Meta Horror | 31 Nights of Horror Challenge

For this year’s 31 Nights of Horror Challenge, the Day 8 prompt was Meta Horror. There are a few movies that fit that genre, like Shaun of the Dead and Cabin in the Woods but we went with the horror spoof comedy, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010).

Storyline

Two lovable hillbillies are headed to their “fixer-upper” vacation cabin to drink some beer, do some fishin’, and have a good time. But when they run into a group of preppy college kids who assume from their looks that they must be in-bred, chainsaw-wielding killers, Tucker & Dale’s vacation takes a bloody and hilarious turn for the worse.

Our Thoughts on Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Right off of the bat this movie was just fun! It was cheesy and cool at the same time. There were a lot of horror references, mostly to Evil Dead with the cabin and all but otherwise it was just fresh, at least to us who had never seen it before.

The movie is basically a farce or a comedy of errors with each error resulting in a gruesome death. While the manner of the deaths is so over the top as to be funny, the biggest laughs come from the dialog. “Tucker and Dale vs Evil” excels at both physical comedy (the chainsaw scene for example with the bees is a riot) and verbal (explaining the situation to the police).

Fun movie.

6 out of 10

Trivia

A special feature on the DVD plays the movie from the college kids’ perspective, in which Tucker and Dale are murderous villains.

Tyler Labine chose the “GIV’ER” hat to wear as Dale for two reasons. First, it looks like the word “GIVER” alluding to his kind and generous nature. Second, it is the Canadian equivalent of “Git ‘er done,” the redneck phrase popularized by Larry the Cable Guy.