The Reel Review
A couple of easygoing hillbillies visiting their rundown vacation cabin in West Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains find their weekend fishing plans ruined when a group of clueless college students mistake them for psychopathic serial killers, in this 2010 horror/dark comedy.
Tucker & Dale vs Evil is a pretty hysterical parody of all those horror films about hillbillies torturing and killing lost travelers – The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the Wrong Turn films, Motel Hell and the like. The humor stems from lots of prejudices, misunderstandings and unfortunate accidents and showcases some pretty gnarly and hilarious deaths. (The one college kid accidentally diving headfirst into a woodchipper is a particular highlight.)
Alan Tudyk (3:10 to Yuma, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and Tyler Labine (Escape Room), as the unassuming hillbilly buddies, give the comedy its heart and personality, with Katrina Bowden (30 Rock) a welcomed addition as the unlikely ingenue. The only drawback is that the film’s most raucous comedy peaks in its midsection, leaving in its wake a slower and unnecessarily convoluted third act, but it is at least somewhat redeemed by a really sweet ending.
REEL FACTS
• Tucker & Dale vs. Evil was filmed in Alberta, Canada
• Tucker & Dale vs Evil won the Audience Award at the 2010 SXSW Festival and Best Film at the Sitges Film Festival.
• A special feature on the DVD plays the movie from the college kids’ perspective, in which Tucker and Dale are murderous villains.
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