4. Recurring Gags and Themes
These three films are named the Blood and Ice Cream trilogy for a cool reason. In Shaun Of The Dead, we see Shaun getting a red Cornetto alluding to the blood and gore of the zombie horror. In Hot Fuzz, Nicholas Angel and Danny get some blue Cornettos because they are policemen, the actual Boys In Blue. And The World's End looks set to round it out with a green Cornetto symbolising aliens (seen in the trailer at the 1:20 with their metal legs War Of The Worlds style). We see an homage to the fence gag, with Pegg this time being the one trying and failing to climb fences (another nod to the role reversal going on). The plot involves a small town where the people all seem to be in on the secret and wary of the outsiders. Sound familiar? And a fight in a pub using anything they have to hand? Oh yeah. These guys have built themselves a neat little universe and intend to pay tribute to it. It's cool to think that Shaun Of The Dead, a movie based on a scene in a little Channel 4 Sitcom called Spaced (check it out if you haven't done so), gave rise to a trilogy that has become ridiculously popular and quoted in pubs up and down the country. So after creating your own set-ups, why not use them for one final hurrah?