Tucker & Dale vs. Evil

Eli Craig’s “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil” (2010) has everything we have seen before in a horror movie: A group of college kids venturing into the woods, a guy with a chainsaw running after them, and instances of misplaced identities as a result of unforeseen events. And as with other horror movies, there are grisly deaths triggered by misunderstandings. Sound familiar? But “Tucker & Dale” is not a run-of-the-mill horror film.  Even though it reminds us of “Cabin Fever” (2002) and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974) in a big way, it still manages to distinguish itself quite remarkably from the other classics in the horror genre. The film never takes itself seriously, and, instead, banks more on the characters, never putting emphasis on the deaths and gore. As such, everything that happens is purely accidental, paving the way for realistic comedic moments. More than anything, “Tucker & Dale” plays well as a spoof of the horror genre.

Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) are close, good-hearted hillbillies, who decide to renovate their depleted, beaten-down house deep in mountains.  They think it will be a good idea to work on the side while they relax. You see Tucker and Dale are really nice guys who would never be mistaken for killers. At the same time, when Tucker and Dale reach their home, a group of college students decide to camp out close to Tucker and Dale’s house. After a misunderstanding at a nearby lake, the group concludes that Tucker and Dale are killers who would ultimately come after them. As it turns out, the duo helped one of the students, Allison (Katrina Bowden), after she accidentally hit a rock and almost drowned in the lake. The college students devise a plan to kill the duo, but at a cost. Instead of clearing the confusion, one thing leads to the next, with the body count increasing with each passing minute. Everything boils down to the climax, when the film reveals the killer’s true identity. Will Tucker and Dale be victorious against the Evil?

The plot of “Tucker & Dale” is constructed as a series of misunderstandings, and that’s where the real fun lies. One feels truly sorry for Tucker and Dale, and in spite of their best intentions, deaths are happening around their house. There are rapturous laugh-out moments, especially when Tucker tells the sheriff that the students are on a suicide mission, dying like flies close to their house. Their case is not helped when the sheriff sees them dragging a torso that just came out of a wood chipper.  Talk about evidence lying in front of a police officer. The students are dying because they are stupid, as they mostly act without thinking. Moreover, a rogue student, who has a preconceived notion that all hillbillies are killers, leads the group to believe the same way.  Memories of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” are refreshed when we see Tucker running around with a chainsaw, trying to escape the wrath of angry bees when he accidentally hits a beehive. Seen from a student’s perspective, Tucker is definitely a crazy killer coming after them, but no one in the group can make out that the poor guy is being attacked by bees. Indeed, the filmmakers have inserted these moments with a precision that balances out the macabre deaths, which otherwise could have been overly distracting and repulsive. Taken as a whole, “Tucker & Dale” mostly works as a comedy first, and then as a horror film later.

I felt the film conveyed a simple message: prejudice against people is not a good thing. Imagine for a moment, what if the students were not forced to form an opinion about hillbillies.  Would they still have died? But then the story would have been devoid of real fun. The main goal is to show that hillbillies can kick some serious ass. The filmmakers have wisely created the characters of the hillbillies such that eventually we come out liking Tucker and Dale very much. They might seem like polar opposites, but as a duo both overshadow each other’s inadequacies. Of the two, Tucker is bit more firm headed, while Dale is tender in his approach. Dale might be slow in his thinking processes, but Tucker assists Dale to think hard in certain situations. Still, neither of them is smarter than the other; they are just laid-back and act without much urgency. The main point of the story is to show how these two, down-to-the-earth, silly hillbillies can win over an audience, and the film succeeds immensely in this respect.

Video:

Magnolia presents “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil” in an anamorphic transfer framed in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Shot using the Red One video camera, the transfer looks superb. The colors are deep, even in the absence of bright colors in the palette. In fact, the colors have often been deliberately muted to provide the film a gritty look. The close-ups are tight as well. Overall, this is a good-looking transfer.

Audio:

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack performs well by realistically capturing the horror elements. First, the dialogue is clear and audible for the entire duration. There is plenty of action occurring, and the surround channels are fully utilized. The track packs in the right amount of bass in the chase sequences as well as in the climax.

Extras:

First, we get a commentary track with director Eli Craig and the actors from the film. It’s a fun track providing details on film’s production. Next, we get a regular “making-of” featurette that takes us behind-the-scenes and shows some footage from the film. Up next, “Tucker and Dale ARE Evil: The College Kids' Point of View” presents the story from the perspective of the college kids. We also get outtakes, storyboards and trailers. There is a short version of the “making-of” featurette, “HDNet: A Look at Tucker & Dale vs. Evil.”

Parting Thoughts:

“Tucker & Dale vs. Dale” completely surprised me with its approach to pay homage to the horror genre. Even when the plot is familiar, the script succeeds in mixing comedy and horror elements in the right proportions, much to our liking. As hillbillies, Tucker and Dale are totally convincing, and their naïveté in tackling the Evil manages to extract laughter from an audience. This is a rock-solid, entertaining movie that is fun, even hilarious, especially with its striking one-liners. Highly recommended.