How does Shaun of the dead subvert structuralist notions of genre?

How does Shaun of the dead subvert structuralist notions of genre?

Shaun of the dead was a horror film with a real twist as it did not follow all the codes and conventions we would expect to see in a horror film. This took what was potentially a structalist film and turned it in to a postmodernism comedic horror, in the film we get an idea that the film is trying to make a statement to the British public that their life’s are boring and like a routine basically Wake up, go to shop, go to work, come home watch TV  and go to bed and the film does this through the use of Shaun waking up like a zombie on several occasions and we twice see him do exactly the same routine.

The setting used for the film is going against most codes and conventions of a natural horror film aswell and appears to be quite hypocritical in that the suburbs is usually where you expect peace and quiet and in this film we see the area becoming quite manic and full of zombies which would seem pretty unrealistic compared to a street in central London where the population would be a lot higher and therefore more chance of a zombie attack.

The characters we are with for most the film appear to follow of a structuralists view in that we have different types of characters though all that being said they challenge the codes and conventions  in that your usual horror film you would find a jock, a geek, a hero, a promiscuous girl  etc but in this we seem to find a comedy side as we pass another group of characters with very similar features but of that a girl leader which we would not find in a horror film of a structuralist film so this challenges the conventions of horror where the hero would usually be a male saving a promiscuous girl. Talking about the hero Shaun is not really your typical hero either as he is an every day shop assistant who has messed up with his girlfriend this contradicts your typical hero who usually appears they know there the hero from the beginning as they tend to be very big headed and the girls usually seek to there protection.

The props used in Shaun of the dead go against the codes and conventions of a typical horror film as the weapons used by the men are a spade which would usually be deemed as a gardening object not a weapon to go attacking zombies with while Shaun uses a cricket bat which usually we would associate with a middle class man not a working class shop assistant again to go an attack zombies with although there is also some comedy used in this again where Liz is using an axe this again show us that Liz appears to have more power than the 2 males in this film which goes against your every day structralist theory of a horror film. Not only those 3 weapons but during the early scenes of the film the 2 males just pick up everyday objects to attack the zombies like throwing a old records like a Frisbee this takes this horror film to a postmodernism film as they take the Mick by trying to kill these potentially dangerous zombie with records and jars from the kitchen and while this going on they have time to decide what to throw they do not appear very bothered that the zombies are walking towards them which again shows why this is a comedy as well as a horror.

In Shaun of the Dead Liz challenges one of the key theories Clovers “final girl theory” as in most typical horror films the final girl is very dippy, screaming and running away all the time etc but in Shaun of dead she seems very well organised and knows what she is doing this again challenges the codes and conventions of horror as she can also be seen as the hero with along with Shaun. One thing that does still follow a structuralists view  of  horror is that slowly all the group of the characters are dying which shows they do follow some codes and conventions of horror as the group eventually ends up with just Shaun and Liz the two heroes for each other but cannot save their mates and family.

In conclusion in Shaun of the dead we can see it does follows some structuralists views on horror for example many of the group dying and there being a group of people who are completely different but it challenges the codes and conventions of horror very much with the props that are being used the fact the hero can be deemed as much Liz as it is Shaun also the way in which the zombies are so not frightening and in most horror films you would expect the enemy to look scary