10 Films That Influenced ‘Baby Driver’ Director Edgar Wright

Before Baby Driver crashed the theaters this summer, writer-director Edgar Wright was best known for the “Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy,” which is also known as the “Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy.”

The trio of British films all feature Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. In order, the films are Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World’s End (2013). The films are all supernatural in nature, while also being bloody, with a side of ice cream.

So which films shaped these movies from Edgar Wright?

Raising Arizona (1987)

Director Coen Brothers: "When a childless couple of an ex-con and an ex-cop decide to help themselves to one of another family's quintuplets, their lives become more complicated than they anticipated."

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Director John Landis: "Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists."

Carrie (1976)

Director Brian De Palma: "Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom."

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Director Steven Spielberg: "Archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis." 

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Director Stanley Kurbrick: "Humanity finds a mysterious, obviously artificial object buried beneath the Lunar surface and, with the intelligent computer H.A.L. 9000, sets off on a quest."

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

Director Sergio Leone: "A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery."

Taxi Driver (1976)

Director Martin Scorsese: "A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, while attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process."

Don't Look Now (1973)

Director Nicolas Roeg: "A married couple grieving the recent death of their young daughter are in Venice when they encounter two elderly sisters, one of whom is psychic and brings a warning from beyond." 

Dirty Harry (1971)

Director Don Siegel: "When a mad man calling himself 'the Scorpio Killer' menaces the city, tough as nails San Francisco Police Inspector Harry Callahan is assigned to track down and ferret out the crazed psychopath."

The Driver (1978)

Director Walter Hill: "The Driver is a specialist in a rare business: he drives getaway cars in robberies. His exceptional talent prevented him from being caught yet. After another successful flight from the police, a self-assured detective makes it his primary goal to catch the Driver."