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Tucker & Dale vs. Evil

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Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Theatrical release poster
Directed byEli Craig
Screenplay by
  • Eli Craig
  • Morgan Jurgenson
Story byEli Craig
Produced by
  • Morgan Jurgenson
  • Albert Klychak
  • Rosanne Milliken
  • Deepak Nayar
Starring
CinematographyDavid Geddes
Edited byBridget Durnford
Music by
  • Michael Shields
  • Andrew Kaiser
Production
companies
  • Eden Rock Media[1]
  • Kintop Pictures[1]
  • Urban Island[1]
  • Looby Lou[1]
Distributed byMagnet Releasing
Release date
  • 22 January 2010 (2010-01-22)
Running time
89 minutes[2]
Countries
  • Canada
  • India[3]
  • United States[4]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million[5]
Box office$5.2–$5.5 million[6][5]

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is a 2010 black comedy horror film directed by Eli Craig and written by Craig and Morgan Jurgenson. It stars Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Brandon Jay McLaren, Jesse Moss, and Chelan Simmons. Labine and Tudyk play a pair of well-meaning hillbillies who are mistaken for killers by a group of clueless college students. The film premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and received a limited release in the United States.

Plot

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A group of college kids – Allison, Chad, Chloe, Chuck, Jason, Naomi, Todd, Mitch, and Mike – go on a camping trip in West Virginia. While at a gas station, they encounter Tucker and Dale, two well-meaning hillbillies who recently bought an abandoned lakefront cabin in the woods. On Tucker's advice, Dale tries to talk to Allison, but his appearance and inferiority complex frightens her and her friends. While Tucker and Dale repair their cabin, Chad tells the group about the "Memorial Day Massacre"; a hillbilly attack that took place 20 years prior. They later go skinny-dipping at a lake where Tucker and Dale are fishing. Startled by the pair, Allison hits her head. The hillbillies save her from drowning, but the others run off, believing they are kidnapping her.

The next day, Allison awakens at Tucker and Dale's cabin. Initially frightened, she gradually befriends them. Concurrently, Chuck leaves to get the police while Chad leads the others in heading to the cabin to save Allison from the hillbillies. They arrive as Tucker unknowingly hits a beehive while chopping wood, causing him to wildly swing his chainsaw. Believing he is attacking them, the group scatters, during which Mitch accidentally impales himself on a fallen tree branch. After finding Mitch's body, Chad persuades the others that they are in a battle for survival. They return to the cabin, where they misinterpret Allison and Dale digging an outhouse hole as her digging her own grave and attack. However, Todd impales himself on a spear he brought, Mike dives into a wood chipper while attempting to tackle Tucker, and Allison gets knocked out by Dale's shovel. As Dale takes her inside, Tucker assumes the group are part of a suicide pact and dissuades Dale from calling the police for fear that they will be accused as murderers.

Before long, Chuck returns with Sheriff Gurr, who expresses doubt over Tucker and Dale's theory before accidentally killing himself with a loose beam. Chuck grabs Gurr's gun, but shoots himself with it. Chad returns, taking the hillbillies' dog Jangers hostage. Tucker rescues Jangers, but gets captured by Chad, who tortures him and cuts off two of his fingers to lure out Dale. Dale leaves to save Tucker while Chad and Naomi try to rescue Allison. She explains what happened, but they accuse her of having Stockholm syndrome. Tucker and Dale return before Allison leads everyone in a calm discussion, during which Chad reveals his grandmother told him his father died in the Memorial Day Massacre while his mother was the sole survivor. Jason and Chloe break in to save Allison, but a fire breaks out. In the ensuing chaos, Tucker, Dale, and Allison escape; Naomi, Chloe, and Jason are killed; and Chad is injured, disfigured, and rendered insane. The trio try to escape in the hillbillies' truck, but crash. An injured Tucker tells Dale Chad took Allison to an old sawmill, where Chad threatens to kill her for "[going] hillbilly" unless she becomes his girlfriend. However, Dale arrives and rescues her. While barricading themselves upstairs, they find newspaper clippings revealing Chad's father was one of the hillbillies responsible for causing the Memorial Day Massacre. While Chad is distracted by the revelation, Dale throws a box of chamomile tea at him, causing him to have an asthma attack and fall out of a window to his apparent death.

Three days later, the police and a news crew arrive at the cabin, concluding the deaths appeared to be part of a suicide pact and a deranged killer, Chad, who survived and kills the news crew. Elsewhere, Tucker convalesces at a hospital while Dale goes bowling with Allison. While there, Dale encourages a fellow hillbilly to talk to some girls, leading to a new misunderstanding while Dale and Allison confess their feelings for each other and kiss.

Cast

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Additionally, the film's director, Eli Craig, and his wife Sasha make cameo appearances as a cameraman and reporter respectively.

Production

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The production began in June 2009 with the casting of the actors. Principal photography started one month later in Calgary, Alberta.[7] In October 2009, post production ensued in British Columbia, and the first images were released as part of the American Film Market.[8]

Reception

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Box office

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The film premiered on 22 January 2010 at Sundance Film Festival[9] and was on 12 March 2010 part of the SXSW Film Festival.[10] The film was distributed by Magnolia and received a limited theatrical release in the US on 30 September 2011.[11] On its opening weekend, the film grossed $52,843 from 30 theaters. It grossed $223,838 in the US. It grossed between $5 and $5.3 million outside the US.[6][5]

Critical response

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Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 85% of 116 surveyed critic gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 6.9/10. The critical consensus states: "Like the best horror/comedies, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil mines its central crazy joke for some incredible scares, laughs, and—believe it or not—heart".[12] The film also has a score of 65 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 23 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13]

Todd Gilchrist of Shock Till You Drop wrote: "Eli Craig's feature debut celebrates genre conventions while turning the traditional view of horror film heroes and villains upside down."[14] Roger Ebert also gave the film a positive review, writing: "Students of the Little Movie Glossary may find it funny how carefully Tucker and Dale works its way through upended cliches".[15] Noel Murray of The A.V. Club rated it C+ and called it "surprisingly clever" but "too slick and too cute".[16] Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote that the film "offers good-natured, confidently executed splatstick whose frequent hilarity suffers only from peaking too early."[17]

Accolades

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Award Category Nominee Result
Leo Award[18] Best Cinematography in a Feature Length Drama David Geddes Nominated
Best Feature Length Drama Rosanne Milliken and Crawford Hawkins Nominated
Best Overall Sound in a Feature Length Drama Paul A. Sharpe, Graeme Hughes and Iain Pattison Nominated
Best Sound Editing James Fonnyadt Nominated
Best Sound Editing in a Feature Length Drama Dario DiSanto, Brian Campbell, James Fonnyadt, Jay Cheetham, Kirby Jinnah and Kris Casavant Nominated
Best Stunt Coordination in a Feature Length Drama Jodi Stecyk Nominated
Best Supporting Performance by a Male in a Feature Length Drama Jesse Moss Nominated
Sitges Film Festival Best Film[19] Eli Craig Won
SXSW Film Festival Audience Award[20] Won
Fantasia Festival Jury Prize; Best First Feature[21] Won
Ampia Awards AMPIA Award; Best Feature Film Won
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Best Actor Tyler Labine Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Katrina Bowden Nominated
Best Limited-Release/Direct-to-Video Film Won
Best Screenplay Eli Craig, Morgan Jurgenson Won

Proposed sequel

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In an interview with Choice Cuts, director Eli Craig expressed thoughts on a sequel titled Tucker and Dale Go To Yale and described it as "Good Will Hunting meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre". In that same interview, Craig also liked Alan Tudyk's idea of doing a sequel that was similar to From Dusk till Dawn.[22]

At HorrorHound Weekend 2014, cast members Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk confirmed that a sequel is in development.[23][24][25] In 2016, the two revealed that they are still actively developing the project despite other commitments. When asked of the status of the sequel at Boston Comic Con 2017, Alan Tudyk responded that a script had been written but was disappointing and unlikely to be moving forward.[26]

Remake

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A South Korean remake titled Handsome Guys, was released in South Korea on June 26, 2024.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2011)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  2. ^ "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (15)". British Board of Film Classification. August 22, 2011. Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  3. ^ "Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on December 31, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
  4. ^ Buchanan, Jason. "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil". Allrovi. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2011)". The Numbers. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  7. ^ Miska, Brad (July 8, 2009). "Cast Fills Out for 'Tucker and Dale vs. Evil'". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on July 11, 2009. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  8. ^ Miska, Brad (October 28, 2009). "AFM '09: First Image from 'Tucker & Dale vs Evil'". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  9. ^ Anderson, Tim (March 23, 2010). "SXSW '10 REVIEW: Another Look at 'Tucker and Dale vs Evil'". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on March 26, 2010. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  10. ^ Miska, Brad (March 26, 2010). "SXSW '10: Complete Review Round-Up!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  11. ^ Barton, Steve (July 8, 2011). "U.S. and Canadian One-Sheets Debut: Tucker and Dale vs. Evil". Dread Central. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  12. ^ "Tucker & Dale vs Evil (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  13. ^ "Tucker & Dale vs Evil". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 15, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  14. ^ Gilchrist, Todd (March 23, 2010). "Tucker & Dale vs Evil". Shock Till You Drop. Archived from the original on October 17, 2011. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  15. ^ Ebert, Roger (October 5, 2011). "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on October 27, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  16. ^ Murray, Noel (September 29, 2011). "Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  17. ^ Harvey, Dennis (January 27, 2010). "Review: 'Tucker & Dale vs. Evil'". Variety. Archived from the original on March 5, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  18. ^ "Leo Awards, 2011 Nominees by Program". LeoAwards.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  19. ^ Barr, Jason (June 8, 2011). "Magnet to Release Horror Comedy TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL". Collider. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  20. ^ Fernandez, Jay A. (June 8, 2011). "Magnet Releasing Snags 'Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 17, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  21. ^ "Jury Awards – And the winners are…". FantasiaFestival.com. July 29, 2010. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  22. ^ "Choice Cuts - Episode 34: Eli Craig". youtube.com. December 19, 2011. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  23. ^ "Tucker and Dale Vs Evil 2 Announcement!". youtube.com. March 24, 2014. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  24. ^ "Alan Tudyk & Tyler Labine Announce 'Tucker and Dale vs. Evil' Sequel". firstshowing.net. March 25, 2014. Archived from the original on March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  25. ^ "Tucker and Dale vs Evil - 2". slashfilm.com. March 27, 2014. Archived from the original on March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  26. ^ Eisenberg, Eric (July 28, 2017). "The Blunt Reason Tucker And Dale Vs. Evil 2 Hasn't Happened, According To Alan Tudyk And Tyler Labine". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  27. ^ Lee, Yoon-seo (June 17, 2024). "[Herald Review] Not your everyday comedy, 'Handsome Guys' boasts unique blend of genres". The Korea Herald. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
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