Hide All the Sharp Objects

Rating: 9/10 (6 March 2014)

You may have initial apprehensions about Tucker and Dale vs Evil (isn't the title too long and clumsy?), wondering what kind of film could fly without a "name" to latch onto. This will dissipate immediately as first-time director Eli Craig deftly weaves a visual treat from Morgan Jurgenson's script featuring a very funny Tyler Labine, and Katrina Bowden in a completely impossible love story.
In the back woods of West Virginia good-natured redneck Dale (Tyler Labine), and his buddy Tucker (Alan Tudyk) are heading to their newly-purchased dilapidated cabin in the woods lovingly considered by them as their summer home. When they encounter a group of college kids vacationing nearby Dale is immediately smitten by the comely Allison (Katrina Bowden), but the backwoodsman fails mightily when he tries to strike up a conversation with her. The leader of the college kids, Chad (Jesse Moss) declares Tucker and Dale to be pure "evil" and incites the rest of the kids to attack them but the undergrads are so incompetent that a series of missteps causes mayhem. An outright confrontation leads to truth about one of the group but not without consequences.
The film plays on all the well-worn clichés of the horror/slasher genre and director Eli Craig understands the intricacies of camera movement, music, and suspense so well that he can illicit laughter even without the aid of the very capable cast. The cast is also excellently chosen and this adds to how the film works to turn the genre on its head.
One initial scene in which we get a taste of the first blood is when Tucker accidentally hits a Hornets nest while using a chain saw to cut some wood. As he attempts to shoo away the stinging bugs the college kids see him as a deranged homicidal madman and in their group reaction to him cause more misunderstanding leading to mayhem.
Director Eli Craig is not ignorant to the tasks of actors, having played in Space cowboys in 2000 as Tommy Lee Jones' younger incarnation Hawk Hawkins under the direction of Clint Eastwood. This clearly transfers into the way he channels direction to his actors, having them play the small things between characters, mannerisms that illicit so much funniness.
The best thing about Tucker and Dale is the expected gruesome body count that adds up in great unexpected and hilarious ways, always with an overt sense of dread on the part of all the characters. This way of playing all the scenes straight completes this wonderful spatter fest to a very satisfying climax.
Some excellent moments are when college students attack the unknowing Tucker and Dale and accidentally wind up hoist on their own petard, prompting one character to surmise that "These kids are coming out here, and killing themselves all over the woods" as if it was a coed fad.
Another moment when someone clearly has been hit with a sharp object and staggers away to die, another character surmises that "he'll walk it off" will make you laugh through cringing grimace.
If there is an overt perspective on the film, it is that sometimes the harshest rites of passage accompany the creation of true love. And if Tucker and Dale vs Evil is the horror genre equivalent of Romeo and Juliet, it is a very satisfying romp in the woods, and funny too.