Welcome to a new feature on the FAN, “Direct to DVD Dissection”. I’m Michael Coello, and I’m here to review those movies that you probably won’t hear a lot about, and that won’t see airtime at your local theater.
On this edition, we look at the recently released horror/comedy, Tucker and Dale vs Evil
Released November 29th, 2011
The Story
A group of teenagers going to camp out in the woods, when they run into two hillbillies on the way there. Due to a misunderstanding, they teens consider the hillbillies to be crazy rednecks. In actuality, the hillbillies, named Tucker and Dale, are just some well meaning yokels who are going to the woods to see their new cabin by the lake. Due to some misunderstandings, the teen troublemaker, and some intervention on a rescue, it sets off a chain of events that lead to both groups thinking the other is crazy and trying to survive.
The Cast
- The movie stars Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as the titular Tucker and Dale, respectively. Both men are known for their previous TV credits, Alan from playing “Wash” on Firefly, and Tyler as “Sock” from Reaper.
- The female lead, Allison, is played by Katrina Bowden, another TV star, known for playing Cerie on 30 Rock.
- As for the antagonist role, we have Jesse Moss playing the leader of the teen pack, named Chad. He was most known as Jason Wise from Final Destination 3.
The Dissection
As this movie is a horror/comedy, it gives it a bit of license to go absolutely nuts in terms of gore and the death scenes. The whole movie relies on the idea that both sides have no idea what the heck is going on with the other. The teens think Tucker and Dale are some crazed murderous hillbillies who abducted their friend, all this fueled by an old massacre tale told by Chad and some things said by Tucker and Dale themselves. Tucker and Dale, meanwhile, end up thinking that the teen are forming a suicide pact in the woods, and are looking for the women they just rescued to kill her, too. As some would, hilarity and bloodshed then ensues. A lot of both, actually.
Tucker and Dale are really the stars of this movie, and not in just the fact they are in the damn title of this movie. The dynamic both men have during the course of this movie works really well. From the beginning where they talk about their new home purchase, to the issue with the kids and trying to piece together a story that makes sense of the insanity that has occurred around them, to even the subplot involving Dale and his crush on Allison, trying to recover from the horrible first impression and going into a sort of lesson of “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”, just done very horrific and gory. Both men share a believable friendship and you do root for them to find a way to escape the trouble they find themselves in.
As for the other characters, most of the teens other than Chad have no development beyond just being the screaming, whiny teens that you expect to die quick in other horror movies to leave some screentime to the more interesting lead characters and the monster. However, as there is no actual serial killer or slasher going after them, it really revolves around how they manage to off themselves accidentally while either trying to take down Tucker and Dale, or trying to escape from them. If you’ve seen the redband trailer, you probably seen most of the death scenes already. Still, I feel that there is enough to still bring someone over to watch it.
As for complaints, there are a few to be found. The main issue is that the suspension of disbelief is probably going to be tested over some of the mis-communication scenes. I’ve shaken my head at wondering how stupid some of the teens are to not understand that they are not killing anyone. Another issue is a different subplot involving Chad. Without going into spoilers, it’s something that feels sort of telegraphed and also where you hope it doesn’t go that route.
Still, I think the good here outweighs the bad, and there is enough enjoyment to be found here.
Though, if you do run to your local store or rental place to find this movie, make sure to look where you’re running when you do.
The Verdict
Good. Recommended.