Exploring The Movie References And Homages In Edgar Wright’s Work
Every director claims to be a movie geek. But there’s movie geeks, and then there’sEdgar Wright. The director, who casually drops lists of his1000 favorite filmswhen he’s not working, seems to view movie references as a bit of a sport. If you’re not spotting at least a dozen influences or outright homages in his movies, you probably need to rewind – and if you’re watching his earlier films likeShaun of the DeadorHot Fuzz, just give up trying to count.While Wright has increasingly been moving away from overt name-checks in his movies, he still manages to bury familiar score snippets, costume choices, and plot threads in all of his work. Here are just a few.
References in Shaun of the Dead
The Films of George A. Romero
Wright’s beloved zombie spoof is bursting with references to other films in the undead canon, but it’s clear the director has a particular affection for George A. Romero. That creepy music playing over the opening ofShaun of the Dead? It’soriginal music fromDawn of the Dead. Ken Foree, the star ofDawn of the Dead, also gets name-dropped by Shaun’s workplace: Foree Electric. Wright doesn’t forget Bub, the zombie fromDay of the Dead, either. The pizzeria that Shaun passes on the way to the convenience store for his soda and Cornetto ice cream is named Bub’s Pizzas.Wright’s most explicit nod to Romero’sLiving Deadseries arrives as Shaun (Simon Pegg) places a frantic call to his mother Barbara. After he tells her to sit tight, Ed (Nick Frost) yells, “We’re coming to get you, Barbara!“This is an almost verbatim line fromNight of the Living Dead. In the opening graveyard scene, Johnny teases his sister by repeating, “They’re coming to get you, Barbara.” He knows she’s spooked by graveyards, so he’s just trying to scare her. Ironically, he doesn’t realize real zombies are approaching until it’s too late.
Wright spins the sinister line into a more optimistic promise of rescue inShaun of the Dead, and apparently this tweak made the reference fly right over one notable fan’s head. According to the DVD commentary, Simon Peggasked Romerowhat he thought of the Barbara line after the director called to congratulate him on the movie. Romero had no idea what he was talking about.
The Deer Hunter
Michael Cimino’s haunting war drama might seem like a strange choice for a silly zombie spoof, but Wright’s nod here makes a lot of sense. As theShaun of the Deadsurvivors start to argue and go a little crazy locked inside The Winchester pub, Shaun ties a distinctive red bandana around his head. His bandana looks an awful lot like the one Nick wears inThe Deer Hunterafter he’s lost his mind to PTSD. Wright is not suggesting that Shaun is suffering Nick’s exact mental trauma, but heissuggesting that our hero is not doing well – a suggestion that’s confirmed a few scenes later when Shaun and Liz consider shooting one another to escape the oncoming horde of zombies.
Every Which Way But Loose
Ed pulls out his apparently famous monkey impression to cheer up a freshly dumped Shaun early in the movie. He’s not aping any old monkey, either. It’s specifically Clyde, the wily orangutan who loves to flip the bird inEvery Which Way But Loose.
Shaun tries to get Ed to do the impression again later, asking his motley gang of survivors if they’ve all seenEvery Which Way But Loose. This time, Ed insists he’s not “a performing monkey.” But considering Ed’s ultimate fate, maybe the hilarious pet analogy wasn’t totally off.
References in Hot Fuzz
Point Break
Wright sets up homages to two action classics when Danny (Nick Frost) asks his new coworker Nicholas (Simon Pegg) a simple question: “Point BreakorBad Boys II?” He’s not asking which one he’d prefer; he’s asking which one to watch first. Danny treats both these movies as gospel, a blueprint for what his life as a copshouldlook like. So when the plot starts to ramp up, Wright gives him just that.Point Breakgets the lengthier sequence, as Wright recreates the chase scene that ends with Johnny Utah firing his gun in the air and screaming, unable to stop his criminal friend from getting away.
(Slight spoilers ahead.) InHot Fuzz, Danny is conflicted about stopping his own father, who he’s recently learned is aiding a cult in their hometown. It’s an interesting twist on the dynamic between Johnny Utah and Bodhi, and it points to the true hero ofHot Fuzz.Although the story starts and ends with Sergeant Nicholas Angel, the efficient city cop turned country officer, Danny is the character with the real emotional arc. It’s his family tragedy the drives the mystery plaguing the town, and he’s the one who learns and grows the most. So if all the movie’s emotional highs are spurred by Danny, then he has to be the one to point his gun in the air and say, “Aaaaah!”
Bad Boys II
Danny’s other favorite movie still gets its due. Wright cleverly cuts Danny and Nicholas’s late-night movie marathon so that they’re waking up right as the famous “This shit just got real” scene fromBad Boys IIplays. The smash cut that follows shows the charred remains of George Merchant, proving that shit has also gotten real for the Sanford police squad.
Nicholas repeats the line later on the phone to his boss with much less cool than Martin Lawrence, after an assassin tries to murder him in his hotel room.
This 1976 horror film features heavily inHot Fuzz. The most obvious nod is the casting of Billie Whitelaw as Joyce Cooper, the (seemingly) sweet old lady who runs the hotel in town with her husband. She also played Damien’s nanny Mrs. Baylock inThe Omen. This could be a mere coincidence, if it weren’t for an extra gruesome death scene right in the middle ofHot Fuzz.
(Slight spoilers ahead.)Wright clearly drew inspiration from Father Brennan’s death inThe Omenwhen he dispatched local reporter Tim Messenger inHot Fuzz. Father Brennan is killed after frantically running through the stormy outdoors, seeking shelter under the church steeple. A lightning rod snaps and impales him. Messenger also sees the church as a safe haven where he can discuss sensitive information with his police confidant. He’s proven wrong when a cloaked figure pushes part of the steeple off the church roof. Messenger’s death is much messier than Brennan’s – since he’s felled by a large piece of stone, the entire upper half of his body basically explodes. The over-the-top gore lends some humor to the scene, and makes Messenger’s death all the more fitting. Isn’t it appropriate that a typo-prone reporter should go out under such a uniquely distastrous “accident”?The scene is mirrored a second time inan even sillier waytowards the end of the film. So it’s obvious that Wright “truly loves"The Omen, but just in case you doubted him, he’sstill referencingit in 2017.
Flash Gordon
Scott Pilgrimis understandably more concerned with video game references than film nods, but Wright still managed to sneak a few in. One inspiration wasFlash Gordon. “Some people seem to be down on the 1980Flash Gordon, but personally, I love it,” Wright explainedonKotaku. “I think it’s really colorful, it’s really fun. The design in it is amazing. The effects are maybe-not-kinda-great by [today’s] standards, but it’s just a bit of a blast.” He linked Scott’s ringer tees back toFlash Gordon, and he also included sound effects from the film in his movie.
The Warriors
Wright uses music as movie homage in the fight between Scott (Michael Cera) and Lucas Lee (Chris Evans). Since he’s a movie star, Lucas brings in a fleet of identical stuntmen to help him defeat Scott. They all wearing matching leather, not totally unlike the titular gang inThe Warriors. If your mind wasn’t already there, Wright makes sure it is by playing the Baseball Furies music during a portion of the scene. You can hear it best when the army of Lees is all lined up, peacocking but not yet fighting.
All that’s missing is a little facepaint, but Roxy Richter takes care of that later.
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
The final and most powerful of the Evil Exes inScott Pilgrim vs. the Worldis Gideon Gordon Graves (Jason Schwartzman), a record executive who enjoys white suits and controling Ramona’s mind. He’s sometimes called “G-Man,” which Wrightsays is a nodto “Z-Man” fromBeyond the Valley of the Dolls. Like Gideon, “Z-Man” is a Svengali-like manager with a flair for fashion and seriously bad intentions. He ends up doing some awful things to the girls in his band (as did his real-life inspiration, Phil Spector) and given Gideon’s control issues, you may imagine a much grislier alternative ending for him and Ramona.
References in The World’s End
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Wright took a different approach withThe World’s End, the final installment in his Cornetto trilogy. He pared down the nonstop winks to other movies,noting thatthere’s “no point in the film where we actively nod at another film.” But he also conceded thatInvasion of the Body Snatchersis baked into the DNA ofThe World’s End.
The basic storylines are somewhat identical – emotionless aliens mold themselves after individual humans and then quietly take their place.The World’s Endalso seems to riff on the creepy “scream” the blanks use in the 1978Invasion of the Body Snatchersto mark a human presence. Wright’s aliens don’t scream per se, but they do open their mouths wide and broadcast robotic commands (that happen to be voiced by a Wright regular, Bill Nighy).
Kurt Russell’s RJ MacReady tries to get a handle on the dire situation at an Antarctic research station inThe Thingthrough a simple test. He wants to know who’s still human, so he tests each man’s blood sample with a live copper wire. The mutant blood, he reasons, will “jump” at the wire. (Spoiler alert: he’s right.)
InThe World’s End, there are no petri dishes or copper wires, but the survivors do subject each other to a series of tests to prove their humanity – and since the “blanks” retain selective memory, the men, like MacReady, rely on their actual bodies to prove their case. Various scars and stupid stunts clear everyone’s names but the scene doesn’t just capture the paranoia of the original. It builds to a moment of emotional honesty, when Andy (Nick Frost) finally reveals the reason he stopped speaking with Gary (Simon Pegg). It’s a brutal revelation that Andy doesn’t bother to soften, due to sheer anger and exhaustion from fighting off aliens, and it’s exactly the right way to address this crucial piece of the plot.
