Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil (2011)

It seems that every year, there is one or two films that are released that are made for me. Last year, there was one film, and that film was Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which I consider to be a perfect film. Now, for 2011, there’s a film that is made for me that also has vs. in the title. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, the debut feature of Eli Craig, is not a perfect film, but it can get close at times. Easily falling into my top 5 films of the year, Tucker and Dale is a comedic account of what is basically The Texas Chainsaw Massacre told in reverse, where we follow the hillbillies, who are the good guys, while they are being attacked by the crazy college kids. Now let me plunge into further detail. Tucker (Alan Tudyk, from the wonderful cult TV show Firefly) and Dale (Tyler Labine, from the wonderful cult TV show Reaper) have just bought a vacation home in the middle of the woods where they can be best friends, drink beer, fish, and do other fun hillbilly things, when a bunch of college kids come up, and through a series of very random accidents, keep getting killed in random accidents, with very bloody and gory results. As the plot tends to thicken, the ‘final girl’ of the story, Allison (Katrina Bowden, from the wonderful popular cult TV show 30 Rock) ends up camped out with the hillbillies, as they infer that the entire thing was a suicide pact, and the main male character Chad (Jesse Moss) turns out to be a little bit of a crazy killer himself. The twist of the story is always helped with lots of gore, lots of murder, and some insanely creative spins on some of horror’s most creative kills. This entire movie is just up to the brim with creativity, something few people, and even fewer new people, have in the entertainment industry today, and especially creativity like this. The movie is hilarious, it provides some great jokes, some actual scares, and some real heart. The direction is sharp, the acting is brilliant, and the script is chock-full of small gags like the ones on Community and Shaun of the Dead-they’re too good to make you laugh out loud. You just have to sit back and watch masters do their work. It’s okay not to laugh your head off in Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil-just as long as you go back for a second viewing.
9/10