Release Date: December 12, 2010 | DVD Release Date: November 29, 2011
In Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010), Tucker (Suburgatory’s Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine, probably best known for Breaker High) purchase their dream vacation home, a lakefront cabin in West Virginia. On the way to the cabin, they come across a group of college students at a gas station, headed out to camp by the lake. Dale approaches Allison (Katrina Bowden of Sex Drive) at the urging of Tucker, who thinks he needs to build self-confidence. Allison and her friends are startled by Tucker and Dale’s hillbilly appearance and what follows is a night of misunderstandings and revenge. The acting in Tucker and Dale vs Evil is of the highest caliber. Tudyk is a comedy actor known for his pompous stuffed-shirt roles, but he dives into the mountain man persona and owns that rough-looking man with the heart of gold. Tucker and Dale vs Evil is a twist on the backwoods, banjo-playing horror genre. When the college kids reach the lake, Allison is accidentally knocked out while swimming and when Tucker and Dale rescue her and take her to the cabin to administer first aid, her fellow students think she’s been kidnapped. Their leader, Chad (played by Canadian actor, Jesse Moss) swears vengeance and what ensues is shockingly bloody.
It is not a spoiler to tell you that the kids think that Tucker and Dale are killing their friends and Tucker and Dale think that the college kids are suicidal. The casting is brilliant in that only the two lead actors could have pulled off these fish-out-of-water without artifice. They are innocent, wide-eyed and truly worried about the mental health of these teens, who seem so ready to leave the mortal plane that they’re impaling themselves and throwing themselves in wood chippers. When the police become involved, it becomes clear to Tucker and Dale that the college kids are just out to get them.
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is a near perfect slasher film. There is an antagonist and ultimately a killer and the horror and fear that the main characters feel is realistic. And while we feel horrible for them, it’s not especially frightening but pure entertainment. The actors playing the college students are, frankly, less than memorable with the exception of Allison, but Tudyk and Labine are the center of the piece and then make it the seasonal gem that it is.
While Tucker and Dale vs. Evil movie ends with a bang, it also shows us that there’s always a silver lining which is the attitude that Tudyk keeps through nearly the entire work. The big-brother pushing Dale, and all of us, to go out there and get what we want. Inspirational paired with some pretty spectacular deaths. What more could you want?
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is available as a DVD, Blu-ray and on Amazon Instant Video
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| Title | Tucker & Dale vs. Evil |
|---|---|
| Director | Eli Craig |
| Actors | Alan Tudyk, Tyler Labine, Katrina Bowden |
| Length | 1 hour and 29 minutes |
| Rating | R |
| DVD Release | November 29, 2011 |