Tucker and Dale VS. Evil: A Quick Review

One of the greatest movies I will ever have the privilege of seeing was a horror comedy (Shaun of the Dead). There's something about laughing in the face of terror that ups the comedy factor. Sadly, most recent horror comedy spoofs start with the word Scary and end with the word Movie followed by some ridiculous number. You have to be careful with these types of films, because they may look funny but then all the funny parts just end up in the trailer. Tucker and Dale intrigued me because 1. it had Alan Tudyk who is a favorite of mine and 2. the trailer did make the movie seem genuinely funny. I still didn't expect too much and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) are two hillbilly best friends. They recently purchased an old fixer-er-up cabin in the woods as a vacation home (that was previously owned by a serial killer). A group of sexy, young college kids head up to the same area to camp and whatever else sexy young college kids do in the woods. (Get crunk, make babies etc.) They have a few run-ins with Tucker and Dale before arriving at the campsite and peg the two as creepy backwoods people when in reality they are just nice guys from a different part of the country. Well one night, when Tucker and Dale are fishing, the kids decide to go skinny dipping in the lake. Allison (Katrina Bowden of 30 Rock) accidentally falls off a rock and hits her head a little ways from the group. Tucker and Dale rescue her from the water but to the college kids it looks like they've kidnapped her. The kids vow to get her back and after unfortunate misunderstandings and misreading situations they end up accidentally killing themselves all over the woods, much to the dismay of Tucker and Dale.

First of all, however unlikely it is that these kids would actually accidentally kill themselves is besides the point, because it is freaking hilarious. Now, usually I am not a gore fan. But in a comedic setting (Tropic Thunder, Shaun of the Dead) I find it absolutely hilarious. When a kid mistakenly jumped into a woodchipper and it looked like Tucker was shoving him in there, I was rolling in my seat. It was great. Blood went everywhere. Add to that a nice little twist in the end so all the kids getting killed off isn't entirely pointless.

Tucker and Dale were a great combo. They delivered their lines well and had a full devotion to their roles. Even if the movie isn't serious it is nice to see the actors take it seriously as well. And for a film making light of death and spoofing the many, many movies about hillbilly murder rampages, Tucker and Dale has a lot of heart. Friendship through all and general human goodness in the light of horrible tragedy. But that may be getting to philosophical for a movie called Tucker and Dale VS. Evil.

3 out of 4 stars. Not 3.5 because I didn't laugh out loud the whole time, I mostly just enjoyed watching the film.

-Christopher O'Connell

"I always knew that if someone like me went for someone like you, people would end up dead."