Richard returns to his home town of Matlock, Derbyshire, in the Peak District, England, after serving in the British Army.

Flashbacks reveal Anthony's abuse by a group of drug dealers in the town; Richard vows to take revenge.

Fellow gang members Big Al and Gypsy John have also had their hair and clothes painted during the night.

When Gypsy John goes to the toilet, Richard (having sneaked into the house) kills him with an axe, using the dead man's blood to smear the words "One Down" on the wall.

However, he misses and kills Al. With no rounds remaining in the rifle, they retreat back to town as Richard smiles.

The surviving members stop at a local petrol station where the car breaks down and Tuff runs off, fearing Richard's revenge.

The next day, Richard arrives in a nearby town where the final gang member, Mark, lives with his wife and two sons.

Richard confesses to killing the other men, admits that he considered his brother a 'spastic' and an 'embarrassment', and tells Mark that he now feels like a monster.

[4] Meadows was keen to get back to his short film roots and cowrote the script with Considine and long-time collaborator Paul Fraser.

Originally intended to be a black comedy about a heroic social worker based on a real-life event that Considine had come across, the story took a darker turn when Meadows remembered a friend with disabilities who had died when he was young.

[5] Taking inspiration from these real-life situations they had experienced and people they had encountered and the feel of exploitation films,[6] Meadows and Considine turned in a story outline originally titled The Skull.

[10] Similarly, former boxer Gary Stretch was hired at the eleventh hour after expressing interest in making films in Britain.

Tracks that appeared in the film but not on the soundtrack album include "Monkey Hair Hide" by The Leisure Society, "A King at Night" by Bonnie "Prince" Billy, "De Profundis" by Arvo Pärt, "Let My Prayer Arise" by Dmitry Bortniansky, sung by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, "Chinese Water Python" by Robyn Hitchcock, "Sunny Days" by Position Normal and "The Only One" Featuring.

A limited-edition graphic novel adapted and illustrated by Anjan Sarkar and based on the script was published to tie in with the release of the film.

[20] Writing in The Observer, Philip French called the film "A very skilful, superbly edited piece of moviemaking".

"[24] The film was ranked number 180 in Empire magazine's "201 Greatest Movies of All Time" feature in the March 2006 issue.

It also made other appearances in the magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time, where it was ranked at number 462,[25] and in October 2011, where it came 27th in the "100 Best British Films Ever.

Paddy Considine won Best British Actor at the 2005 Empire Awards, beating, among others, Simon Pegg for Shaun of the Dead and Daniel Craig for Layer Cake.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Though enhanced by cramped, gritty camerawork, this unsettling look at violence and revenge lacks the provocative edge needed to give it a substantial kick.

[30] On 17 November 2012, as part of Warp Films 10-year anniversary celebrations (WarpFilms10), Dead Man's Shoes was re-scored live at the Magna Science and Adventure Centre in Rotherham by musicians Gavin Clark, Joel Cadbury, Jah Wobble and more.