66 Essential British Films To Take Your Mind Off The World Cup

37. Shaun Of The Dead (2004)

The first and best of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's Cornetto Trilogy. Shaun of the Dead's global success saw a sudden surge in American interest in British genre product and launched both of its creators into mainstream careers. Subsequent chapters Hot Fuzz and The World's End didn't reach the heights of Shaun but they had a lot to live up to. Just ten years after its releaseShaun of the Dead has come to be an undisputed classic of the horror-comedy genre.

36. Tommy (1975)

They just don't make them like Tommy any more and its doubtful they ever will. Visually it is a film completely of its time but that is one of its most enduring strengths. Alongside Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise and The Rocky Horror Picture Show it represents a cycle of early-seventies rock musicals but is distinct from those two works by being uniquely British. This isn't surprising given that musically it is one of many career highlights of the ultimate English Rock band The Who.

35. Yellow Submarine (1968)

From one "ultimate English rock band" to another. The Beatles' third feature-length film is unique from the other two by being almost entirely animated, and save for a wraparound live-action segment it doesn't actually feature the Beatles. Bizarrely it was mooted as a remake idea by Robert Zemeckis a few years ago, using the mo-cap technique he used in Polar Express and Beowulf.