What would you do in a zombie apocalypse? Panic and cry on the phone to your friends? Lock all your doors and try to be as quiet as possible? Well according to Edgar Wright’s slapstick comedy, which celebrated its 20th anniversary and re-release in cinemas earlier this year, the most appropriate reaction is to go to the pub.
Rewatching the film post-Covid, the characters’ reactions to the spread of a deadly virus hit a bit closer to home than we might’ve expected when the film first aired in 2004. Like Brits initially during the pandemic, the characters in Shaun of the Dead massively fail to understand the gravity of the situation. Upon realising they have quite literally woken up amongst the walking dead, Shaun asks Ed “What do you think we should do?”, just for him to respond, “Have a sit down?”, as if this is just another average day in South London.
Although all they had to do was avoid getting bitten by some excruciatingly slow zombies, Shaun and the gang’s decision to march headfirst into the battleground with a cricket bat makes the film a wildly chaotic and comical watch. From chucking a Batman soundtrack vinyl at them to pretending to be zombies themselves, they appear to try every stupid idea possible, except isolating in their own home, alone.
Sound familiar at all? In reaction to Covid, we saw people constantly break social distancing rules and try to cure the virus by eating more garlic, making Shaun of the Dead a pretty accurate prophecy for the future. Not to mention that we all spent 2020 yearning to go to the pub again, which Ed and Shaun’s constant suggestions of “go[ing] to the Winchester” echoes.
The tagline to the film is “A romantic comedy…with zombies”; the zombie apocalypse factor (you know, the scary, surreal horror part) is added almost as an afterthought, secondary to the plotline of Shaun trying to win back his girlfriend Liz by rescuing her from a mess he created (should’ve just stayed in the apartment!), and Shaun and Ed’s friendship.
Part of the film’s charm comes from how realistic the relationships between the characters are. Despite being in a life or death situation, they all still manage to bicker over insignificant things, with one of the recurring jokes being Shaun’s constant failure at pleasing Liz (stop taking her on dates to the Winchester, man!), and another being Shaun’s constant frustration at Ed’s incompetency. Nevertheless, Ed quite literally takes a bullet for Shaun and Liz does take him back at the end, in a heartwarming turn of events, turning the film into a comforting family favourite.
When it comes to immature comedy common in 2000s TV shows and films (think The Inbetweeners), Shaun of the Dead strikes a perfect balance between cringe and funny. Ed’s “I got wood” t-shirt and fart jokes (“No Shaun…I’m sorry”) can get a laugh even from the most uptight audience. Combined with some classic slapstick gags, such as Shaun asking the group if they’d “Never taken a shortcut before?”, moments before falling over a fence, and the dry, deadpan delivery of lines that would be an emotional climax in any other film (“We may have to kill my stepdad” making me cackle out loud was not on my bucket list), Edgar Wright encapsulates British humour at its best.
Due to its ability to find comedy in the most mundane aspects of life, its pathetic yet lovable characters, detailed foreshadowing and wildly unrealistic narrative, Shaun of the Dead remains a comforting film that gets better and better on rewatch. When it comes to finding humour during a crisis, no one does it quite like the Brits, and this tendency means Edgar Wright’s masterpiece will remain a wonderfully silly and relevant cult classic for years to come.
Ultimately, if there’s one message to take away from the film, it’s that in case of a zombie apocalypse, alien invasion or AI uprising, we should go to Wetherspoons, have a nice cold pint, and wait for it all to blow over.
To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Shaun of the Dead is back in cinemas.
