Hidden Gems: Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil
Tucker and Dale audition for Two and a Half Men
This movie will not be a hidden gem for long (considering its buzz it’s arguable if it’s even one now). No, if everything is right with the world, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil will ride its ever increasing buzz to a glorious land of underdog victory. I’m writing about it mainly because I want to be that douchebag that can say “Yeah, I wrote about that before it was cool.†Other than that though, I’m writing about it because I love this movie and if this convinces just one person who hasn’t heard about it to check it out then I will be stoked.
What Is It?: Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is the debut feature from writer/director Eli Craig. It’s a pretty basic story of a bunch of idiot college kids who go into the woods to party only to be offed by some vicious and evil rednecks. Sounds like a fucking boring Wrong Turn sequel right? Well, turns out our two evil rednecks are actually the very kind and friendly Tucker and Dale and the whole thing is a huge misunderstanding. An innocent misunderstanding that results in buckets of blood and teenagers killing themselves LOL.
Tucker and Dale are too sensitive for my teen suicide jokes.
Why Is It a Hidden Gem?: In a perfect world there would be webcams in every sorority, chicken wing eateries on every corner and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil would be the highest grossing movie of the year. Sadly, our world is far from perfect and the movie has had to go through a clusterfuck of a search for a distributor. It original premiered at Sundance last year and got a ton of buzz but for some reason nobody picked it up. I saw it at Screamfest last October and still nobody picked it up. Finally it got picked up by Magnet Releasing a few months back and is finally available to all On Demand and will get a limited theatrical release on September 30th.
This is a perfect metaphor for every distributor that didn't pick this up.
Why Is It Worth My Time?: So I don’t think I’ve mentioned that this movie is fucking hilarious. In fact, it’s probably the best example of a modern day “splatstick†comedy I can think of. All the deaths will make you burst out laughing. This is unless you’re one of those people who can’t stand the sight of blood. Then this movie will make you vomit, which will make your friends laugh. A minute didn’t go by without something happening that at least had me snickering. How many comedies today can boast that? You know what else fucking rules? All of the humor is integral to the plot. There are no stupid cutaways to minor characters saying something funny, no over long verbal joke set ups and no bullshit winking at the camera. Literally every joke in this movie moves the story along. In this post Family Guy world, that’s an absolute miracle.
Dale's expression is exactly my reaction to most modern comedies.
Oh did I mention that Alan Tudyk is in this movie? That’s right nerdy folks, Hoban Washburn himself plays Tucker, and awesomely I might add. In fact, if this flick gets the recognition it deserves Tucker might replace “Steve the Pirate†when you’re explaining who Tudyk is to a non-Whedon fan. Dale is played by Taylor Labine, who I’ve never seen in anything before. Think hillbilly Homer Simpson and you’re somewhat close to Dale’s fat guy with a heart of gold character. Also of note in this is 30 Rock’s Katrina Bowden, who is WAY hotter in this movie. This is probably due to the fact that she has an actual character and doesn’t just say stupid shit the entire time.
Also this.
Horror fans, if you’re frightened by the idea of a bunch of n00bs making fun of your beloved hillbillies in the woods genre, fear not. I mentioned before that non blood fans would vomit and I meant it because this shit gets good and gross pretty early on. Just about every character meets a horrific end, all for our amusement. We get impalement, massive head trauma, fire, etc. and all of them are in full view and grisly as all hell. It’s not Hobo with a Shotgun bloody but it’s more than adequate for this kind of horror flick. Also, when it’s not covering the screen in red sauce, it’s lovingly making fun of horror. This isn’t the fat asshole who makes snarky comments because he thinks he’s better than you, it’s the other asshole that makes snarky comments so you can laugh together.
Fittingly the most porny looking one gets sprayed with body fluids.
Now that this flick is available you have no excuse not to see it. So go to your nearest remote and order it on your television service, or just wait for it to come to theaters at the end of the month. If you don’t then you have no one else to blame when you accidentally kill yourself next time you’re trying to off an innocent but seemingly vicious redneck.
(WARNING: The trailer below spoils a ton of great scenes.)