10 Horror Movie Performances That Proved EVERYONE Wrong
5. Simon Pegg - Sean Of The Dead
Before Shaun of the Dead hit our screens in 2004; the assumption was that horror movies couldn't be funny.
Simon Pegg blasted that assumption away with his performance as reluctant zombie basher Shaun in what quickly became a cult classic, Shaun of the Dead. The gory, yet utterly hilarious zombie comedy sees waste-of-space loser Shaun finally get his act together in a desperate attempt to win back his girlfriend as the apocalypse unfolds around them.
Shaun of the Dead is absolute comedy gold from start to finish, expertly balancing jump scares with a razor sharp script and a surprisingly emotional, feel good story of personal redemption.
At the centre of this masterpiece is Pegg, who became known to mainstream audiences in an explosion of popularity following the film's release and ultimately led to two further installments in the wildly popular "Cornetto" Trilogy.
Pegg seamlessly flows between a depressing, deadbeat electronics shop worker freshly dumped by his girlfriend to a Mad Max-esque, cricket bat wielding foil to the zombie apocalypse. An absolutely flawless performance which took the stereotype that you can't laugh until your sides ache during a horror film and beat it to death with a pool cue in time to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now".