Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)

One word: FINALLY. I'd been longing to watch Tucker and Dale vs. Evil for a long time - since before its 2010 release, even, but it wasn't particularly widely released, and by the time it became practical for me to obtain a copy, I'd been distracted by a dozen or more other things. Subsequently, I'd occasionally notice it on the TV listings and grumble at length about why they always showed the good stuff in the midnight slot and weren't morning people allowed to have nice things, too?

...It turns out that morning people are, in fact, allowed to have nice things, particularly if they point out to their nearest and dearest that, well, they haven't yet seen Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, and that's always a viable alternative, isn't it?

So, what's the initial appeal?

Tucker and Dale is a horror comedy, for one thing, and while the subgenre is notoriously hard to pull off, the best of them are an absolute delight. If watching the first half hour of the likes of Cockneys vs Zombies is the price I pay for finding treasures like Black Sheep, I consider it well worth the sacrifice. An additional incentive came in the form of the presence of Alan Tudyk, who might have voiced a surprisingly scary villain in Pixar's Wreck-It Ralph, but who I'll always remember chiefly for this scene from Joss Whedon's much-missed Firefly.


Finally, now I've wiped the big soppy grin from off my face, I just flat-out liked the sound of the storyline, which centres around the titular characters, a couple of backwoods types who take a trip deep into mountain country to renovate Tucker's newly-acquired holiday cabin. On the way, they run into a bunch of college students at a sinister-looking gas station. Dale (Tyler Labine) is instantly smitten by the beautiful Allison (Katrina Bowden), but lacks the courage to talk to her, and when Tucker (Tudyk) pushes him to try, his nerves get the better of him. Dale is left disappointed and furious with himself, while the students are convinced they've walked into a real-life version of The Hills Have Eyes.

Chance throws the two groups again once they arrive at their destination, when the students decide to go skinnydipping at the same lake Tucker and Dale have chosen for a fishing expedition. Startled by an unexpected glimpse of a near-naked Allison perched on a rock, Dale cries out and startles her, causing her to hit her head and fall into the water. Tucker and Dale immediately go to her aid, but the rest of the students assume the worst, and scamper away in fear. The following morning, however, led by the suspiciously enthusiastic Chad (Jesse Moss), they decide they have to rescue their friend from the (perceived) psychotic killer rednecks, no matter what the cost to life and limb. With Tucker and Dale performing some major home and garden work and being none too careful about the kind of thing they leave lying around, some sort of accident is inevitable - before too long, the claret is spurting like the Bellagio fountains and our two heroes are sure they're at the mercy of a bizarre suicide cult.

Remember, kids, the back country is a dangerous place.

The good

Tucker and Dale is another one of those films I could rave about until I lose my voice and my fingers all dropped off. I started watching with perhaps unfeasibly high expectations, which it then proceeded to exceed. I watched bits of it, squeamishly, from behind a cushion; other parts made me laugh more than most films I've seen in the past five years. 

Short version: I loved it.

Longer version: whoever would have thought that the classic theatrical farce and the equally classic teen slasher movie could make such wonderful bedfellows? Tucker and Dale is first and foremost a comedy of errors, but as a horror pastiche it's also pretty spot-on. It makes a point of ticking off all the teen horror clichés before neatly subverting them, and by the time the movie's over you'll be wondering if Deliverance didn't only tell one side of the story. 

This brings me to my second point, which relates to social snobbery. The film has some important things to say about this, and about judging people based on appearances. It's not subtle, but I suspect a more discreet message might have been lost right around the time the chainsaws start whirring, or possibly at the point where the camera first lingers lovingly on a shiny, newly-hired woodchipper. 

Tudyk, Labine and Bowden are all delightful, displaying a decent range and some excellent comic timing. Labine and Bowden both display a very genuine sweetness that left me with a case of the warm fuzzies whenever they were on screen together. The rest of the protagonists have less to do, but they do it gamely, running and screaming as required with little concern for their dignity. Camera work is serviceable to good; it's not a pretty film per se, but neither is it an ugly one, and at 89 minutes, the story holds together tightly enough not to require loving shots of the scenery as a distraction.

The bad

Very, very little. If I did have one small criticism it would be of the final act, where after over an hour of clever trope subversion, the writing team finally give in and pander to perceived audience prejudices. To say more would be a spoiler, but I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed at the way things finally turned out.

The verdict

One of the most solidly satisfying pieces of entertainment I've seen in a long while. Tucker and Dale is funny, scary and occasionally thoughtful, an absolutely top piece of popcorn that I'm sure I'll revisit time and time again.