I have yet to see Tucker and Dale vs. Evil the way it should really be seen, in a theater with a group of people with varying senses of humor. There is something for everyone to laugh at in this wild hillbilly horror comedy, but when you’re watching it on a screener at home the joy of hearing people laugh at moments you may otherwise not laugh at isn’t there.
The collective enjoyment of some movies is necessary to make it even better and I’m sorry to say I haven’t yet had that experience with this film. However, considering I absolutely had a blast with it both times I watched it still says something about how good it is, despite my self-pitying caveat.
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is ultimately a simple case of stereotypes gone awry, beginning with a group of preppy college kids heading out on a camping trip in the West Virginia woods. At the same time, tattered hillbillies Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and his best friend Dale (Tyler Labine) are heading out to the same woods for a vacation at Tucker’s newly purchased vacation home, a rickety shack you’d expect someone like Leatherface walk out of. Yet, despite its appearance, Tucker is excited. After all, it was sold to him as a bit of a “fixer upper” and it’s time to get to fixin’.
When these two polar opposite groups have their first run in at a local gas station the lines are drawn, Tucker and Dale are looked at as a pair of creepy inbred mountain men, frightening the girls and putting the guys on edge. The audience this film is intended for will most likely be well aware of what normally happens when a group of kids head off into the woods and have a run in with the crazy people that live there and director Eli Craig uses that knowledge to his advantage.
Essentially, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil takes hillbilly horror film cliches and turns them on their head. A crazed man with a chainsaw isn’t chasing after that kid, he actually just sawed into a bee hive and is now running for dear life. No, they didn’t throw that kid into the wood chipper head first, he actually fell in there himself. Cross my heart.
As silly as it all sounds, it works perfectly with Tudyk and Labine playing the good-hearted and well-intentioned hillbillies with all out authenticity as what appears to be a suicide pact plays out before their confused eyes.
For anyone that’s watched Alan Tudyk before you can already picture him in this role and he owns it. Tudyk plays the worldlier of the two (if you can even call it that) but that doesn’t mean he’s any less likely to dowse his bee stung face with a Pabst Blue Ribbon to help soothe the pain. Labine, on the other hand, is more of a lovable teddy bear with amazing memory skills and an inferiority complex, a trait the film uses to full advantage.
As for the college kids, most are fresh faces though many will recognize “30 Rock” star Katrina Bowden as Allison, a character Tucker and Dale save from drowning after a freak skinny dipping accident. It’s this incident that actually leads Allison’s friends to believe Tucker and Dale have kidnapped their friend. One even believes he saw them “eating her face”, and now they must do anything they can to save her. The siege at Tucker’s vacation home begins…
For anyone that’s seen films such as Wrong Turn and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre this film is going to have you rolling. It’s comedically gory, loaded with laughs and a few one liners that had me laughing both times I watched it, with few better than the dry line, “It’s true Chad, you’re half hillbilly.” A harsh reality to face to be sure.
If I were to have any complaints, the film is almost too efficient for its own good. It wastes no time getting started and runs only 89 minutes, but at about the 60 minute mark it feels as if it should already be over. The final 20 minutes or so devolve into a bit of a throwaway ending that takes the satire just a smidge too far. It doesn’t hurt the film much, and I got a kick out of the small hint at the possibility of a sequel, but it’s definitely noticeable.
Overall, director Eli Craig and the film’s co-writer Morgan Jurgenson have crafted a unique horror comedy with spot on casting and more than enough fun for multiple viewings. I doubt I’ll ever get tired of watching this film… at least the first 60 or so minutes of it.
