You'll smile and laugh.

Rating: 8/10 (21 September 2011)

If you're a seasoned viewer of backwoods horror and, even after all that you have seen, can still buy into the idea that not all hillbillies are out to rape you in the ass, gut you like a pig or wear your face like a mask, then Tucker & Dale vs Evil will prove to be one hell of a funny film, an ingenious, very witty and delightfully gory take on all of those movies in which good looking teens wind up suspended from a meat-hook in a dilapidated shack littered with human remains and chicken feathers.
Despite looking like inbred psychos, pals Tucker and Dale (Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine) are actually a pair of well-meaning, beer-swilling good ol' boys who have at last realised their dream of owning a vacation home in the woods where they can rest their weary bones after a hard day's fishing; to the group of college kids camping nearby, however, they embody everything they have ever learnt about rednecks from countless slasher films—uncouth, uneducated, drooling inbred half-wits in dungarees who more than likely feast on the flesh of city-folk.
When the teens decide to go skinny dipping one night (clearly having not paid THAT much attention when watching horror films), their worst fears appear to be justified when they witness one of their number—sexy blonde Allison (Katrina Bowden)—seemingly being abducted by Tucker and Dale in their rowboat. In reality, the pair have just rescued the girl from drowning, and are taking her to their cabin to recuperate, but convinced that they mean to do harm to their friend, the campers decide to fight back with disastrous and bloody results.
With such an inspired yet simple set-up, Tucker and Dale could so easily have become a stale one-joke movie, but thanks to likable performances from Tudyk, Labine and Bowden and a consistently amusing and sometimes downright hilarious script that gives affectionate nods towards old genre favourites, takes a neat turn towards the end by introducing a real psycho, and even includes messages about prejudice and self belief, Tucker and Dale is a hugely satisfying, strangely heartwarming horror parody and a refreshing change from all those bloody remakes and sequels.