Shaun of the Dead [$5 Halloween Candy Cash Offer] [Blu-ray]

Director: Edgar Wright, Nira Park Edgar Wright

Overview

It's often said that the true character of a man is only revealed in times of dire crisis, and for likable, lovelorn loser Shaun (Simon Pegg), that moment of reckoning came when the dead rose from their slumber to feast on the flesh of the living. A hapless electronics store employee who spends most of his spare time downing pints at the local pub with his roommate, Ed (Nick Frost), Shaun's life seems to fall apart when he is dumped by his girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield), and his obnoxious stepfather, Philip (Bill Nighy), shows up to berate him for not being more attentive to his caring mother Barbara (Penelope Wilton) -- especially since he forgot to send flowers for her birthday. Things take a turn for the worse when the dead return to stake their claim on the Earth, and though the chaos that follows threatens to swallow up all of England, it's up to Shaun to keep his cool and prove himself once and for all by successfully rescuing Liz and his mother. With his trusty roommate by his side, nothing -- not even the living dead -- can stand between Shaun and the two most important women in his life.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/22/2009
UPC:	0025195055598
Original Release:	2004
Rating:	R
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:40:00
Sales rank:	2,621

Special Features

Missing bits: outrageous outtakes and deleted scenes not shown in theaters; Raw meat: casting tapes, Simon Pegg's video diary and special effects comparisons; Tv bits: includes an interview with Coldplay; Zombie gallery; Storyboard gallery; Uncensored commentary with the cast and crew; D-box motion enabled

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Simon Pegg	Shaun
Kate Ashfield	Liz
Nick Frost	Ed
Lucy Davis	Dianne,Actor
Dylan Moran	David
Bill Nighy	Philip
Penelope Wilton	Barbara
Martin Freeman	Declan
Nicola Cunningham	Mary
Peter Serafinowicz	Pete
Arvind Doshi	Nelson
Rafe Spall	Noel
Sonell Dadral	Danny,Actor
Keir Mills	Actor
Matt Jaynes	Clubber 2
Gavin Ferguson	Football Kid
Horton Jupiter	Homeless Man
Tim Baggaley	The Usher
Samantha Day	Woman on Trisha
Trisha Goddard	Trisha Goddard
David Park	Grave Scientist
Finola Geraghty	Distraught Vox Pop
Robert Fitch	Distressed Man
Sharon Gavin	Florist
Patch Connolly	Pigeon Man
Jessica Hynes	Yvonne
Stuart Powell	Snakehips
Patricia Franklin	Spinster
Steve Emerson	John
Phyllis MacMahon	Bernie
Krishnan Guru-Murthy	Krishnan Guru-Murthy
Carol Barnes	Carol Barnes
Keith Chegwin	Voices
Reece Shearsmith	Mark
Tamsin Greig	Maggie
Julia Deakin	Yvonnes Mutter
Lucy Davies	Actor
Mark Donovan	Actor
Matt Lucas	Actor
Mark Gatiss	Actor
David Walliams	Actor
Rob Brydon	Actor
Dan Mudford	Composer
Pete Woodhead	Composer
Daniel Mudford	Composer

Technical Credits

Edgar Wright

Simon Pegg

Edgar Wright	Director,Screenwriter
Simon Pegg	Screenwriter
Nira Park	Producer,Director
Tim Bevan	Executive Producer,Producer
Eric Fellner	Executive Producer,Producer
Alison Owen	Executive Producer,Producer
Natascha Wharton	Executive Producer,Producer
James Wilson	Executive Producer
Paul Dunn	Special Effects
Lucy Allen	Stunts
Peter Burgis	Sound Effects
Paul Alexiou	Special Effects
Graham Day	Sound Effects
Giancarlo Dellapina	Sound Effects
Andie Derrick	Sound Effects
Arthur Fenn	Sound Effects
Jina Jay	Casting
Simon Hayes	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

The title of this British-made black comedy gives everything away: Shaun is a cheeky send-up of zombie movies in general and George Romero's Dawn of the Dead in particular. Whereas the Romero film largely took place in a shopping mall, Shaun centers around the working-class pub where the eponymous protagonist (played with self-deprecating charm by Simon Pegg) and his best friend, Ed (Nick Frost), spend virtually all their spare time -- much to the chagrin of Shaun's girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield), who gives the underachieving store clerk his walking papers just before a mysterious malady turns newly deceased villagers into bloodthirsty zombies. Gathering his sweetie, his mother, and some of his friends into the pub, Shaun demonstrates his mettle by mounting a spirited if ineffective defense against the ghoulish horde. Director Edgar Wright elicits lots of laughs by exploiting zombie lore to create farcical situations. For example, he has Shaun and Ed defend themselves against approaching zombies by flinging vintage record albums at their heads. (Everyone knows that's a zombie's most vulnerable spot.) And since the shuffling ex-cadavers move so sluggishly, the pals have just enough time to debate a record's merits before deciding whether to fling it. But Shaun isn't an Airplane-like spoof: Instead of parading an endless series of gags, it mixes mirth and mayhem cleverly, generating real suspense and even some pathos. The gore effects, principally inserted for laughs, are well done and convincing enough to pass the gross-out test, and the performers manage the neat trick of being humorous while remaining in character; no need to lose one's sense of humor just because one has been selected as the blue-plate special for a gaggle of gaping, flesh-eating zombies.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

Shaun of the Dead is an uproarious romantic zombie comedy that amazingly lives up to each of those genres in a fully respectable and entertaining way. With a return to the type of George Romero zombie logic that many genre throwbacks around this time threw out the window in favor of super sped-up monster attacks (see Dawn of the Dead remake or the laughably bad House of the Dead for reference), Shaun embraces the lumbering menace these type of undead creatures originally possessed, though the filmmakers aren't too afraid to poke their noses at it from time to time. With a hilarious cast headed by co-writer/director Simon Pegg (who along with co-director Edgar Wright created the hit U.K. television series Spaced), this tale of gory suburban survival is brought to life by a lively bunch of characters that each bring their own classic moments to the screen. Wonderful as well are the touching scenes that come out of nowhere and punch the viewer square in the gut just when they were least expecting it -- something incredibly rare in the horror comedy world and a direct result of a shrewd script and the gusto performances that pull them off. With scene after scene of inspired comic setups by a brilliant ensemble cast along with heaps of the red stuff when needed, Shaun of the Dead lives up to its near-unanimous hype and adds its very own touch to the world of gut-munching cinema.

All Movie Guide - Jeremy Wheeler