The funniest Shaun of the Dead quotes are only part of what makes Edgar Wright’s first movie in his Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy a cult classic. The greatest success of Shaun Of The Dead, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, is that it isn’t a spoof of zombie movies. It works perfectly as a genuine zombie film in its own right — one that happens to be absolutely hilarious. The jokes are the cherry on top of the undead cake, and the best Shaun of the Dead quotes ensured the 2004 movie’s lasting legacy.
Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead remains one of the most popular comedies of the 21st century. It has the perfect blend of horror and hilarity, with both laugh-out-loud moments and moments of genuine terror in spades. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost even recreated a scene from Shaun of the Dead for a viral video about the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic, using lines from the original movie to instruct people to stay at home and remain safe. It shows that the best Shaun of the Dead quotes extends beyond more than just zombie apocalypses.
20 “No… I’m Sorry Shaun.”
Ed (Nick Frost)
Nick Frost and Simon Pegg’s many collaborations together are elevated by the genuine friendship that is apparent whenever they are on screen together. This is perhaps best seen in Shaun of the Dead with the two playing old friends who love spending time together more than anything else. Their friendship is so effective that the audience quickly feels like they are in on Shaun and Ed’s inside jokes.
After Shaun criticizes Ed for being so untidy as a roommate, Ed apologizes. Just as Shaun begins to soften and regret that he spoke to his friend like that, Ed says with more seriousness, “No Shaun… I’m sorry” only for Shaun to suddenly get a whiff of Ed’s silent fart. It is a hilarious moment that speaks to Ed as a character since it appears as though he’s taking responsibility for his immaturity then turns into a fart joke.
19 “Maybe It’s Not As Bad As All That — Oh, No There They Are.”
Shaun (Simon Pegg)
Making a horror comedy that blends the genres effectively can be a challenge. One of the issues that often comes up is that the comedy overtakes the horror, making it feel like a silly spoof rather than having any real terror. Shaun of the Dead does a wonderful job keeping the stakes of the story high, but it also has some of its biggest laughs from the characters failing to understand the gravity of the situation at hand.
The casual way Shaun points out that the town is indeed overrun with the undead is the perfect bit of silliness amid the chaos of the movie.
After making their plan to go rescue Shaun’s loved ones, Shaun and Ed decide to first check if the coast is clear before heading out. As Shaun peers out of the mail slot in the door, he sees there are no zombies around and wonders if the situation is not as bad as they have heard only to immediately see a horde of zombies. The casual way Shaun points out that the town is indeed overrun with the undead is the perfect bit of silliness amid the chaos of the movie.
18 “Thanks, Babe.”
Shaun (Simon Pegg)
While a big part of the movie is about Shaun trying to win back his girlfriend Liz, the heart of the movie is really the friendship between Shaun and Ed. As much fun as they have together, there are various people who comment on the relationship as being too co-dependent and immature. It is a suggestion that Shaun continuously denies while also being oblivious to the reality that he and Ed are extremely close.
While hiding out in The Winchester, David criticizes Shaun for drawing attention to them, saying “Well, I wasn’t the one who was blowing our cover by having a tiff with my boyfriend.” Shaun angrily retorts that Ed isn’t his boyfriend only for Ed to lovingly hand him a pint of beer and warn him that it is warm. Shaun doesn’t even seem to recognize the irony when he winks and calls Ed “babe.”
17 “I’ll Do It On The Night.”
Ed (Nick Frost)
It is a lot of fun seeing the various methods these wacky characters use to survive the zombie outbreak. One of the most inventive and funny ideas is when they decide to simply pretend to be zombies themselves so they can walk amongst the undead without trouble. In order to do this, the aspiring actor Dianne becomes an acting coach for the group judging their best zombie impression. However, when it comes to Ed’s turn to show off his best work, he brushes it off and suggests he’ll just do it in the moment.
After Shaun insults his half-hearted attempt, Ed challenges Shaun to do better only to admit that Shaun’s was pretty good.
It is a funny moment as Ed is simply unable to take any of this seriously. However, it turns even funnier when Shaun eggs him on and it becomes a competition between the two friends about who can do the better zombie. After Shaun insults his half-hearted attempt, Ed challenges Shaun to do better only to admit that Shaun’s was pretty good. It is a small moment of typical nonsense between friends amidst the horror.
16 “David, Kill The Queen!”
Shaun (Simon Pegg)
The “Don’t Stop Me Now” fight sequence is one of the most iconic moments in the movie and a perfect example of Edgar Wright’s wild directing style. The editing, the music, and the choreography are all perfect but the sequence also has the rapid-fire delivery of jokes that can sometimes get missed in all the chaos. As the song plays and the pub is thrown into chaos, Shaun once again steps up to take charge.
As Shaun throws out orders to everyone on how to handle the situation, he tells David “Kill the Queen.” Following David’s horrified and confused reaction, Shaun clarifies that he meant the jukebox. The fast-paced comedy of Shaun of the Dead and many of Wright’s movies allow for moments like this when one line can take the audience by surprise only to make for a bigger laugh when they realize the play on words.
15 “Would Anyone Like A Peanut?”
Shaun (Simon Pegg)
When Shaun leaves the group to guide the horde of zombies away from the Winchester, David criticizes Shaun’s self-appointed leadership. He says, “Do you think his master plan will be anything more than sitting around, eating peanuts in the dark?” After Shaun arrives, and they ask him what his plan is, the movie cuts to the characters sitting in the dark, with Shaun holding up a bag of nuts and asking, “Would anyone like a peanut?”
It also shows that David might be right about Shaun, and this puts more questions in the groups’ minds about whether they can and should trust Shaun to lead them
These Shaun of the Dead quotes do two things when it comes to the progression of the story. First, it proves that Shaun really has no idea what he is doing and that he might be in over his head. However, it also shows that David might be right about Shaun, and this puts more questions in the groups’ minds about whether they can and should trust Shaun to lead them during this zombie apocalypse.
14 “Who The Hell Put This On?”/“It’s On Random.”
Shaun & Ed (Simon Pegg & Nick Frost)
This exchange initially appears early in the movie, and is repeated toward the end of Shaun of the Dead. In both cases, Shaun and Ed refer to songs playing on the jukebox at inappropriate times. After Liz has dumped Shaun, Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now” plays on the jukebox, exacerbating his heartache as Ed tries everything to cheer him up. Sadly, the music makes it impossible to get Shaun to stop feeling bad about himself after the breakup.
Later in the movie, a zombified John comes into the pub, and Shaun, Ed, and Liz fight him off with pool cues, and Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” starts playing. While the songs playing in both instances are seemingly random, they play into the scenes. This is normal for most movie soundtracks, but what Edgar Wright does with this hilarious Shaun of the Dead quote is point out how convenient it is that the random jukebox songs were contextually perfect for the moments they appeared, slightly pulling back the curtain somewhat,
13 “Actually, I Would Like To Be Shot.”
Ed (Nick Frost)
When Shaun, Liz, and Ed retreat into the cellar of the Winchester, with the zombies bearing down on them, they contemplate suicide. They only have two shells left in the rifle, so only two of them can go. Ed volunteers to be the one who will shoot his friends and then allow the zombies to kill him when all is said and done. However, he quickly changes his mind when Shaun and Liz re-confess their love for one another and share a tender romantic moment. After this sweet moment, Ed wants to take the bullet to end it all.
Despite death literally knocking at the door at that moment, Ed had to be Ed and give his friend a hard time
It is a particularly hilarious Shaun of the Dead quote because, even during a zombie apocalypse, Ed refuses to stop being himself and continues to poke fun at Shaun, and as a result, also Liz, every chance he gets. Despite death literally knocking at the door at that moment, Ed had to be Ed and give his friend a hard time just when things were getting a little too romantic for his taste.
12 “We May Have To Kill My Stepdad.”
Shaun (Simon Pegg)
When the zombie apocalypse begins and Shaun and Ed finally figure out what’s going on, Shaun calls his mother to see if she’s okay. She says that a “bitey” person got into the house and Shaun fears she’s been bitten. She says that she hasn’t been bitten, but her husband, Philip has. Shaun isn’t Philip’s biggest fan, so he sighs with relief. Ed asks for an update and Shaun nonchalantly tells him, “We may have to kill my stepdad.”
Shaun spent a lot of the movie explaining to people why he hates his stepdad, although it all comes down to him and his stepdad not understanding each other. Philip wants Shaun to spend more time with his mother and call her more. However, all Shaun sees is someone who “isn’t his real dad” telling him what to do all the time. When Philip finally dies and tells Shaun he only wants the best for him, it is an emotional moment, and this Shaun of the Dead quote really helps set up the surprisingly heartwarming scene.
11 “That’s The Second Album I Ever Bought!”
Shaun (Simon Pegg)
The significance that Shaun projects onto the second album he ever bought is hilariously relatable. Ultimately, the second album a person buys isn’t that important, but Shaun still freaks out when Pete throws it out the window. There’s a nostalgia attached to that album, although it ends up being used as a weapon against the first wave of zombies faced by Shaun and Ed. Right before Ed throws it, and they get the idea to use Shaun’s record collection to fight them off, Shaun repeats this line.
This is one of several
Shaun of the Dead
quotes that is also slick foreshadowing
This is one of several Shaun of the Dead quotes that is also slick foreshadowing, which is something Edgar Wright specializes in when making his movies. Pete throwing the album out the window led to Shaun’s funny comment, but it also led to the moment where that specific record came into play to help Shaun and Ed survive a very slow-moving zombie attack. Of course, his sentimentality goes out the window when it comes to survival.
10 “What’s the matter, David? Never taken a shortcut before?”
Shaun (Simon Pegg)
This Shaun of the Dead quote work two-fold when rewatching the movie today. Upon first viewing, it’s a funny gag that undercuts Shaun’s arrogance with some well-timed (and well-performed) slapstick. But since this movie, it went on to become a recurring gag in the Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy. It’s a lot of nostalgic fun to hear Shaun utter the line, “What’s the matter, David? Never taken a shortcut before?” before falling over a garden fence.
The way that Shaun picks himself up and dusts himself off, trying to pretend it never happened, is the icing on top of this moment’s comedic cake. Things worked out much better for Simon Pegg in Hot Fuzz, where he not only made it over the fence but did flips over several more before Nick Forst stumbled right through the fence. The World’s End caps off the joke by having a Cornetto wrapper get caught up in the wires of a fence, also unable to get past it.
9 “You’ve got red on you.”
Various Characters
Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg have a way of making repeated lines work brilliantly for comedy in their movies — for example, “The Greater Good” line from Hot Fuzz — because the movie’s events force the context to change. At the beginning of Shaun of the Dead, one of his rude coworkers tells him, “You’ve got red on you,” referring to the red ink stain on his shirt pocket. What makes this joke work so well is that people say it to him more times in the movie, and it has nothing to do with ink.
By the end of
Shaun of the Dead
, the “red” that is on his white shirt is a bunch of blood-spatter stains from hitting zombies with a cricket bat.
By the end of Shaun of the Dead, the “red” that is on his white shirt is a bunch of blood-spatter stains from hitting zombies with a cricket bat. The line was so popular that it ended the name of the making-of book that detailed how Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost made the zombie apocalypse cult classic (You’ve Got Red on You: How Shaun of the Dead Was Brought to Life).
8 “The Batman soundtrack.”/“Throw it.”
Shaun & Ed (Simon Pegg & Nick Frost)
One of the funniest gags in Shaun of the Dead, and one that would stand on its own as a sketch outside the movie, is the one in which Shaun and Ed go through Shaun’s record collection and decide which records they should throw at the zombies. It’s funny because even though these flesh-eating monsters are approaching the guys, and they want to eat their brains, Shaun still doesn’t want to break any of his favorite albums.
So, when Ed suggests the classics, he turns him down: “Purple Rain.” “Nope.” “Sign o’ the Times.” “Definitely not.” “The Batman soundtrack.” “Throw it.” It was funny because Batman has always been controversial thanks to the dance beat playing over a Batman movie. However, the joke also has another level of humor to it. Not only was this a Batman soundtrack, but it is officially Prince’s 11th studio album. This joke had Shaun admit that Prince’s Purple Rain and Sign o’ the Times are classics, but the Batman soundtrack is expendable.
7 “He’s got an arm off!”
Shaun (Simon Pegg)
As soon as the news plays on TV that civilians are being advised to keep their doors and windows locked during the zombie apocalypse, Shaun quickly remembers that Ed tends to leave the front door unlocked, and also cracked open. As they are watching this TV broadcast, something pushes open the door and walks in, and then the camera starts panning out, and it shows a zombie in the house. It’s missing one of its arms, which is the first thing Shaun notices when it staggers into the room.
This
Shaun of the Dead
quote is one of several that are great examples of horror and comedy being weirdly intertwined
“He’s got an arm off!” Shaun ends up yelling, as they start throwing things at him to slow him down. Ed ends up taking the guy out with an ashtray and then stands over his corpse, panting for a while. This Shaun of the Dead quote is one of several that are great examples of horror and comedy being weirdly intertwined to allow both the fear and hilarity that come from Shaun and Ed facing a ridiculous situation.
6 “We’re coming to get you, Barbara!”
Ed (Nick Frost)
Shaun’s mother being called Barbara is a direct reference to the character of the same name in George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, arguably the most important zombie film ever made, as the one that changed the zombie genre to what Hollywood has produced for the past 50 years. At the beginning of that original movie, when the zombies first show up, Johnny mockingly says, “They’re coming to get you, Barbara!”
Later, when Shaun is on the phone with Barbara, and she doesn’t want him to bother coming over to see if she’s all right, Ed paraphrases the movie when he yells into the phone: “We’re coming to get you, Barbara.” This moment caught the attention of George Romero himself. After Shaun of the Dead lovingly paid homage to Romero’s zombie franchise, the director invited Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg to cameo in his Land of the Dead movie as zombies themselves.
5 “My friends? A failed actress and a t**t?”/“I did not call Diane a failed actress!”
Liz & Shaun (Kate Ashfield & Simon Pegg)
The best jokes in Edgar Wright movies often leave things out for the audience to figure out themselves. Diane’s acting training comes up later in Shaun of the Dead when the characters have to pretend to be zombies. This quote comes when Liz is talking to Shaun about his attitude towards her friends, Diane and David. However, Shaun only takes credit for part of her accusations, saying he never said anything bad about Diane, although he didn’t deny the harsh insult toward David.
Diane’s pipe dream of being an actress begins as a throwaway gag in the movie with this line.
Diane’s pipe dream of being an actress begins as a throwaway gag in the movie with this line. However, it later becomes an integral part of the story because it is Diane’s skills as an actress that helped save the entire group, showing she was not the “failed actress” that Liz claimed Shaun accused her of being. Based on the story, that line might have come from David considering his treatment of her and Shaun.
4 “F**k-a-doodle-doo!”
Shaun (Simon Pegg)
The climax in Shaun of the Dead sees the zombies manage to break into the pub and kill most of the characters from the movie. As with all great zombie movies, the characters set as the main group and the ones the audience is most invested in remain alive to fight a final battle. This means that Shaun, Ed, and Liz are there to fight the final battle. It gets intense as the trio’s options for survival start to dwindle.
They’ve lost all hope of warding off the zombies’ invasion of the pub, and now, all they can do is head to the cellar — where they’ll be trapped underground. One moment lightens the mood as Ed spots his and Shaun’s roommate, the zombified Pete, and Shaun says, “F**k-a-doodle-doo!” This comes long after Pete makes some very harsh comments to Shaun about how he has no direction in his life, and by this time, Shaun is the hero and Pete is already zombified.
3 “Okay…but dogs can look up.”
Shaun (Simon Pegg)
Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg really know how to pay off jokes in their scripts. They’ll bring something up in an early scene — either through dialogue or through just showing something on the screen — and then pay it off in a later scene. One example comes when Ed tells Shaun that the rifle above the bar in the Winchester is a functioning firearm. Shaun doesn’t believe him. Ed says, “Big Al says so,” and Shaun replies, “Yeah, but Big Al also says dogs can’t look up!”
It’s an overt example of Chekhov’s Gun.
Later, they are at the bar and the zombies have attacked. This leads to a moment when the gun goes off, completely shocking Shaun. After this, Ed says, “Big Al was right!” and Shaun replies, “Okay…” Shaun, who has a dart stuck in his head from an accident at the bar, finally pulls the dart out of his head and then drops the rest of this quote, saying, “…but dogs can look up.” It’s an overt example of Chekhov’s Gun.
2 “We’ll have a Bloody Mary first thing…”
Ed (Nick Frost)
Shaun of the Dead has been praised for many things, but in particular, its screenplay by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. The script is airtight, with well-drawn characters and organic story arcs. Wright’s direction brought it all to life in inventive and groundbreaking ways. The script spectacularly uses foreshadowing, as Nick Frost’s character Ed lays out the whole plot of the movie after he and Shaun realize there is actually a zombie outbreak going on, and they need to save their loved ones.
Ed starts by saying, “We’ll have a Bloody Mary first thing [they kill a zombie named Mary], have a bite at the King’s Head [Shaun’s stepdad gets bitten in the side of the head], couple at the Little Princess [they pick up Shaun’s girlfriend Liz and the couple she lives with], stagger back here [they imitate zombies to get through the crowd], and then bang! Back at the bar for shots [they shoot zombies in the pub].”
1 “How’s that for a slice of fried gold?”
Shaun (Simon Pegg)
After he comes to terms with the reality of the zombie apocalypse and grapples with all his responsibilities — i.e. his mother and his girlfriend — Shaun comes up with a few different plans. One involves going back to the house, where there’s a broken window and zombie corpses all over the place, so that’s out. Another involves staying at Liz’s flat, although Ed wouldn’t be comfortable there, because he couldn’t smoke or drink. After racking their brains a little bit, they settle on the perfect location that will suit everyone’s needs and keep them safe in an undead uprising.
They all head to the pub, which plays into the start of the movie. When Liz dumped Shaun, she said that they never did anything different when they went out. It was always going to the pub. However, when it came time to find a place to hold up and try to survive the zombie apocalypse, the pub was the perfect option — which is yet another of the Shaun of the Dead quotes that paid off a previous moment in the movie, and was so smart that it became a meme all to itself.
