Tucker and Dale’s Rescue Rangers

Since Ms. Spenser enjoys horror more than I do, I’m always looking for some good spooky thrills. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010) didn’t qualify. But it sure is fun.

A gang of college kids are going camping in West Virginia - stop me if you’ve heard this before. We were reminded of the band in MST3K’s Pod People. A pickup truck passes them, and the hillbillies driving give them long, intense stares. Later we find out that these hillbillies are Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine). The stare was because Dale was taken with all the beautiful young women. At a rest stop, he tries to talk with them - but because he’s carrying a scythe and is kind of bashful and awkward, they think he is creepy.

So while they are setting up camp and telling horror stories about hillbillies murdering college kids, Tucker and Dale arrive at Tucker’s “fixer-upper” summer place, a rundown shack. It’s dusty, broken down, and there are ominous newspaper clippings on the wall. Dale can’t believe the grandeur. Then the kids go fishing and the hillbillies go fishing. One of the girls, Katrina Bowden, falls off a rock and hits her head, so Tucker and Dale take her back to the shack. Dale is pretty much smitten and tries to make her comfortable while she is unconscious.

The kids decide that Tucker and Dale have kidnapped Bowden, and start sneaking up. Meanwhile, Tucker accidentally chainsaws into a bee’s nest, and starts running away, waving his chainsaw. One of the kids thinks he’s being chased and runs away - straight into a tree branch impaling himself.

So it goes: one kid sees Tucker working a wood chipper and tries to push him in, but falls in himself. The sheriff arrives and accidentally shoots himself in the head. One by one, they are all dying.

When Bowden wakes up, she’s scared, but Dale’s sweet nature grows on her. In fact, she’s studying communications and when the kids still left alive come to rescue her, she sits them down to talk about their feelings. Then things get real.

There are two great things about this movie. The first is in the premise: Due to prejudice and coincidence, some college kids think two sweet hillbillies are psycho killers - and they wind up killing themselves. It may seem tough to spin this out into a whole movie, but they make it seem effortless, inevitable. But the real great thing is Tucker and Dale. Tucker is the irascible friend, always teasing and acting superior, but he always tells Dale how great he his and how much he has to offer. Dale is just a big shy dummy, full of heart, and (plot point) never forgets a trivial fact.

I guess I can’t really say that the college kids, even Bowden, are quite so well drawn. But I’d rather see stereotyped yuppies than hillbillies.

So, come for the shocks and laughs, stay for the heart. Now, can anyone suggest a really scary movie for Ms. S?