Tucker and Dale vs Evil

I did not have many expectations when I sat through this gem of a movie. This movie takes the horror/comedy genre to new levels. The plot is fairly simple, Lots of misunderstood situations that take place between Dale and Tucker and their fix-ur-upper vacation home, and some overly critical, unstable college kids. Very original script, good acting (Tucker and Dale are fantastic), and clever direction. How can a brilliant movie like this not make it to the big screen, yet movies like Season of the witch, Skyline, and Gulliver's Travels do. If you want to laugh till milk shoots out your nose, watch this movie. Should be on everyone's must-see list.

Eli Craig did a masterful job in presenting the best horror comedy since "Suck."

Playing on the tried and true "Flinstones Plot" of miscommunication that may drive some viewers crazy, Craig brings the gore and the humor with great special effects and wonderful acting. Best of all, of course, the story is solid with an interesting and poignant antagonist development that is extremely impressive.

Better still, the laughs aren't cheap and silly.

And if you live in the southern United States and hate how "southern folk", "backwoods families" and "hillbillies" are exploited for horror purposes, you'll love this tremendous twist on such a overused and ill-conceived cliché.

This is one of the greatest horror comedies ever presented on film.

Imagine a horror movie where all of the young kids who serve as the film's victims die gruesome deaths but where you don't have to feel guilty about enjoying the killings because the kids are the aggressors and are either too stupid or too evil to live anyway. That's what you have with "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil," a very funny horror comedy that upends the psychotic-hillbilly motif that's played so straight in so many other movies by having the hillbillies be sweet, lovable guys who don't understand why a bunch of preppy college kids are attacking them.

Not only is the movie funny, but it's surprisingly sweet and smart, with two terrific performances at its center and some clever writing throughout that prevents what could have been a one-note joke from imploding.

And I'm going to start including "frat bitch" as part of my standard vocabulary.

Grade: A

TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL takes on the typical "killer hillbillies" movie by turning the entire sub-genre inside out. Through accident, misunderstanding, and assumption, a comedy of errors becomes a bloodbath!

Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) look like a pair of rustic maniacs, at least to the group of college kids who have crossed their path. Multiple deaths occur, sending everything into chaos. Will anyone live long enough to figure out what's really going on?

Hilarious, and at times, poignant, this could be a movie for the whole family, if it weren't for the outrageous gore...

I saw the trailer to this film online and it seemed like a funny - yet unsustainable premise. I went to see it with friends anyway and I can't remember laughing so hard at a film in years. This movie takes a promising premise and knocks it out of the park. The cast is superb in this send-up of the psycho in the woods genre and the writing and direction take what I feared was an unsustainable premise and they give it surprising energy and humor. This is not Scary Movie crap. This is inventive and fresh and it has a beautiful heart. Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk are the "Hillbillies" in this hilarious tale of prejudice and paranoia and they deliver performances that are grounded and authentic. Tucker and Dale never become plodding stereotypes of ignorant rednecks. They are portrayed with great wit and dignity and the actors never overreach or retreat into the safety and insecurity of broad camp. The cast trusts the writing and the director and it pays off. The script by Morgan Jurgenson and director Eli Craig is tight, smart and has a wonderful heart. These qualities are given life by an above average cast that includes the lovely Katrina Bowden from NBC's 30 Rock. An especially guilty pleasure is the character of Chad, brilliantly played by Jesse Moss who channels some alternate universe version of a sociopathic Tom Cruise as the lead frat-boy. Eli Craig really guided home a winner with this film. The movie sets a course at the beginning and you know where you're headed in the first five minutes-- but Craig's the captain of the ship and this journey is filled with surprises and wonderfully subtle moments that give the film a fun trajectory and a brisk pace. You breezily travel through a fantastic, hilarious and utterly sublime entertainment. Bravo!