Shaun of the Dead Horror Film Essay

Shaun of the Dead is a comedy-horror film which aired in 2004. It was directed by Edgar Wright and stars some famous comedic characters such as Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It was produced by Universal Pictures, Studio Canal and Working Title Films – which already shows that this film was to be a big hit as it was produced by such leading companies in the film industry. Shaun of the Dead is based around three main characters, Shaun, Ed and Liz – who get a group together to fight off a new deadly spreading virus which turns civilians into blood-thirsty zombies. There is also a sub plot of which Shaun tries to win back Liz’s love by taking control after their inevitable break up.

Shaun of the Dead does seem to follow the basis of Todorov’s narrative structure, with the exception of the beginning (not everything is fine). Other than challenging the first step of the narrative structure, this film continues to follow it by using ‘the event’, the ‘recognition’, the ‘attempt to fix it’ and a ‘new equilibrium’. Examples of these features are that the event is the social life around the three main characters has gone dead – almost literally. The next stage is the recognition of the event when Shaun starts to realise abnormal things are happening and that the local public are acting strangely, for example two people standing in their garden. Continuing Todorov’s narrative structure, the next step would be the attempt to fix it, which Shaun does by gathering a group of friends and family to fight off the zombies and get them to safety. Finally, after everyone has died or been infected apart from Liz, we get a new equilibrium, being Shaun and Liz getting back together and everything seems to be back to normal and okay. However, one final piece which challenges the ending of Todorov’s structure is the last clip in the film, where we see infected Ed chained in the garden shed when Shaun comes to play video games with him – causing a sense of humour as well as fear that it could all happen all over again.

I believe the audience expectations of this genre would be – to be humoured/frightened at the same time. Having a comedy effect in a horror film lightens the mood and makes it more bearable to sit through without a constant fear of ‘what happens next?’ for the audience. As a fan of this film, I didn’t know what to expect before watching, but found myself pleasantly surprised throughout the entire movie. I believe this may because I have enjoyed other similar films to this including the same characters as Simon Pegg and Nick Frost such as ‘Hot Fuzz’. Having popular stars in a film also has an effect on what the audience expects to see as they already know what these celebrities are known for – therefore creating hope that they will keep up the good standard of acting to make us keep watching their films. The comedy-horror genre has been around now for many years but still has the capability of making its viewers feel satisfied and scared through the medium of film.

As previously mentioned, Shaun of the Dead is a comedy-horror movie, but what makes it a horror? Firstly, I would mention the fact that it has several horror conventions which make it a horror film, such as; the final girl, zombies, death, blood, and if you are a weak character, you will die. These and many more conventions are what make Shaun of the Dead a typical horror film with comedic aspects added to it.

I believe that this film fits in nicely with the horror genre history, especially the 1960’s onwards, where zombies really came into horror films. However, as this film was released in 2004, it fits in perfectly with the huge return to zombie horror films. Alongside fitting in with the zombie history of horror genre, I also believe it suits the era of the 1960’s – where humans were becoming the main threat in the horror franchise. Shaun of the Dead, although mainly focusing on the threat of zombies, also focuses on the fear that humans can genuinely cause a real sense of danger –even if it is through becoming a zombie.

The film bases itself around a group of characters including friends and family of Shaun. These characters include himself, his best friend Ed, his recently ex-girlfriend Liz, his mother Barbara, her husband Phillip and Liz’s friends Dianne and David. I believe there are certain character types in this film such as the hero (Shaun), the helpers (Ed and Liz), the villain/threat (the zombies), the coward who dies (David) and many more. Also, these main character stereotypes are also linked in with the Final Girl theory. Although Liz may not be seen as the main protagonist in this film, her will to survive and how she helps Shaun throughout the film displays courage and sensibility which are aspects of the ‘final girl’, who survives at the end of the films – which she does.

Binary opposition also takes its place in Shaun of the Dead, focusing on the ‘good vs. evil’ and the ‘rational and irrational’ personalities of the characters. The ‘good vs. bad’ opposition is suggested throughout almost the whole film, with the normal humans being the good, and the contrasted characters of the zombies – the bad. Another binary opposition I found when watching and analysing this film is the one of ‘rational and irrational’ behaviours between the characters. I would say that the main ‘rational’ and logical thinker in this film would be the main protagonist Shaun, with him then contrasting David, the cowardly irrational person who attempts to take control of the situation by doing stupid and unhelpful actions – such as threatening to kill the mother who has been infected.

Overall, I believe Shaun of the Dead is a brilliant comedy-horror film which includes many traditional horror conventions and stereotypes (and occasionally challenging them) which make this film a success in the horror genre. The use of a clever storyline, popular celebrities and an overall sense of comedy are what make this film worthy of being one of the best ’25 horror films’ quoted by ‘Times’ magazine in 2007.