Tucker And Dale Vs Evil (2010)

What It's About: Hillbillies on vacation are attacked by Spring Break coeds who think the rednecks have kidnapped their friend.

Review: The film opens with an intrepid reporter and her loyal camera man as they sneak past police tape into a closed crime scene. Naturally, the camera man is nervous (he probably knows he'll get picked off quickly), but the reporter is eager to find a breaking story that will make her career. She goads him on, dangling the idea of winning a Peabody Award - right before she's brained with a lead pipe. The camera man, wasting no time to see if his partner is even still alive, turns and starts to run, but the lead pipe wielder is too quick and we are treated to the sight of the camera man laid out cold on the floor, camera zoomed in nicely on his bleeding face. Probably looking for his own fifteen minutes of fame, the killer lifts the lens to his horribly twisted and scarred face, giving a nice, big leer for the audience watching at home.

I've got your Peabody Award right here!

But who the fuck is this guy, anyway? The film backs up three days in order to cover its ass and explain. We meet our stereotypical horror film canon fodder, a group of six college coeds (three boys, three girls, with the token black guy and latina girl). They waste no time in assuring us that they do indeed fit the stereotypical outline of those who will entertain us by dying in creative and gory ways, starting by nearly running into a pair of local hillbillys. Following the usual formula for a cannibasltic redneck horror, they stop off at a picturesque gas station, complete with trash and bones affixed to nearly every available surface, to buy beer (the hell else do you need while camping?) and are immediately given a wide berth and judgmental looks by the wary locals.

And who else should be patronizing this establishment, but the hillbillys they nearly ran down? Of course, this is where we meet the real stars of the film, Tucker and Dale, turning the movie on its head. They immediately set themselves apart from the canon fodder, as Dale bemoans his inability to talk to women, especially since he's just a dumb redneck. Tucker assures him that the girls are just as human as him, and there's nothing wrong with saying hello. After some coaching from his friend, Dale gets the balls to go over and say hello to the girls - but he totes along a huge scythe like a security blanket. This is probably one of the things the film does best, taking Dale and Tucker's perfectly normal, human reactions and twisting them juuuuust enough to parody the tropes every horror fan has come to expect from this sort of genre film.

Rednecks have people skills, too.

Heading out to their vacation home by Morris Lake, the fun just doesn't stop. The newly purchased and absolutely shitastic house is pretty much falling over (as evidenced when simply touching a beam almost brings the roof down on them). This doesn't stop Tucker and Dale from nearly pissing themselves with excitement, attributing the weird collections of bones to the archeologist that must have been the prior owner and checking out a huge wall of slightly frightening newsclippings, detailing murders, kidnappings, and...Chubby's Chili Dog Depot offering buy three get two free with no expiration date? Score!

Don't forget the canon fodder, they're still in the game - and their squirrely, slightly creepy ringleader, Chad, is ready to bring it with his badass axe throwing skills. Because Axe Throwing 101 is the hottest class on campus. He baptizes his little flock of airheads and jocks with the supposedly true story of the Morris Lake woods, where one summer a group of kids (not unlike themselves) were viciously stalked and slaughtered by a local group of rednecks. Honestly, with the kids' bad taste in music and clothing, I think the rednecks performed a public service, but most killers don't get enough credit as it is. As with most urban legends, the killers were never apprehended, the bodies never discovered - the only reason the story got out was due to one survivor. Once the terrible history of their camp site sinks in, they all decide to go skinny dipping.

History never repeats itself!

And once again, the hillbillys' and canon fodder's paths converge. After accidentally scaring one of the girls, Allison, she falls and knocks herself unconscious, sinking into the dark water. Dale dives in to rescue her and then performs CPR. Tucker alerts the kids, screaming "WE GOT YER FRIEND!", causing the idiotic group of sheep to flee in the opposite direction. They alert Chaz that Allison has been captured - and this is where the fun really starts. Dale attempts to woo beautiful, intelligent, blond Allison (who's working on a bachelor's in psychology - not your typical blond bimbo) with pancakes, Trivia-Up, and general adorableness. Meanwhile, the canon fodder are scouting out the hillbillys' cabin, trying to decide the best way to free their friend. Chad fans the flames by sending Chuck to get the police and encouraging the rest of the group that the only way out of this is to survive. One by one, they are slowly picked off through their own stupidity, ranging from self-impalement to diving head first into a woodchipper. 

Tucker and Dale are absolutely dumbfounded as to why all these kids are suddenly pushing up daisies around them, and come to the only possible conclusion - it's a suicide pact. And the reason for why they're attacking the cabin? They want Allison dead, too! There's no point in calling the police, because no way they spin the story, everything looks pretty nasty. The canon fodder want out, but Chad is not willing to let the hillbillys win because of a few, teeny, tiny murders. They have the chance to really go all Lord of the Flies out here in the woods. In just a few lines, Chad goes from creepy ringleader to all out psychopath.

This college kid blood is never gonna come out.

Slowly things devolve even further, leaving just Dale against Chad once the squirrely-ringleader-turned-psychopath blossoms into a full-fledged psychotic episode after he's been almost burned alive when Tucker's cabin explodes. For those of you playing the home game, yes, Chad is the insane killer from the beginning of the movie - rather than leave you waiting until the end of the film, you are assured within the first five minutes that your crazy-as-fuck psychopath survives whatever punishment these romantic rednecks throw at him. He kidnaps Allison and takes her to a nearby lumber mill (because you know those are just all over the place) where Dale is forced to confront the real killer and rescue his lady love. 

All in all, this is a great film for both horror genre fans and those just looking for a funny movie but don't mind a little gore (the movie doesn't wallow in it, but there are some graphic moments). It flips typical scary movie roles on their heads and is a fun ride through a tired class of horror movies.