Tucker and Dale vs Evil is a Comedy of Errors
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Tucker and Dale vs Evil manages to be many types of movie: horror-comedy, romantic-comedy, date movie, bloodbath, and a welcome addition to the beginner’s shelf.
Written by James “Crypticpsych” Lasome
August 5, 2011
Movie Trailer
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Release: August 26, 2011 (VOD), September 30, 2011 (Limited US)
Directed by: Eli Craig
Written by: Morgan Jurgenson and Eli Craig
Starring:
Tyler Labine as Dale
Alan Tudyk as Tucker
Katrina Bowden as Allison
Jesse Moss as Chad
Philip Granger as Sheriff
Tucker and Dale (Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine) are heading out into the West Virginia wilderness to a vacation cabin they scrimped and saved for. Granted, it’s a little bit of a fixer upper, but what cabin with weak beams, a wall full of murder newspaper clippings, and various bone-fashioned accoutrements isn’t? Along the way, they cross paths with a group of college kids going camping in the woods. Unfortunately, though Dale tries to make conversation with some of the prettier girls in the group, the kids think the duo are crazed hillbilly psychopaths and run off. In retrospect, Dale should probably not have been carrying the huge scythe…
Later that evening, Tucker and Dale are fishing on the nearby lake while the college kids have decided to go skinny-dipping on the same lake. As the duo watch, one of the college kids, Allison (Katrina Bowden), decides to climb onto a high rock to get in the water. She notices the duo watching them and inadvertently falls off the boulder into the lake. When she doesn’t come back up, Dale dives in and rescues her, convincing Tucker to take her back to the cabin and nurse her back to health. Unfortunately for them, though, the other kids saw the duo rescue her… but thought they were taking her unconscious body away to do hideous, unspeakable things. Now, they’re ready to put their lives on the line to “save” their friend, while Tucker and Dale are about to discover their vacation just got a whole lot more complicated.
There is a moment, after Allison has woken up in the cabin, where
she says a line that sums up Tucker and Dale vs Evil
brilliantly. Paraphrased, it amounts to something like “I believe all
our problems are rooted in a lack of communication”. This movie takes
the concepts of miscommunication, mistaken identities, circumstance,
coincidence, and luck and wrings every ounce of comedy possible out of
them. It’s almost impossible to fully describe how great this movie is
because of just how many different kinds of movie it pulls off
near-effortlessly. It easily ranks among the best horror-comedies of
the last few decades 
due to a smart script, lovable
characters,
believable and logical love story, and just pure, unmitigated,
hilarious insanity.
So what is Tucker and Dale vs Evil? Well, it’s a horror-comedy because of a script that is able to get laughs from the crazy situation as well as otherwise. It’s a gory bloodbath because of convincing gore and crazy deaths including those that involve spears, woodchippers, and handguns. It’s a little bit of a horror satire, particularly as the college students seem more than a little bit aware of the genre’s tropes. My favorite instance of this is when the crazily over-the-top Chad (Jesse Moss) tells a grisly mass murder tale from the past, and, without missing a beat, one of the group suggests they go skinny dipping THE MOMENT HE FINISHES to which everyone immediately agrees!
It’s a horror movie that’s perfect as an introduction to the genre
because it’s not scary in the slightest and probably wouldn’t work as
well if it were. It’s just gutbustingly hilarious, bloody fun. It could
even be seen as a bit of a romantic-comedy and probably a fantastic
date movie for those with partners who can handle copious blood as the
love story in this movie builds logically to something sweet,
believable, 
logical, and one that we want to
see come to fruition.
Lovers of the more unusual, non-stereotypical love story films like Sexykiller
will absolutely adore this.
Alan Tudyk, Tyler Labine, and Katrina Bowden all nail their featured roles with Tudyk coming off as more “one-liner and physical comedy” funn, Labine as more the lovable oaf, and Bowden as logical, understanding, and, of course, hot. In addition, Jesse Moss’s role as the increasingly obsessive Chad fits beautifully as the counterpoint to the hillbillies. The rest of the college students don’t really grow into their characters, but remain unimportant ancillary figures following Chad’s orders. But hey, we had to get cannon fodder somewhere.
Overall, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is outstanding because it starts from believable, interesting main characters and a script smart to genre tropes. It then builds on that foundation with quality physical effects and hilarious one-liners and situations, ending up something not necessarily scary but still truly special.
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