Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010) starring Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss, Philip Granger, Brandon Jay McLaren, Christie Laing, Chelan Simmons directed by Eli Craig Movie Review

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)   4/54/54/54/54/5


Tyler Labine in Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

Tucker & Dale's Cabin in the Woods

Having bought a cabin in the woods, hillbillies Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) head there for a weekend to do some drinking, fishing and to set about repairing it. But also up in the woods are a group of college kids including Allison (Katrina Bowden) looking for a good time. When Allison gets in to trouble it is Tucker & Dale who come to her rescue except the other guys see and think that the two short on brain hillbillies are creepy kidnappers and set about rescuing her. But their misguided attempts only end up in a bloody mess and their own demise.

In Britain we have Simon Pegg & Nick Frost who after time working together on TV gave us the brilliant horror comedy "Shaun of the Dead" and then two further wonderful parody movies. It is a shame that Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk didn't follow suit as "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil" is up there for fun and frights as "Shaun of the Dead" and Labine and Tudyk share the same sense of chemistry as Pegg and Frost.

Alan Tudyk in Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

Hopefully those who know their movies will then know what to expect from "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil" but if not what we have is a humorous homage to horror. As such when it comes to the horror it is the constant nod to those movies where college kids head to the woods to party and end up dealing with a killer. It is beautifully done from the kids almost crashing in to Tucker & Dale as they make their way to the woods and end up keep on running in to them to the creepy guy who works in the shack of a grocery store. It runs thick and fast with nods to other horror movie but because the college kids in the woods set up is so sell known that you don't need to be aware of which exact movie it is parodying to find it amusing. What I will also say is never try to swat a bee with a chainsaw!

Of course a horror movie of this sort needs frights and gore with the emphasis on the gore more than the frights. And that is what you get with some comically graphic scenes including a rotary saw blade used as a throwing star at one point, slicing an innocent directly between the eyes as well as a scene involving a chainsaw, bee and a long spike.

But the real fun actually comes from the confusion set up as we have Tucker & Dale mistaken for killers by these kids and as these kids try to be heroes they inadvertently cause their own bloody deaths. It is a fun twist on the familiar set up which works firstly because the kids are comical cliches with Katrina Bowden being very easy on the eye. But secondly and more importantly Tudyk and Labine are so likeable as Tucker & Dale that everything they do and say is amusing, from Dale covering his eyes when he sees Allison undressing to their naivety over the fact their cabin belonged to a killer.

What this all boils down to is that "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil" is great and is up there with "Shaun of the Dead" when it comes to comedy horror. Much of that is down to Tudyk and Labine who work so well together that they deserve to appear in more movies together and I don't mean just sequels to "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil".


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