Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Horror clichés are difficult to avoid when constructing a slash-em-up picture -- the entire genre is one big formula intended to give viewers a fright or a jolt. There are, of course, only so many ways to spook audiences, leaving many members of said genre feeling tired and lazy because of mass overuse. What "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil" does is take this yawn-inducing mould and turns it on its head, switching around the rubber stamp to much comedic effect.

From the outset, this film looks like another standard stalk-n-stab blood-and-guts affair; a bunch of reckless college kids go out into the woods for some fun, some drinking and some skinny dipping, only to be violently killed one-by-one. What separates this from the banal routine of horror flicks is the fact that the two killers are not meaning to off the clueless adolescents; they're doing it by mistake. Or "on mistake," as they say.

This duo of unintentional murderers consists of BFFs Tucker (Alan Tudyk, "Serenity") and Dale (Tyler Labine, "Reaper"). They're what most would consider a couple of hillbillies; they've got the Southern drawl, the dungarees, they're practically illiterate, and overall just look like they want you to squeal like a pig.

They're taking a trip to their newly bought vacation home in the middle of a wooded forest. The place is covered in dust, is practically falling apart and probably smells like Iggy Pop's sweaty and overexposed armpits. However, our two hicks love the dilapidated cabin, and make themselves at home.

Meanwhile, a group of college teens set up camp just beside Tucker and Dale. That night, the young adults are told by asthmatic leader Chad (Jesse Moss, "Final Destination 3") of the Memorial Day Massacre, a mass killing that took place in those very woods 20 years ago.

All paranoid, the juveniles believe that Tucker and Dale are serial killers when the hillbilly duo lift Allison (Katrina Bowden, "30 Rock")'s unconscious body from the nearby river after she slips and falls into the water. What follows is a string of hilariously unfortunate events as the youths accidentally kill themselves one after the other, the situation looking more and more like Tucker and Dale are the twisted perpetrators, while the baffled duo become convinced that the cadavers are part of a suicide pact.

"Tucker and Dale vs. Evil" is Eli Craig's directorial debut, and I must say it's a very promising start to a filmmaking career. It's very rare that we see a horror that challenges its own boundaries, especially one that does it so effectively and with so much creativity. However, this comedy is not without its flaws.

As a story and a narrative, it can be a little unfocused; there's something about it that feels disjointed. It's undoubtedly highly entertaining and holds one‘s interest, but the storytelling needs a fair amount of work so that it can fully engage from start to finish. As a one-joke film, it is impressive in how much it can stretch out a limited premise, but it does feel a little strained by the climax.

Nonetheless, the humour is sharp and the laughs are constant. "Tucker and Dale" revels in dark and sinister gags as the unhinged teenagers haplessly commit suicide in variously ludicrous manners. Much tomfoolery also comes from the titular pair as they confusedly watch everyone die around them. It's nasty and bloody, but it's hella funny.

The combination of Labine and Tudyk is utterly brilliant, the two sharing a lovely on-screen chemistry as a couple of best buds. Dale is a bumbling, bushy-bearded innocent who's awkward around girls and a bit of a doofus. Tucker, on the other hand, is more sharp-witted and confident, while still staying true to a hillbilly stereotype.

"Tucker and Dale vs. Evil" contains the perfect model for a cult status. It's both a gory and relentlessly violent slasher-horror and a deliriously funny send-up of the clichés of the genre. It's flawed (what film isn‘t?), but it's fun while it lasts.

7/10