When it comes to the horror-comedy subgenre, few movies have managed to walk Shaun of the Dead. The first installment of the Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy, it stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as a pair of slackers who have to confront their problems in the face of the zombie apocalypse.
With a watertight screenplay by movie geniuses Pegg and Wright, Shaun of the Dead has an abundance of laugh-out-loud moments and edge-of-your-seat jump scares. So, here are the 5 funniest, and 5 scariest, scenes from Shaun of the Dead.
FUNNIEST: “What’s The Matter, David? Never Taken A Shortcut Before?”
This slapstick gag set up one of the funniest running jokes in the Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy. The group needs to get across a couple of backyards to get to the Winchester. When David complains as usual, Shaun cockily says, “What’s the matter, David? Never taken a shortcut before?”
Then, he runs up to the nearest fence, goes to jump over it, and it falls over while he’s mid-air. He plays it off surprisingly well.
SCARIEST: Shaun Illuminates A Horde Of Zombies Outside The Winchester
When Shaun goes to check on the fusebox in the Winchester’s dark back room, you might expect him to be attacked by a rogue zombie on the inside.
Instead, he turns on the lights and illuminates a horde of zombies pressed against the window. Terrified, he turns off the lights, pulls down the shade, and goes back into the pub.
FUNNIEST: Shaun Runs Through Various Plans
When the zombie outbreak becomes clear to Shaun and Ed, they start formulating a plan of action. However, each plan is scuppered by a roadblock. For example, they can’t come back to their place, because the window’s broken.
The plans get faster and faster as Shaun repeats the same few steps – take car, get Mum, kill Phil (sorry!) – before tweaking the endgame to reflect each new revelation. In the end, the plan is to go to the Winchester. This montage is filled with hilarious sight gags, like Shaun’s “I am a genius” mug.
SCARIEST: David Aims The Winchester Rifle At Barbara
Sometimes, the scariest things in monster movies aren’t the monsters themselves, but the monsters that are brought out of human beings by the desperate times.
When it’s revealed that Shaun’s mother Barbara (whose name is a nod to the character from Romero’s Night of the Living Dead) has been bitten by a zombie, David aims the Winchester rifle at her. After Shaun objects, he ends up aiming the rifle at him.
FUNNIEST: “Don’t Stop Me Now”
The screenplay for Shaun of the Dead is filled with plant-and-payoffs. When Liz has broken up with Shaun and Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now” comes on the jukebox, Ed says, “Who the hell put this on?,” and Shaun replies, “It’s on random.”
This exchange is repeated when the survivors are holed up in the Winchester, a zombified John comes after them, and Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” comes on the jukebox. They hit John with the pool cues in perfect time with the song.
SCARIEST: David’s Disembowelment
Just as he’s about to apologize to Shaun, David lets himself get too close to the window and he’s seized by a crowd of the undead. The zombies pull him through the window and gruesomely tear open his chest, yank out his insides, and feast on them.
As the others try to pull him back in before it’s too late, they accidentally rip off his legs. Dianne is so angry and horrified that she goes out into the horde, using one of David’s legs as a weapon to bash zombies with.
FUNNIEST: Shaun And Ed Throw Shaun’s Records At Two Zombies
On the night of the zombie apocalypse, when humanity is blissfully unaware of the outbreak, Pete angrily throws the second album that Shaun ever bought out the window. When Shaun and Ed are faced with the first wave of the undead, Ed throws the record at the two zombies in their backyard and it proves to be surprisingly effective.
So, Shaun grabs his record collection and he and Ed go through the records, with Shaun determining which ones they can throw. For example, they can’t throw Purple Rain, but they can throw the Batman soundtrack.
SCARIEST: The Second Mirror Shot
The “mirror shot” is a staple of horror cinema, so naturally, when Edgar Wright set out to lampoon zombie movies, he included a couple of them. The first time, it’s played for laughs, as Shaun closes the mirror to reveal Pete, with his arms crossed and a disapproving look.
However, the second time, it’s terrifying. Shaun closes the mirror to reveal Pete’s silhouette behind the shower curtain. We already know that Pete was bitten, so we know what to expect. But it still comes as a shock when he bursts out of the shower as a zombie.
FUNNIEST: Shaun Goes Back To The Shop
In an early scene, Shaun goes across the street to the corner shop, buys a couple of things, and heads back home. After the apocalypse begins, this shot is repeated, except everything looks a little different: the streets are empty and there’s blood everywhere.
However, since Shaun is nursing a bad hangover, he remains completely oblivious to the apocalyptic conditions of his neighborhood. He’s even harassed by a zombie, but he assumes it’s a homeless man asking for change.
SCARIEST: The One-Armed Groom Enters The House
Early in Shaun of the Dead, it’s established that Shaun and Ed often leave the front door open. Then, as the two are watching a news report in which the newscaster tells viewers to stay in their homes with their doors and windows locked shut, we see the front door swing open as a stumbling zombie enters the house.
The audience wants to scream at Shaun and Ed to watch out before a one-armed groom is standing over their coffee table, excited to eat their brains.
