8. The NWA Murder For Petty Reasons Hot Fuzz
Pretty much the perfect archetype of a ridiculous overreaction, Sandfords Neighbourhood Watch Alliance an NWA named after N****z With Attitude, I kid you not appear at first to be killing for sophisticated reasons involving the protection of local businesses by keeping people from developing some real estate that would be perfect for a retail park development. Of course, the real truth turns out to be somewhat less complex, and commendably more bonkers theyre murdering so they can keep their status as Village Of The Year. Eve Draper and Martin Blower are killed because theyre terrible actors, George Merchant is blown up because his house doesnt match the villages rustic aesthetic, Tim Messenger is splattered because he cant spell in the local paper properly and Lesley Tiller is stabbed because they dont want her sharing her horticultural expertise with any other village, not least those heathens from Buford Abbey. Its probably the most macabre overreaction on here, and the most hilarious to boot not even protagonist Nicholas Angel can quite believe why a community would massacre so many people that doesnt include the pub younglings, Sergeant Popwell, Arthur Webley and the living statue for something seemingly so trivial, but to the films credit (well, I guess it is a spoof) it plays the premise dead straight. Having the cuddly Jim Broadbent explain why everyones being so evil is a joy to behold, and seeing him try to explain away an obvious overreaction with tales about travellers and Dastun Cherries is a joy to behold.