Edgar Wright is 52 years old today. He was born on 18 April 1974.
He co-wrote and directed the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy: Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World’s End (2013). Few people know of any of his other work. Even me. I know him from those films. And I know him for writing films like The Adventures of Tintin and Ant-Man.
Wright madea 40-minute film, Dead Right, which IMDb describes as, “Dirty Harry meets Airplane.” A couple of years later, he made his first feature film, A Fistful of Fingers. It is a comedy western. That is the thread that runs throughout his career: comedy.
He is a great comedy writer. But direction is where most comedies die. And Wright is one of the best comedy directors. Most important for people here, he loves genre and psychotronic films.
After Fingers, Edgar Wright spent about a decade directing TV and music videos. Then came Shaun of the Dead. Of the three films, it is my second favorite. As I’ve said before, Hot Fuzz is my favorite. I am least interested in The World’s End. But for an unusual reason.
The film creates such interesting characters. And their dynamics are so engaging. When the aliens show up, I wanted to go back to the regular tragicomedy that was presented previously. Or at least that was how I felt the first time I watched it. I like it just fine now. But I still think the first part of the film is the best.
The World’s End was the least successful of the three with audiences. And I commonly run into people who haven’t seen it. So let’s celebrate Edgar Wright’s birthday by watching it!
Other April 18th Anniversaries
Filmmakers:
- Shinobu Hashimoto (1918-2018): Screenwriter of The Hidden Fortress and Harakiri.
- Barbara Hale (1922-2017): Actor who portrayed loyal secretary Della Street in Perry Mason and its many films.
- Clive Revill (1930-1925): Actor in The Legend of Hell House and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.
- James Drury (1934-2020): Star of the TV series The Virginian.
- Hayley Mills (1946-): Star of Pollyanna, The Parent Trap, and many psychotronic films like Twisted Nerve.
- James Woods (1947-): Psychotronic icon in films like Videodrome and Vampires.
- Rick Moranis (1953-): SCTV star who was in a number of films like the remake of Little Shop of Horrors and The Flintstones.
- Eric Roberts (1956-): Actor who works so much (over 900 credits on IMDb) that it’s hard to know where to start; he was in Sanctimony and Raptor, to name but two.
- Maria Bello (1967-): Actor known for Payback and A History of Violence.
- David Tennant (1971-): The tenth Doctor in Doctor Who.
- Eli Roth (1972-): Director of Cabin Fever, Hostel, and more.
Films:
- The Whispering Shadow (1933) — mystery serial starring Bela Lugosi
- The Man With Nine Lives (1940) — science fiction horror film starring Karloff
- She (1965) — Hammer adventure film with Ursula Andress and Peter Cushing
- Legend (1985) — fantasy film starring Tom Cruise
- At Close Range (1986) — crime thriller starring Sean Penn and Christopher Walken
- RoboCop 3 (1993) — silly and sweet sequel
- 8 Heads In A Duffel Bag (1997) — crime comedy with Joe Pesci
- Head Cheerleader, Dead Cheerleader (2000) — teen horror
- The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) — Jackie Chan fantasy martial arts
- Zombie Strippers (2008) — zombie comedy starring Robert Englund
- Deadland (2009) — post-apocalyptic adventure.
Image cropped from Edgar Wright by John E Manard under CC BY-SA 4.0.