In the Crouch End of London, a 29-year-old salesman named Shaun (Simon Pegg) is estranged from his stepfather Philip (Bill Nighy), dumped by his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield), and gets no respect from his colleagues. At the Winchester Pub, he gets drunk with his slacker friend Ed (Nick Frost). His roommate Pete (Peter Serafinowicz) complains of being bitten by a mugger. The next day, a Zombie Apocalypse overwhelms London. Shaun and Ed discover two zombies in the garden and beat them to death with household instruments. They plan to rescue Shaun’s mother Barbara (Penelope Wilton) and his girlfriend and hole up in the pub until it’s all over. They pick up Shaun's stepfather Philip (Bill Nighy) and crash the car, so Ed can drive Philip’s Jaguar. They pick up Liz and her flatmates David and Dianne (Dylan Moran and Lucy Davis), but Philip has been bitten and becomes a zombie.
They have to abandon the car and their weapons and sneak through the neighbourhood, running into a group led by Yvonne (Jessica Stevenson). Shaun defends Barbara from a zombie, and they imitate zombies to sneak by the real zombies to reach the pub. Ed answers his mobile phone, which alerts the zombies. Shaun has to lead the zombies away. They make it to the Winchester, but the zombies follow them and Ed attracts their attention by playing on the slot machine. There is a real Winchester rifle in the Winchester Pub, which he uses. Barbara reveals she was bitten and dies, giving approval to Liz and Shaun’s relationship. Barbara becomes a zombie and Shaun has to shoot her.
The zombies break a window, pull David out, and devour him. Dianne rushes out through the doors to save him, beating them off with Paul’s severed leg. The zombies pour into the pub. Zombie Peter bites Ed, and Shaun shoots Peter, then sets the pub on fire. There are three of them left and they take cover in the cellar. They have only two bullets left. Ed sacrifices himself. Shaun and Liz consider suicide but find a beer-keg lift that takes them to the street. Yvonne arrives with the British Army, who gun down the zombies and save them. Six months later, the zombies are being used for free labour and entertainment. Shaun and Liz are living together and Shaun plays video games in the shed with Zombie Ed.
The film was directed by Edgar Wright and written by him and Simon Pegg. It is a parody of The Night of the Living Dead films by George A. Romero and was influenced by Back to the Future and The Birds. It is of course entirely played for laughs, but there are scenes of horror and pathos. Many film companies passed on it saying it was neither scary nor funny, but it was met with critical acclaim and commercial success, winning Third Place in a list of 50 greatest comedy films, after garnering two British Academy Film Award nominations. It received 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and was praised by Roger Ebert, George A. Romero, and Stephen King.
Helen Mirren passed on the character of Barbara, but Bill Nighy was happy to play Philip and stole every scene he was in. . Many British comedians appear as zombies and the rest were played by Zombie Flick fans. Fifty children saw them and were delighted to play zombie children. “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen was played as the main characters bashed zombies with pool cues. United Pictures released it two weeks after releasing Zack Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead. Actors dressed as zombies were dropped off all over London and stumbled about. Posters showing Shaun and zombies crushed up against subway windows were placed in the Underground in spots where it appeared they were swarming the trains. The movie is raucous, crude, funny, and at times touching. This is British slacker comedy with zombies. These are the slow zombies, of course, and not the newer, fast-moving zombies because the slow ones are funnier. In the name of humour, the gore has to be over the top and even more disgusting than usual.