Excellent and inspired horror comedy blast

Rating: 8/10 (20 June 2013)

Redneck best buddies Tucker and Dale venture into the remote woods to fix up their rundown mountain vacation home. Things go horribly awry when the amiable duo are mistaken for murderous backwoods hillbilly psychopaths by a group of obnoxious college kids. Director/co-writer Eli Craig and co-writer Morgan Jurgenson ingeniously subvert and poke fun at the standard conventions and stereotypes associated with evil hicks in the sticks fright fare: The rednecks this time are hapless victims of unfortunate circumstance, the college kids are the judgmental and xenophobic villains of the piece, and the gruesome deaths of said college kids are the direct result of their own fear and stupidity. Better still, this picture makes a valid satirical point about the perils of buying into preconceived assumptions on people while still delivering plenty of tasty over-the-top graphic gore. Moreover, the fine acting by the bang-up cast keeps everything humming: Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk display a winningly loose and natural chemistry as the lovable good-natured protagonists, Katrina Bowden contributes a hugely appealing performance as the sweet Allison, and Jesse Moss brings a deliciously hateful zeal to his juicy role as belligerent frat boy jerk Chad. The crisp widescreen cinematography by David Geddess gives the movie an impressively polished and atmospheric look. The twangy'n'shivery score by Mike Shields hits the stirring spot. An absolute hoot.