With its hilarious banter, pulsing action, and compelling mystery, Hot Fuzz is often viewed as the funniest contribution to Nick Frost and Simon Pegg's Cornetto Trilogy. Even if it weren't part of the beloved series, its satirization of both buddy cop and slasher movies would make it a favorite among fans of genre mashups.
Whether viewers like the interpersonal relationship that develops between the big city cop and the small town constable working together to solve murders, the concept of sinister villagers hiding devilish secrets, particularly gruesome death scenes, or the self-referential humor derived from multiple genres, these movies will satisfy any fan of Hot Fuzz's winning formula.
Werewolves Within (2021) - Available To Rent On Apple TV+
A series of strikingly savage murders start happening in a small, wintry town, forcing its residents to stick together in the local inn. But as a storm approaches, trapping them there, they come face to face with the truth about the killer... who just might be a werewolf!
Much like An American Werewolf in London, Werewolves Within satirizes the werewolf genre through humor, slapstick, and gore, but what makes it an ingenious mashup movie like Hot Fuzz is its farcical premise, a slasher movie wrapped up in a whodunnit with a group of oddballs trying to determine who might have been turned into a rampaging killer.
Knives Out (2019) - Available To Watch On Amazon Prime
When an eccentric author and patriarch dies under mysterious circumstances, his large family scrambles to find out how -- as well as who will inherit his wealth and estate. His caretaker and an unconventional detective investigate the mystery, uncovering dark clues along the way that has everyone's Knives Out.
Just like in Hot Fuzz, the licentious characters in this murder mystery have something to hide and are often compared to the sinister suspects in the mystery game movie Clue. Two unlikely heroes solve the crime while poking holes in typical archetypes found in the whodunnit genre.
Dragnet (1987) - Available To Rent On Apple TV+
This '80s classic (based on the incredibly popular television series of the same name) pairs no-nonsense Detective Sgt. Joe Friday with a new wisecracking partner, Pep Streebeck. The misguided duo investigates a crime wave of ritualistic killings sweeping Los Angeles, becoming unlikely friends in the process.
Just like in Hot Fuzz, the straight man and the comic relief learn that each other's behavior is actually an asset while on the case. Not only that, but every murder points back to a creepy cult led by a charismatic leader of the community.
Evil Dead 2 (1987) - Available To Watch On HBO Max
One of the most celebrated horror comedies in the genre, Evil Dead 2 takes the same basic premise as the first Evil Dead, but this time, as Ash Williams fights demons in a remote cabin (one of which includes his girlfriend), there's an absurdist recalibration of the blood-soaked shenanigans.
It's difficult to make horror movies unpredictable, but as in Hot Fuzz, this movie takes risks to make something memorable for fans of the genre, including impressive special effects and camera work on a surprisingly small budget.
Shaun Of The Dead (2004) - Available To Rent On Apple TV+
It would be unconscionable to exclude Edgar Wright's first entry in The Cornetto Trilogy, Shaun of the Dead, in which a London slacker must defend his family and friends from the undead. With its ironic humor, excessive gore, and strong comedic performances, it's often considered Wright's superior genre riff.
Deftly mixing all the best tropes of the zombie genre (including poking fun at the length of time it takes to become a zombie after being bitten), Shaun of the Dead - like Hot Fuzz both mocks the movies it references and manages to be an excellent addition to their number.
What We Do In The Shadows (2014) - Available To Rent On Apple TV+
This mockumentary kicked off the What We Do In The Shadows franchise of the same name, though it features an entirely different cast of four vampires all trying to live together in an apartment.
For fans of Hot Fuzz's particular brand of referential humor, all of the most well-known and conspicuous aspects of vampire behavior in pop culture are brought up and eviscerated in this movie to hilarious degrees.
The Dead Don't Die (2019) - Available To Rent On Apple TV+
In a sleepy little town much like Sandford, animals start dying and the moon looks awfully strange. Bizarre situations point to only one thing - something supernatural. The citizens of Centerville turn to Officer Ronald and Chief Cliff Robertson to protect them from the hordes of the undead that inevitably arise.
Filled with witty humor from a talented ensemble cast, this horror-comedy pays homage to the zombie movies it spoofs while also combining buddy cop tropes to deliver a suspenseful, gore-fueled fright fest.
The Other Guys (2010) - Available To Rent On Apple TV+
One worker drone detective and one anxious for some street action team up to make some headlines, yearning for the notoriety of their more valiant counterparts. But can "the other guys" really be the ones to bust the biggest case the squad's ever seen wide open?
Since Hot Fuzz is assuredly a sendup to the buddy cop comedy it often gets compared to The Other Guys, which offers equally absurd situations and commentary, though its characters are slightly less self-aware of the tropes inherent to their universe. They might try not to blink while walking slowly away from explosions, but they don't mention anything about action-man stoicism.
Ready Or Not (2019) - Available To Rent On Apple TV+
Hide and seek becomes the world's most dangerous game when a newlywed couple attends game night at the groom's family estate, and much like Squid Game, the evening's childlike challenge gets bloody before it gets better as the bride gets uncomfortably close to her in-laws.
Ready or Not has its fun satirizing a variety of genres (most notably horror and slasher) just like Hot Fuzz and also includes similarly graphic death scenes. Its large cast of eccentric characters - each with their own dark secret - would be right at home in Sandford.
Scream (1996) - Available To Rent On Apple TV
While it could be dismissed as a typical teens-get-picked-off-one-by-one slasher movie, Wes Craven's horror classic offers insight as sharp as Ghostface's knife. As the killer stalks students in their suburban homes, there's both sufficient tensions as well as self-referential parody as each victim gets slain.
In a similar vein to Hot Fuzz, the movie features characters like Danny that know all about (in its case) the horror genre, and while Scream contains all the tropes inherent to that genre, it acts very much as an homage rather than a straight spoof or parody.