An horror comedy/parody that works

Rating: 8/10 (10 March 2014)

'Tucker & Dale vs Evil' is a really good satire of the hillbilly subgenre of horror films. In this subgenre, we often find ourselves with psycho, often inbred, serial-killing rednecks chasing young people in the woods (i.e..: 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'). In 'Tucker & Dale', the title characters are actually good guys on a vacation, who are targeted by young college kids who mistake them as stereotypical psychos.
The premise works just like one would expect after thinking it over. Very funny, full of references to the subgenre, death scenes that really pay off, but its quality starts dropping after a while. It needs to rely too much on comedy-of-errors and coincidences, plot devices that end up being recycled/repeated to the point of getting tired. By the time it ends, it got too repetitive to work as well as it did near its beginning.
Yet, despite its predictable unsustainability, the final product is so well executed it takes a long while for the quality drop; the main duo, Alan Tudyk (Tucker) and Tyler Labine (Dale), are excellent and one of the mains reasons this happens, being both very likable and funny as the straight-mans.
The character of Chad (Jesse Moss; a sociopath proper boy), though a reasonable poking at a few horror clichÃ©s, is one of the weakest points of the film. Likewise, the romantic subplot between Dale and Allison (Katrina Bowden), while quite likable and even funny, tended to get a bit too sentimental in the latter portion of the film.
Rather than an all-out parody, like the 'Scary Movie' franchise, 'Tucker & Dale vs Evil' bets on actual tale-telling. The premise predictably loses some power later in the film, but it still delivers nicely in a fun and satisfying way.
Another complaint I have is the spoiler in the title.