The Bite #53

Anniversary of SHAUN OF THE DEAD, the Third WALKING DEAD Series, and More!

April 09, 2019

In this issue:

Horror History: Shaun of the Dead Still Kills After 15 Years
Image of the Week: Scaring Stephen King
Tiny Bites – This Week’s Best Horror Headlines
Things We Love: A Little Lovecraft
Hey, That’s Us! – Shudder in the News

HORROR HISTORY: SHAUN OF THE DEAD

Shaun of the Dead arrived with a lot of hype, all of it deserved. When it came out this week in 2004, there were plenty of in-joke-laden zombie comedies, butShaun set itself apart by being very British (one of many examples: Shaun’s mum hiding her bite so as not to be a bother) and by, quite frankly, being better than the rest.

Yes, the movie is incredibly funny — one of the funniest ever made, in any genre. It goes from one classic bit to another, most notably the absolutely brilliant sequence where a hung-over Shaun wanders through his London neighborhood completely oblivious to the zombie apocalypse all around him. But there’s also the record-flinging. The variations on the plan to wait until it all blows over. “Don’t Stop Us Now.” There’s not a wasted scene in this movie. There’s not a wasted line in this movie.

But while Shaun is a comedy at heart, it’s more than just a comedy. The scene in which [spoiler!] Dylan Moran (“David”) meets his demise is a perfect example of the blending of tones. It’s an obvious homage to Joseph Pilato’s (R.I.P.) death in Day of the Dead. It’s dark comedy slapstick as his legs pop off while they’re trying to pull him free. And it’s also shocking and disturbing — we weren’t expecting that level of gore in such a funny movie!

The entire cast is stellar, but it’s hard to overstate just how good Simon Pegg is in this movie. Every joke is delivered with flawless comic timing. The simple line “Peeeete,” called out in an extremely tentative manner to his zombified roommate, is hilarious. The way he drags the cricket bat behind him like a pouting child after failing to kill his stepfather is equally amusing.

Yet he also has that Oscar-clip scene where he can’t bring himself to accept that his mother is going to become a zombie. The sequence is silly, intense, heartbreaking, and haunting. When the horror really kicks in during the final act, Shaun is as pulse-pounding as any straight-up zombie flick, and it even convincingly leads the viewer to believe that it could be heading for a nihilistic conclusion.

One of the best zombie movies ever. One of the best comedies ever. One of the best movies ever.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Scaring Stephen King

Stephen King — who not only wrote the screenplay for 1982’s Creepshow but also met a gross end acting as the title character in “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill” segment — gets a behind-the-scenes scare thanks to Tom Savini’s make-up FX.

TINY BITES

DARIO ARGENTO’S NEW VIDEOGAME, TIM BURTON’S BEETLEJUICE NEWS & MORE

AMC reveals its third Walking Dead series will be about “two young female protagonists and focus on the first generation to come-of-age in the apocalypse as we know it.”

Jamie Lee Curtis says she will “always” be ready for future installments of the Halloween franchise if Michael comes knocking at her door.

Here’s why Robert Blake’s cocktail party conversation with Bill Pullman is the scariest David Lynch scene ever.

But if you scare too easily, here are eight funny horror movies which will have you laughing instead of hiding.

The directors of Pet Sematary describe the “the “nerve-wracking” process of adapting Stephen King. And hey, how does the rest of the world misspell “cemetery” in their versions of Pet Sematary?

And here’s every Stephen King adaptation ranked from best to worst.

These are the 25 best horror remakes according toRotten Tomatoes. (Our opinion: 1982’s The Thing is the best of the best.)

Watch the disturbing first trailer for AMC’s new horror series, NOS4A2, based on the novel by Joe Hill.

Legendary late-night Detroit TV horror host Ron “The Ghoul” Sweed has died at 70.

Dario Argento is Kickstarting a videogame — and he’s created a proof-of-concept short film so we know exactly the kind of horrors we’re in for.

Netflix got real priests to watch Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. One take: “I would have preferred a little bit less cannibalism.”

Tim Burton says he doubts that long-awaitedBeetlejuice sequel will ever happen. (Now we feel worse than that shrunken head guy in the Netherworld waiting room.)

THINGS WE LOVE: A LITTLE LOVECRAFT

Praise Cthulhu, there are still a couple of days left to get in on the already fully funded Kickstarter campaign for Workhouse Games’ H. P. Lovecraft The Dreams in the Witch House miniatures set. The eight detailed resin miniatures — perfect for any RPG-er’s dream-quest or as pure collectibles for non-gamers — include characters such as Herbert West and Nyarlathotep (who befitting a god, towers menacingly over the others), plus Lovecraft himself.