Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil

2010 Magnet Releasing
Directed by: Eli Craig; Written by: Eli Craig and Morgan Jurgenson
Starring: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss, and Chelan Simmons
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 89 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 8/10

Tucker and Dale are a couple of salt-of-the-earth hillbilly best friends, headed to Tucker's new backwoods cabin for the weekend. Unfortunately, a group of fancy frat boys and sorority girls are camping nearby, and they think that hillbillies are all in-bred serial killers. One night, while the college students are out skinny-dipping and Tucker and Dale are fishing, one of the girls, psychology student, Allison, falls off a rock and hits her head. Tucker and Dale save her and take her back to their cabin to try to help her, but the college students think the friendly hicks have kidnapped their friend. Dale, the sweetest of the duo, has low self-esteem, but he takes great care of Allison, and she quickly develops romantic feelings for him. Meanwhile, the idiotic college students decide that they must attack the cabin to "rescue" Allison. Unfortunately for the students, they're completely and totally incompetent in the wilderness...so incompetent that the only thing they're capable of rescuing is the Earth from their mortal presences. Much to Tucker, Dale, and Allison's horror, the kids not only refuse the reality that Tucker and Dale are great guys who have saved Allison's life, but to make one logical choice in the physical realm of existence, as they begin to accidentally murder themselves and each other. Will Tucker, Dale, and Allison survive? Will Dale and Allison's love survive? Will even a single frat boy or sorority girl not accidentally saw, blow, or knock off their own head?

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil features a killer concept, well-executed. The idea that a bunch of stuck-up college students would be so scared of a couple of well-meaning rednecks that they'd attack them and in the process, accidentally off themselves, feels so pure, and in that spirit, the movie throws in a sweet romance to boot. Alan Tudyk is one of the most reliable comedic actors in recent memory, and he's great as Tucker, but Tyler Labine as Dale is the star of the show. He's an incredibly rootable protagonist, both as an action hero and a romantic lead. As Allison, Katrina Bowden is also delightful and has excellent chemistry with Labine. I particularly enjoy the scene where Allison, a hopeful future therapist, tries to lead a counseling session between Dale and Chad, the most psychotic frat boy, to Dale's loving encouragement. However, you're probably not coming to this movie for the romance, which is lagniappe. You're coming to watch college students throw themselves into a wood chipper, chainsaw off each other's faces, set each other on fire, and accidentally blow off their own heads. Tucker & Dale has this in spades. This movie has everything! Love it.