Hilarious 2010 horror/comedy Tucker & Dale vs. Evil flips the script on the standard horror stereotypes associated with redneck characters. The horror genre is full of films and TV shows that make use of those stereotypes, such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Wrong Turn, the Peacocks in the "Home" episode of The X-Files, The Hills Have Eyes, and even the survival classic Deliverance, although that last one obviously is more horror adjacent. There's also the many films of Rob Zombie, which often feature redneck or white trash villains.
One could surmise that the overuse of the redneck horror villain trope is due to most films being written by Hollywood screenwriters, who usually live and work in large cities like Los Angeles or New York City. To them, those that live in the backwoods or in the mountains are essentially a foreign entity, or at least a culture they have no understanding of, and there are few things more fearsome than the unknown.
Thankfully, there exists the critically acclaimed cult hit Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, which casts fan-favorite genre actors Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as the titular rednecks, and makes a point to subvert expectations regarding that type of character at every turn. These hills may have eyes, but they also have emotions.
For those unfamiliar, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil sees a group of college kids go camping in the woods of West Virginia, and while at a gas station, they encounter Tucker and Dale. Dale is instantly smitten with one of the group, Allison (Katrina Bowden), but is naturally shy, and his awkward attempts to interact with her just leave the others weirded out. To Allison and her friends, Tucker and Dale appear to be the stereotypical creepy rednecks that are just as likely to murder someone and wear their skin as be friendly.
Of course, Tucker and Dale are anything but killers, and are two kind, well-meaning souls. Unfortunately, the college kids are so afraid of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil's titular duo that their own stupidity and ineptitude results in them getting systematically killed in accidents on Tucker and Dale's land. Tucker and Dale know they didn't murder anyone, but are worried they won't be able to prove that, and each death makes things look worse for their case. Amusingly, the deaths are played for dark humor, including when one guy goes flying into a wood chipper, and another accidentally blows his own head off with a shotgun. Thankfully, Tucker and Dale win in the end, prevailing over the real villain in their midst, and even seeing Dale land his dream girl in the process. For once, the rednecks got to be horror heroes.
from ScreenRant - Feed https://ift.tt/37CG9hT
0 comments:
Post a Comment