun and Ed pummel them with shot after shot on their heads. Blood splatters on both of them.
We cut to the two of them sitting on the couch again, a job well done. Ed glances over at Shaun, while they watch the news.
ED: You have red on you.
End of scene.
Both Shaun and Ed are so ill-equipped to handle something like a zombie attack, and they don't have much of anything in the house that can be used as a weapon. Of all things, they use a pop-up toaster. And when faced with the option of saving their lives or Shaun's record collection, Shaun has to compromise and only throw away the records that he doesn't like anymore.
At the same time, you have zombies surrounding these two helpless characters, and at no time do you see the zombies really getting used for laughs. They're still dangerous, their make-up is still frightening, and there is a healthy amount of blood in this group of scenes. The only way the laughs come is through Shaun and Ed and their antics. But they know enough to keep their distance, since they know as soon as one of these zombies bites them, they're going to die.
This is what makes this sequence work, and this is what makes the movie work as a whole. The comedy doesn't come from the zombies, but from the characters. These aren't rugged military men, they're us. And how would we handle a zombie attack? Hell if we know. What are we going to use to attack them? Whatever we have around us, that's our only option. We're not heroes, and neither are they. Shaun and Ed – and later Liz and her two friends Diann and David – only want to get away from the zombies and fight back only as a last option. And during all of this, we have Shaun hoping to get Liz back and have a second chance to balance his life with Ed and his life with his girlfriend.
See? Shaun's just like all of us. He's trying to find his way in life and love. He's just trying to get away from flesh-eating zombies on top of it.
Your homework assignment this weekend is to see Hot Fuzz. It's the second film to reach America by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Once again, they tackle a few different genres at once, and this time instead of romantic comedies and zombie flicks, we see a cross of action films and comedies. Having already seen it, I can safely say it will be one of the most satisfying comedies you'll see all year.
