Comparative study introduction

George A. Romero’s 1968 American film Night of the Living Dead and Edgar Wright’s 2004 British film Shaun of the Dead are both distinctive zombie-horror films. They are incredibly recognizable, from the classical zombies in Night of the Living Dead, to the comic characters that appear in Shaun of the Dead. These films have been chosen as they were made in contrasting eras of the zombie-horror genre, so the development of the genre can be clearly seen. It can easily be argued that Shaun of the Dead is inspired by Night of the Living Dead, as many similar aspects and tropes of the genre can be seen in the two. Romero’s film follows Ben as he hides from the invading zombies, after holding out against the zombies they are eventually killed by the Americans who also accidentally kill Ben. Shaun of the Dead also features a zombie invasion, but a different narrative, as a group of friends, who attempt to hold out against the zombies in a less than ideal location and are eventually saved by the military after the death of most of them.

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