> REVIEW
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Tucker & Dale VS Evil (2010)
The great outdoors can be murder…
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By Conor Hunter | September 2011
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Eli Craig
The creation of first time writer/director Eli Craig, Tucker & Dale Vs Evil, is a whip-smart parody of the slasher-horror genre. Essentially a role-reversal of The Hills Have Eyes, where the protagonists, the titular Tucker and Dale, are two hillbillies living in a shack in the middle of the woods. Through a series of comic misunderstandings, a group of ‘low IQ’ college kids become convinced that Tucker and Dale are a couple of insane murderers, hell-bent on slicing, stabbing and sawing their way through the group.
Craig is obviously well-versed in the tropes of the horror genre and it is clear that elements like the over-the-top acting of the college kids and unbelievable coincidences leading to gory deaths are all done with its razor sharp tongue firmly in cheek.
Alan Tudyk (Dodgeball) and Tyler Labine (Reaper) give good performances as the misunderstood duo, Tucker and Dale, with a perfect sense of comic timing and understanding of the dangerous stereotypes they parody. Jesse Moss plays the antagonist and lead college-kid Chad, having starred in Final Destination 3, Moss’s performance is somewhat surprisingly well-observed and self-aware.
The weakest performance of the film comes from 30 Rock’s Katrina Bowden, who plays the classic final-girl of the slasher film – the hyper-masculine female who eventually kills the serial killer. The script continues to establish the tropes of the genre, giving her the androgynous name Ali, and having her happy to get involved in the hard labour of digging, which she used to do with her father and brothers.
Bowden’s performance and even her look however is extremely feminine, especially when compared to say, Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie in Halloween. Another reason for Bowden’s feminisation is the inclusion of a distracting romantic sub-plot that provides the weakest scenes of the film.
The subversion of the genre never goes beyond a superficial level, despite the plot providing the film with an opportunity to challenge certain stereotypes and values, especially generalisations based on class and gender. A discovery at the end about the antagonist’s past, removes all potential for the film to be seen as a critique on class stereotypes, and firmly aligns Tucker and Dale’s values with the rest of the slasher-films.
Yet there’s no denying the film is a well-observed parody that will strike a chord with many fans of the slasher-horror genre.
Script…………………………………………………………………………………………….
A clever spoof that which though extremely self-aware, could have been a
touch more scathing. 3
Direction………………………………………………………………………………………..
A confident and quirky début from Eli Craig that shows a lot of promise. 3
Verdict…………………………………………………………………………………………..
A well-executed parody and while it does little to address many of the issues of
its chosen genre it is well worth a look, especially for slasher fans. 3
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