I have a dirty little secret: I hate most horror movies. There, I said it. I find myself laughing at pretty much any horror movie that is released; I’m not sure why, maybe I am just genetically incapable of enjoy all that others love about the genre. Of course, there are exceptions, older classics that defined the genre – many of which will get a review during our month of horror movie reviews – but really anything recent is just ridiculous to me; The Ring, laughable. The Exorcism of Emily Rose, puh-lease. The Grudge, no.
But I digress.
A while back I saw a preview for a film called Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil, and immediately wanted to see it. A “horror” movie you’re actually supposed to laugh at?! Count me in. Luckily, it hit Netflix Instant pretty quickly and I was not disappointed. Fortunately for you, it is still on Netflix Instant for your viewing pleasure and you should definitely check it out during this month of ghosts and goblins and all that jazz.
Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil, written and directed by Eli Graig, follows the story of two hapless rednecks, Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine). Tucker has just purchased a dilapidated cabin out in the woods and the two venture out to begin fixing it up. Unfortunately for them, a group of dimwitted college students have set up camp not too far away, and after an accident during a night of skinny-dipping and Tucker and Dale’s good intentions in trying to help, a series of unfortunate events leads to the death of just about every one of the college students – painting Tucker and Dale as your classic “murderous rednecks in the woods” characters.
The great thing about this film is we get to see things play out from two different points of view: Tucker and Dale’s, and the college students who have seen one too many horror movies. Tucker wants nothing more than to fix up his cabin in which he has dumped his life savings in, and Dale is his friend who has a heart the size of Venus (not sure why I picked that planet…). I really love the angle that the two villains are nothing more than well-meaning guys trying to fix up a cabin, and the college students overreact to the situation and convince themselves that things are playing out like a horror movie. From Dale trying to let the kids know that their injured friend is with them and is okay with a note carved into wood that reads “WE GOT YOUR FRIEND”, to a death involving one of the kids inadvertently throwing himself headlong into a wood-chipper and the others witnessing Tucker trying to pull him out, this film is full of gory laughs that doesn’t so much make fun of the horror genre as offer up a different, goofy perspective.
The comedic timing is really good, and the characters of Tucker and Dale are well done. Craig could have gone a different path with this film and make the two beloved hillbillies completely unaware of how things are playing out around them, but instead Tucker and Dale quickly become aware of how events appear to have happened and do everything they can to right the situation – at least in their well-meaning ways – and I think this adds far more comedic value to these characters. The college kids are one-dimensional characters that serve a single purpose: to die. No need to flesh these characters out, but they do nail the horror movie stereotypes (i.e. the black kid is concerned about dying quickly because he’s black and “that’s what happens” in horror films) for a lot of good laughs.
I really can’t recommend this movie enough, and with this being the month of October, what better time to watch it? Horror movie fans will appreciate what writer/director Eli Craig has done with this comedic homage to the genre, and folks looking for a good comedy will find themselves laughing throughout the tight 89-minute run-time. Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil is available now on Netflix Instant, so add it to your queue and give it a watch before the end of the month!
Check out our other horror movie revues we’ve done this month thus far: