http://www.blogcdn.com/www.cinematical.com/media/2010/01/tuckerdale1a.jpg
Horror comedies aren’t anything new, but really good ones are rare. Shaun of the Dead](Shaun of the Dead (2004) - Movie | Moviefone) set the high water mark for that niche genre. I was going to say there haven’t been any really good ones since then, but then I was reminded that Zombieland](Zombieland (2009) - Movie | Moviefone) came out recently. Duh. But that doesn’t lessen the impact of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil](Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010) - Movie | Moviefone) at all. I had to pinch myself several times during this movie to remind myself I wasn’t at a Fantastic Fest screening, because it seemed like somehow it had snowed in Austin and I was watching this at the Alamo Drafthouse. That’s the kind of movie it is (read: awesome).
The story in this movie is simple: two hillbillies on vacation in the woods are mistaken for psycho killers by a group of college kids. That’s it. On paper that might sound like it would be hard to sustain for the length of a feature film, but it worked. In fact it worked so good that they could trim a few scenes, as it felt slightly too long. However, the comedy team-up of Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine really sold this film. Director Eli Craig needs to be handed an award for putting these two in a movie together as best friends who just happen to seem like extras from Deliverance.