Listen to our Shaun of the Dead episode on:
To call Shaun of The Dead a parody is arguably to do the movie a disservice. Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s self-described ‘Rom-Zom-Com’ may poke fun at recognisable horror movie tropes, but it’s also informed by a deep and abiding love for the genre, and a total commitment to the central plot that places it in a totally different league to broad spoofs like Spaceballs and Scary Movie.
The 2004 hit kicked off Wright and Pegg’s Cornetto Trilogy – three loosely related, mid-budget British comedies that offer a very British take on three established cinema genres. Last month, Pegg mentioned in an interview that he’d come up with the bones of a direct Shaun of The Dead sequel entitled From Dusk Till Shaun, but dismissed the idea as ‘pub talk’ and appears to have no interest in taking the project further.
Which is a shame really, because as much as Shaun… is a perfectly formed little cinema gem in its own right, the unnecessary sequel is as much part of the horror genre as the final girl trope or the cat-related jump scare. If any filmmaking team could engage with the specific cliches of horror sequels without resorting to lazy satire, it’s Wright and Pegg.
With the duo continuing to hold out for the foreseeable, we decided to invite horror movie super fan Ady Wheatley to join us for a discussion of what might have been. Like most horror movies, the foremost issue with following Shaun up is that the original kills off most of its principal cast – including the frankly essential Nick Frost. Can some classic horror movie logic bring Frost’s Ed back from the (un)dead? Or is there mileage in an entire movie about Shaun’s relationship with his best friend now that he’s a flesh-hungry, if surprisingly placid, zombie?
Tune into this week’s episode using the links above to hear us discuss all these ideas and more. As ever, if you like the show please hit subscribe to receive a new episode every Friday, and if you really love us, feel free to prove it by leaving us a review on your chosen Podcasting platform.
If you listen to the end of the episode, you’ll also hear some hilarious suggested sequel ideas from our listeners. We love engaging with our followers so if you’d like to suggest a film for us to cover, or a sequel to a film we’ve already done, get in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr or Google+.