Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Zombie love: Proving anew that rotting flesh is still a turn on

When I walked into the 12th floor suite of the Loews House of Blues Hotel, I wasn’t sure whether I should have been excited or scared. I was excited to meet Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright, who collectively wrote, directed and starred in the low budget “Shaun of the Dead,” a British “zombie romantic comedy” set in London.

But I was also worried that they would misidentify me as a zombie and hack me to death. Within the twisted logic of the movie, which seamlessly blends British humor and zombie-incited murders, comedic death by the undead seems like a legitimate fear.

I walked in the room and saw Frost slouched on the sofa watching an Australia versus Argentina soccer game. Scanning the premises and not finding any sharp objects, I took a seat.

A few minutes later, after I had proved to myself beyond a reasonable doubt that Frost would not murder me, a sheepishly exhausted Pegg walked in, sporting a truckers hat and a tattoo of four stars on his left arm.

“That’s my review of myself,” said Pegg, who played the titular role of Shaun, zombie-fighter extraordinaire who was just dumped by Liz (Kate Ashfield), his girlfriend of three years.

We began by discussing the rumors surrounding the production. Frost, who played Ed, the fat, lovable bum of a roommate, confirmed that he did, in fact, shave his genitals for the filming of “Shaun of the Dead” so that he would constantly have to scratch himself. Although Frost said for most of his roles he either grows or shaves hair, this particular instance did not help him get into character.

“In the end, it was not very itchy but actually quite pleasurable,” Frost said.

Wright, the director, finally arrived and asked where I was from. When I told him Evanston, a zombie-free town, Pegg replied, “There are zombies everywhere you go.” Truer words have never been spoken.

Pegg and Wright, who wrote the screenplay and first met on the British television show “Spaced,” had dreamed of developing a zombie film for a while, inspired by the films of George Romero and the “Resident Evil” video games. But they also wanted to send up the British romantic comedy. This approach ensured that the script would structurally function when all the references to zombies were removed. It also led to the creation of one of the most bizarre, uneven and humorous looks at zombies.

“It is a romantic comedy,” said Pegg. “(But) one of the obstacles in his way is an army of zombies.”

One of the themes of the film was the ubiquity of normalcy despite zombies terrorizing and murdering the population.

“Even during massive catastrophe and cataclysmic events, life doesn’t really change that much,” Pegg said. “Even though the dead are coming back to life, Shaun still loves Liz.”

While there has been a resurgence of zombie movies in the last year, with “28 Days Later” and the remake of Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead,” “Shaun of the Dead” possesses some new concepts that no other recent zombie movie contains, such as a fight scene set to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.”

With the inclusion of the musical fight scene and the romantic comedy plot, the filmmakers hoped to increase their target audience to include, well, everybody.

“We kind of wanted to make a date movie,” Pegg said.

To which Wright quickly added, “(But) if you’ve ever wanted to pop your gut-ripping cherry, this is the time.”

In addition to expanding their target demographic, the filmmakers also expanded their cast of zombies by placing an open casting call on the Internet for extras. A large number of zombies were needed, since everybody from the film’s intro returns later in the film as a zombie.

“We had a sort of core group of professional zombies — Prombies,” Pegg said.

My life spared, I headed home, this time without scanning the horizon for the undead.

Weinberg senior Ben Rosen is a PLAY writer. He can be reached at [email protected].

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Zombie love: Proving anew that rotting flesh is still a turn on