Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

If you have seen any horror ever, then you will have some modicum of appreciation for Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. Brilliantly written and executed, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is not your typical horror movie. It takes all the preconceived notions we have have about the Appalachian Mountains, hillbillies, and college frat boys and turns them on their head. Brought to by Zombieland director, Eli Craig and co-written by Eli Craig and Morgan Jurgenson, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is a definite hidden gem.

The Premise

Best friends Tucker and Dale are heading up to their cabin in the woods for a little relaxation. After an ill-fated encounter with a group of college kids, they inadvertently take an unconscious woman home. Because of this, the collegiate group assume the duo are murderous hillbillies and resort to violent tactics to rescue their friend. Unfortunately, all their rescue attempts backfire and they all begin dying off around Tucker and Dale's property.

My Take

All Tucker wants to do is go up to his newly purchased vacation cabin ("it's a fixer-upper"), get a few chores done, sneak in a little fishing and hang out with his best friend Dale. All Dale wants to do is one day meet a nice girl and settle down. All a group of insanely good-looking college kids want to do is go camping in the deep woods of the Appalachian Mountains and not be murdered by a bunch of blood thirsty hillbillies. Everyone could have had what they wanted had it not been for one simple misunderstanding at the last gas station on the way out to their final destinations.

College kid Chad puts the idea in his friends' heads that Tucker and Dale just might be the dangerous murderous hillbillies that they are trying to avoid. After an accident while night swimming, Tucker and Dale are forced to save an unconscious and drowning Allison while the rest of the college friends run screaming from the hillbilly duo. This sets off a chain reaction in which each friend tries to save the perfectly safe Allison and ends up dying an unnecessary, however hilariously gruesome, death in the process. Unfortunately, the friends die on Tucker and Dale's property, feeding the illusion that the two friends are savage killers.

Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine, portray Tucker and Dale. They may as well be best friends in real life, they play off each other so well. Tudyk takes the reigns as the (slightly) better looking and (slightly) smarter Tucker as Labine takes the passenger seat as more dimwitted Dale. Every situation they get into, no matter how absurd, becomes completely believable as the pair draw you into the story with their quick quips and complete commitment to each other. While he could be, and at times is, altogether angry with Dale for dragging him into their predicament, Tucker is still trying to bail them out. You could even say this is a movie about true hillbilly friendship.

Meanwhile, in the college camp, Chad, played by Jesse Moss (who I thoroughly enjoyed in Ginger Snaps), is so busy trying to blame Tucker and Dale for kidnapping Allison (portrayed by the lovely Katrina Bowden) that he can't open his eyes long enough to see the truth. However, Allison has learned that Dale is a true gentleman and sweetheart. Also during the interim, chaos has broken loose. Kids are impaling themselves on spears, chucking themselves into wood chippers and running into ludicrously sharp branches. It doesn't end there. Brandon Jay McLaren (who I currently enjoy watching as I get caught up on The Killing), Christie Laing, Chelan Simmons, Travis Nelson, Alex Arsenault, Adam Beauchesne, and Joseph Allan Sutherland round out the talented cast as the inept college kids.

The Verdict

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil gives a nod to several horror classics from the past. If you are a fan of the genre, then you should be able to pick them out. This is one of the few movies we subject our guests to on a regular basis. If they haven't seen it, we cue it up just to have an excuse to watch it again. I give Tucker & Dale vs. Evil 9/9 college kids.