We have go to hide all of the sharp objects!
Have you ever had a really bad misunderstanding with someone? In January 2010, we watched as two guys got caught up in one, and it was a killer to straighten out.
Directing this 89 minute comedy/horror Eli Craig.
Dodging the blood spray is: Tyler Labine as Dale, Alan Tudyk as Tucker, Katrina Bowden as Allison, Jesse Moss as Chad, Brandon Jay McLaren as Jason, Christie Laing as Naomi, Chelan Simmons as Chloe, Travis Nelson as Chuck, Alex Arsenault as Todd and Adam Beauchesne as Mitch.
Tucker and Dale are off to work on Tucker’s new vacation home. So the fellas stop at a gas station to fill up on the last bit of supplies they need. That’s when they run into a group of college students that are doing the same thing before getting back on the road to their camping trip. Unbeknownst to either group, both sites are not that far apart. Which is how Tucker and Dale come across the college kids late night swim while they are night fishing. Unfortunately, this crossing of paths doesn’t go over very well, and the guys wind up stuck in a serious misunderstanding. Of course trying to straighten things out only leads to bigger troubles, which is when lives start to get threatened… and taken!
EIi Craig doesn’t have a huge list of titles under his belt, but for this flick being his first full-length film, he struck gold! Think about it for a second: What if Jason Voorhees (from Friday the 13th) wasn’t really a bad guy. Maybe, just maybe, it was all a horrible misunderstanding. What if Jason was just trying to help pull the pitchfork “out” of the poor stranger that tripped and fell on it? Now when you run in to see what all the screaming is about, to your surprise, you find some freaking scary guy holding a pitchfork… that happens to be stuck in someone. BOOM, bad reputation! Now granted, Jason has more than proven it’s his bad, I’m just saying… what if.
Writers Eli Craig and Morgan Jurgenson came up with a great storyline. They took horror and made you look at it from a different view, and reminded us to not judge a book by it’s cover. All the while chucking tons of comedy in the story. The writers came up with a great way to make one of my favorite genres still bloody good and funny without turning it into a cheese factory, like some horrors fall victim to when trying to add comedy.
The playthrough is awesome, and something I really enjoyed the entire way through. Part of that is because of the nice job done by the cast. The chemistry that Labine and Tudyk brought to the film made for a great pairing of actors. Really, everyone did a great job and brought something special to this one with their characters – Be it the way the comedy was delivered, or the the awesome job on being able to bring the kind of B grade acting you would find in some of the cheesy horror flicks that blended in beautifully with the film.
Another thing that I thought helped set the mood for everything going down is the set decoration, which was done by Sean Blackie, Amber Humphries and Thomas Walker. They did a really nice job putting the right amount of creepy factor in the environment, which adds to the overall film. David Trainor’s work with the make-up effects was good, and his prosthetic work was pretty sick looking. Unfortunately, the visual effects didn’t pan out so well, instead of blending in and being a part of the scene, the digital effects stood out at times like a sore thumb. However, the cinematography work, which was done by David Gedes, puts you in the right spot to catch some hilarious stuff.
Overall, if you like your horror mixed with some comedy, then this is one of the best flicks you could possibly catch. It definitely has a cult following, and once you watch it you’ll understand why, and mostly likely will grab a robe and proudly join the Tucker & Dale vs Evil fan cult.
Awesome side note news for any Tucker & Dale vs Evil fans: In 2014 a sequel was confirmed by Labine and Tudyk. Unfortunately, that’s all the news I’ve heard about it so far, and since it took about 3 years for them to finish the first one… well who knows when we’ll get the sequel.
