Tucker & Dale vs Evil

Directors: Eli Craig
Starring: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden
Time Out rating:
Japanese title: Tucker to Dale: Shijo Saiaku ni Tsuitenai Yatsura

This is a witty reversal of the slasher movie template. Two upwardly mobile hillbillies (crotchety dreamer Alan Tudyk and cuddly doofus Tyler Labine) buy a holiday cabin only to find it besieged by obnoxious college kids convinced their neighbours are serial killers. Misconception piles upon misunderstanding, and matters aren’t helped by the fact that the judgemental jocks keep accidentally sticking their feet in bear traps and tumbling into woodchippers, much to the bemusement of our heroes. Relying as much on indie amiability as buckets of blood ‘n’ guts (though there is plenty of the latter), Tucker & Dale is as shaggily charming and deceptively smart as its goofy leads. The final act is slightly bogged down when the filmmakers decide to ditch slapstick splatter for try-hard horror movie hysterics, but mostly first-time director Eli Craig keeps things ticking along beautifully. Fans of inventive, good-humoured gore, step right up.

Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil opens at Human Trust Cinema Shibuya on February 11