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I've been waiting sooooo long for this to actually come out... And it's out on dvd and blu ray soon every where apart from the US!
How far can you take a single joke? At first glance not far, but Tucker & Dale vs. Evil constitutes a surprising exception. It’s based on a single concept – those scary hillbillies in the woods are really just a couple of lovable goofs – that probably couldn’t stand up to a five-minute Saturday Night Live sketch. Then lo and behold, director/co-writer Eli Craig spins it out into a marvelously funny horror-comedy that achieves far more than its slight premise suggests.
We definitely find ourselves in torture porn territory, as a gaggle of obnoxious college kids heads out to the Appalachians for some good old-fashioned camping. Unfortunately, they’re spotted on the way in by Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) whose creepy demeanor and unsettling farming implements speak ill for the future of our plucky young heroes. But wait! Seems these two just want to do some fishing in their new backwoods vacation home and seem crazy just because Dale is too shy to talk to girls. Unfortunately, the damage is done and when one of the college girls bangs her head in the local swimming hole, Tucker and Dale get blamed.
What follows is an extended comedy of errors as the kids think the duo are out to get them and – through their own panic – accidentally off themselves in ways that make it look for all the world like the duo are out to get them. For instance, Tucker accidentally hits a beehive while working with his chainsaw, then charges right at one poor idiot who spears himself on a nearby tree branch when he flees. As the body count rises, so does mutual paranoia until the two sides are convinced they need to off each other just to survive.
It works in the first act because Craig imbues each gag with a great deal of creativity. We pick up on the rhythm early enough – spotting the moments when the next “victim” is going to buy it – but Tucker & Dale subverts our expectations each and every time. At first the title characters remain blissfully ignorant of the inadvertent carnage, but when the blood finally spatters in their face, they express far more horror at it than their supposed victims. (With one or two exceptions, the college kids are all self-absorbed douches, and one of them may even be a full-fledged sociopath.) When the initial formula starts to wear thin, Craig shakes it up with just enough tweaks to replenish our goodwill.
The subversion of stereotypes stays sharp thanks in no small part to sympathetic turns from Tudyk and Labine (who you might recognize as the good-hearted lab technician from Rise of the Planet of the Apes). They plant us firmly in their characters’ corners from the beginning, and while most of the humor hinges on their hapless pratfalls, we never dismiss them as the butt of easy jokes. Their innate likeability moves the film past its few weak points and prevents the Meta from devouring it whole. Craig misses the boat a little with some heavy-handed messages about judging books by their covers, but in every other respect, he hits the right tone every time. We’re left with a subversive genre exercise that once again reminds us how much fun scary movies are supposed to be.
And it does carry its share of scares; indeed if you looked at the film in brief snippets you’d think it was full-fledged torture porn. Tucker & Dale remains a comedy from start to finish, but gorehounds will easily spot kindred spirits behind the camera. Context informs everything and the terrific send-up of horror clichés benefits from cleaving so close to the (ahem) bone. Its closest cousin is probably Shaun of the Dead, though shades of the Evil Dead series crop up as well. That’s fine company to keep, and I’m happy to report that Tucker & Dale vs. Evil ultimately earns it.
I've been waiting sooooo long for this to actually come out... And it's out on dvd and blu ray soon every where apart from the US!
Whatched it a couple of weeks ago. Laughed a lot. I'd give it an A for fun. If you are a fan of the teen slasher...you'll love this film. "These kids are on some suicide pact. They keep killing themselves."
BTW, Alan Tudyk is so underrated as an actor. Death at a Funeral and 3:10 to Yuma. Nuff said.
Yes. I thought it was a charming and well made movie. Really enjoyed it.
Rob, this was nowhere near 'torture porn' territory. This was the same amount of gore that you'd see in the old 80's slasher flicks and horror movies. Mainly due to the fact that this movie had about the same budget as one of those early 80's horror movies.
Very funny, well done and moves along at a good pace. I'd definitely see this one again. Rating a solid A.
I gotta agree with DaForce.
I just watched this movie today and was very entertained. I can kinda understand the Shawn of the Dead reference. At points it felt like that......only to suddenly take its own twist and stand out as its own.
It was hardly torture-porn.....and that's coming from a dude that actually enjoyed the 1st Hostel movie. It was its own, unique, individual and yet thought-provoking.
The reviewer complains about the movie preaching that not all stereotypes are what they seem to be....they are, in fact, not. I find myself quite a bit looking at someone and instantly judging the book by the cover. This movie made me really think of how i am, myself.
This movie did great in being its own entity and yet truly pointing out the facts that a LOT of people are stereotypical in this world.
/wordsofyiddishfromadrunkman
And again......where the f*ck is the stuff on supernatural? the reviews and what-not? I don't wanna hear that crap that it didn't garner enough attention for reviews. I've seen more people talk about that and various other shows than the news that's been recently posted.
I love this site, but c'mon mon!
I'm glad this has reviewed well. Can't wait to see it.