Tucker and Dale Vs Evil (Review)

Not sure if this suggests more horror or comedy…

Tucker and Dale are rednecks from the South, bringing all that fact entails to the table. They wear lumberjack shirts with overalls and baseball caps. Dale sports a bushy beard. Both sport vacant expressions much of the time.

They are obviously long time best buds, understanding of each others thoughts and needs and generally delighting in each others successes in a hetero way…

Tucker has just bought a rundown shack in the remote woods. The shack is ramshackle and unkempt with various pieces of shack either missing or in desperate need of replacing. They look at the same way we would look at Diddy’s mansion; an opulent paradise. A sign of finally having ‘made it’.

Into their orbit come 9 ‘Big City’ morons from college for a weekend of drinkin’ and fornicatin’. They see the ‘dressed down’ duo at the local store and immediately think Deliverance – of course even though they want nothing to do with the titular gents they end up setting up camp only metres away in the woods near Tucker’s spectacular digs.

Worth saving?

That night Tucker and Dale are fishing in a dinghy when they spy (so to speak) the young teens taking a dip in their under garments. When one girl Alison takes a tumble that is not spotted by her swimming chums (and really looking upon her in her undies I am amazed that not one guy was watching her – you know to be sure she was safe ‘n’ stuff), so in Dale goes to rescue her.

Of course now the young ‘uns spot the ruckus and immediately assume that Tucker and Dale are up to no good.

This sets in motion a chain of events that could best be described as harmless and moderately amusing, but not much more…

From this point on the college kids case the shack, positive in the knowledge that the redneck hillbillies inside are doing all sorts of bad things to their friend inside. The problem is each attempt to make contact to let them know Alison is OK leads to misunderstandings and often accidental deaths, (who would have though signs that say “We have your friend” could be misinterpreted?). The flip side is that Tucker and Dale start thinking that the college kids are lemmings in a bizarre suicide pact.

Every attempt to either save or deliver Alison only makes things worse, and in between these head-scratching coincidences Dale (the big bushy bearded one) and Alison start to learn more about one another.

Again your views on Tucker and Dale will boil down to what you think of Tucker. And what you think of Dale. The rest of the movie isn’t especially clever or original. There are gore scenes, but not scenes any old hand will raise an eyebrow to, let alone a glass. Aside from the undies in the river bit there is no T&A to speak of, and there isn’t much in the way of obvious jokes. So ultimately if you think Tucker and Dale are likable and can ignore the series of coincidences and instead think ‘gee that’s unfortunate’ at appropriate times you might enjoy this.

I sorta did, but I won’t be watching it again.

Final Rating – 6.5 / 10. A light horror comedy, and by that I mean it is both light on for horror and comedy.