It's probably one of the biggest cliches in horror movies. Sexy students go in to the woods and get picked off, one by one, by inbred hillbillies. The sheer volume of films with the exact same plot must be in the hundreds. And it's a situation ripe for parody.
How no one thought of doing a film like Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil before is beyond me. Turning the generic horror movie plot on it's head, it tells of two likable hillbillies, travelling to their new vacation home in the forest. But soon after arriving, they run into a group of college students who instantly assume they are inbred sociopathic maniacs intent on killing them.
Things get worse when Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) save the life of one of the students, Allison (30 Rock's Katrina Bowden), but all her friends assume they abducting her, and they start to plot revenge against them, which results in a lot of misunderstandings and accidental deaths.
In a time where most horror films (and most films generally) are remakes or sequels or re-imaginings, to have a film so original, yet so simple is a joy. The writing is top notch, kind of comparable in a way to Hatchet, another horror movie where the writing is so well done you really don't want to the characters to get knocked off, whereas a lot of horror movies, you just can't wait!
The friendship between Tucker and Dale is really nicely done as well, with a legitimately touching scene between the two near the end (does end with a punchline, though), and it's just hilarious throughout, whether it be the dialogue or the OTT pratfalls and accidents that befall the students.
But gorehounds shouldn't be too optimistic, there are some horrific looking moments, particularly an incident with a wood chipper, but the film doesn't rely on these too strongly, rather the characters - the sheer stupidity of the students (I guess these have to be the dumbest students in horror film history, quite the feat) and the mix of innocence and exasperation of Dale and Tucker, respectively. Although, I did find the main student, Chad (Jesse Moss) a bit much, with a back story pointlessly shoehorned in rather than just have him lead the group.
It's a very strong debut from director Eli Craig, and the fact that he made what essentially is a one joke movie last the duration, keeping the viewer interested throughout is a great achievement. Hell, I wouldn't mind a sequel!
****
An original and hilarious comedy horror that turns the tables on the normal 'hillbillies in the woods' plot. Top stuff.
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