Friday Flix: Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

It’s Friday and you know what that means! Time for some more Friday Flix. Something wicked this week comes. Evil, and the men who would fight it. Join Tucker and Dale whose only desire is to enjoy Tucker’s new vacation home.

The description from IMDB.com:

Tucker & Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are attacked by a group of preppy college kids.

I know, it sounds like it’s on par with Dumb and Dumber (and it is) but since a lot of friends strongly recommended this movie to me and since it was Netflix Instant anyway, I thought I’d give it a go.

THE GOOD

Alan Tudyk. *drops mic and walks away*

*comes back and picks up mic* Okay, I know for some of you that might not be enough of an excuse, although it does make for a lot of the reason I watched this movie in the first place. But in addition to Alan (who plays Tucker) we have an equally fantastic performance by Tyler Labine (Dale). They do “best buds” right and considering the environment of the movie, are very well written.

Something else that surprised me about this movie was a covert discussion about prejudices. You have a bunch of college kids who could probably be cast as the popular kids in a teen movie coming to hillbilly country with both their college kid and city slicker prejudices fully in tact. In fact, that’s how Tucker and Dale are introduced, through the lens of these college kids. I have to admit, I did wonder about them, too.

But as a few minutes pass and we get to know T&D, we realize despite their quirks, they’re pretty decent guys. You even have Tucker encouraging Dale to go talk to one of the college hotties. I found it interesting to see how not long into the movie I’d feel a lot more comfortable around the hillbillies than the “intellectuals.” It makes for an interesting discussion on personal prejudices.

So at its root, this is a movie about overcoming prejudices and having confidence in yourself to step out of the box people may try and put you in. This movie may surprise you.

THE BAD

Gratuitous violence for the sake of gratuitous violence isn’t really my thing. I know it’s supposed to be humorous in a way, but I still felt uncomfortable every time someone bit the dust—and in terribly violent, grotesque ways EVERY time. I think it could have been toned down a lot, but I admit I’m probably not the audience they had in mind.

Although they tried to give a couple of the ladies brains, this still isn’t a terribly woman-friendly film. Mostly they’re objectified damsels in distress. One tries to be a psychologist, but it’s more akin to the early stages of Reese Witherspoon lawyering up in Legally Blonde. Still, at least effort is being made, I guess.

THE CONCLUSION

Is it a worthwhile watch? It depends on your tastes. If you like Alan Tudyk, definitely. If you like slashers mixed with humor, probably. If you’re intrigued by the idea of examining prejudices, maybe. It’s definitely not going to win any prestigious awards, but it’s a fun little flick I enjoyed seeing at least once.

A lot of the humor comes in the ignorance/acceptance of Tucker and Dale to their environment, especially their reaction to the “vacation home” of Tucker’s. The state of it would make most of feel ripped off, but they feel like kings in a palace. Again, it left me wondering about judgements we make and why we make them. So there is something to be had on the intellectual side as well as the good, old-fashioned goofy humor. But definitely not one for the young kiddies.

Have you seen Tucker and Dale vs. Evil? What did you think? Anything you would add to the good or the bad? Do you have any interest in seeing the film now? Have you had any recent experiences that made you reexamine prejudice in your own life?

Friday Flix: The Conjuring

And we’re back with another edition of Friday Flix, but this week, things get scary—real scary. On my way into work last Friday I heard one of the local DJs talking about this new movie coming out called The Conjuring. I hadn’t heard about the movie prior to this occasion and when they were calling it the scariest movie they’d ever seen I was intrigued. The DJ also mentioned how this movie was fairly clean as far as scary movies go AKA not a gory slasher, which I hate.

I love a good scary movie, but usually what’s available are gory, blood fests and I say a big NO THANKS to those. I called up my bro, whom I knew would also love a good scary movie, and we headed out right after work to catch the last matinee. Besides, it’s always a little nicer if a movie really freaks you out that it’s still light outside when it’s over.

What is The Conjuring even about? From IMBD.com:

Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.

IN ADDITION TO GOOD SCARES IS A GOOD STORY

Slasher films are usually terribly predictable and without the scares would probably make terrible movies in and of themselves (and let’s face it, some are even with the scares). The Conjuring does a great job of combining story with scare so you’re even more invested in the characters and even more concerned when the scary starts to hit the fan.

We start the movie with Ed and Lorraine and one of their previous cases that’s its own kind of creepy. The back of your writer mind will probably wonder what it has to do with anything. Don’t worry yourself, there was a point and it’s coming later in a terrifying way.

But what I liked about it, is it set the stage for our main protagonists. It gave them credibility and since they are talking to interested parties on a sort of lecture circuit it makes sense later that the family would be able to contact them for help. Those of you doing multi-protagonist stories, I would highly recommend this film as a study on how to incorporate both stories and make them matter.

The writers took great care in giving us plenty of scenes to get to know and like both the haunted family (the Perrons) and the Warrens. But in those scenes they laid the groundwork for later scares and kept the tension running high. One of my favorite laying-the-ground-work moments had to do with the children playing a game involving clapping, kind of like Marco Polo. When you view the movie, watch for how something innocuous can turn into something terrifying later on. It just worked so well!

EVERY CHARACTER HAS PERSONAL MOTIVATIONS

Do you know what a flat character is? Someone who has the depth of a piece of paper. When creating characters, if we want to make them believable, we have to give them a back story. That is not to say we dump back story on the pages, but that we know it whether or not we ever show it.

To put it in simpler terms, each character must have a life going on outside of the current story. What would they be doing if your story wasn’t happening?

The Warrens, they hint at in the beginning, have had something go wrong in their demon hunting days. And like good storytellers, the writers don’t let us know what that is until it’s absolutely critical.

We also get lots of little moments from the Perrons as to why they would choose to stay in that haunted farmhouse. They’re in dire financial straits, and even when living on the street sounds more appealing than living in that farmhouse, the writers give us another important reason why they can’t leave.

As you can see, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this story unfold coming from the perspective of a story maker. I think you will, too.

IT’S JUST PLAIN FUN

Okay, aside from some good story telling, they just have a lot of fun with it and couch in a lot of good scares. The camera angles, the acting, and pacing all contribute to a good ride. There are lots of red herrings in the sense you think something will go one way—in fact you’re convinced—and it turns out completely different.

I loved how they used different objects to build suspense, like the music box you see in the previews. They even had a reference to Wait Until Dark, another good suspenseful movie I highly recommend.

Granted, it’s not the most brilliant movie you’ll ever see, but it comes as a breath of fresh air amidst an environment of remakes and reboots. Plus that it’s loosely based on a true story helps with the spook factor.

ONE THING THAT SETS IT APART

Often at the end of thriller or horror flix I’ve seen is that you leave thinking, Thank goodness they made it through that! -or- Thank goodness it’s over! And I’m not saying that won’t cross your mind, but at the end of this movie comes an interesting emotion to consider: hope.

Even though they went through a horrible deal, and we go right along with them, I felt a lot of positivity at the end. It seems the message of the movie was we are stronger than those things we have to face. And that uniting together as families can give us that strength.

I was surprised to walk away feeling in some parts uplifted, even though most of my reason in watching this film was for a good scare. That’s why I’ve been recommending it to nearly every person I see.

Granted, it is a VERY scary movie, and if you can’t handle it, you probably shouldn’t try. But if you appreciate a scary movie sans gore, crudeness, and much foul language, this is a flick for you.

But maybe try it at the matinee. 😉 Enjoy the trailer.

Have you seen The Conjuring? Did you love it? Do you want to see it? What do you like/hate about horror movies? What do you wish we would see more of? What do you think, are demon hauntings real or just freaked out people hallucinating?