How Shaun of the Dead Inspired Finn Wolfhard’s New Horror Comedy

Finn Wolfhard reveals how Shaun of the Dead inspired his new horror comedy Hell of a Summer, influencing its focus on the character’s personal struggles in ways that allowed them to be “weird in the face of death“. Wolfhard and Billy Bryk’s directorial debut stars the two as summer camp councilors that find themselves stalked by a masked killer the eve before the campers arrive. Shaun of the Dead starred Simon Pegg as a slacker who’s forced to address his shortcomings and frayed relationships when the dead rise and shamble through the streets of London.

As Wolfhard’s ambitious slasher movie directorial debut is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Wolfhard and Bryk opened up to Variety about how Hell of a Summer was inspired by Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead. Bryk revealed that the movie’s gene-mixing exploration of Shaun’s troubled life and his eventual growth inspired how he and Wolfhard wanted their own characters to be developed, as the characters have their own struggles that are just as important as the horrors they face: Check out Wolfhard and Bryk’s full explanation below:

Billy Bryk: To us, that was kind of the epitome of a film that does homage to classic horror films while also being a really great character-driven comedy.

Finn Wolfhard: Specifically in ‘Shaun of the Dead,’ Shaun’s just trying to get his girlfriend back. He actually doesn’t care about the zombie apocalypse, like at all.

Bryk: So I would say that this is a movie where people are given full license to be weird and narcissistic in the face of death.

Shaun of the Dead’s Unique Character Work Solidified It As A Cult Classic

While a Shaun of the Dead sequel is unlikely, the movie undoubtedly has a firm place within pop culture even almost 20 years after its release. Not only has it been recognized by horror icons including George A. Romero and Stephen King, but has since been frequently referenced in media such as Phineas and Ferb and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Pegg and Nick Frost have even used one of the movie’s most well-known moments to provide safety guidelines throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, showing just how revered and recognizable Wright’s theatrical debut hit has become.

One of the elements that resonated most with audiences for Shaun of the Dead was its placement of incredibly mundane, ordinary individuals into the horror of the zombie apocalypse, and how it intertwined with their own lives. While Shaun has plenty of bloody struggles against the undead, his troubled romance with Liz (Kate Ashfield), tense relationship between mother Barbara (Penelope Wilton) and stepfather Phil (Bill Nighy), and complex friendship with Ed (Frost) remain at the forefront, and the dead are simply an element which pushes Shaun to sort his life out. Everyday people forced to reconcile their struggles in fantastical settings would become a common theme for what would become the Cornetto Trilogy, as Wright and Pegg’s following collaborations Hot Fuzz and The World’s End saw others grapple with their demons in genre-bending adventures.

With Shaun of the Dead remaining a beloved movie for many, horror enthusiasts may be eager to see what Wolfhard and Bryk take from Wright’s horror comedy. With Shaun’s personal struggle remaining the core even amidst ravenous zombies, Wright and Pegg were able to develop an unlikely but relatable horror hero. As such, many may be keen to see how Wolfhard and Bryk tackle the worries of a new generation in a similar style when Hell of a Summer releases.

Source: Variety