I finally got to see Tucker & Dale VS Evil. It played last year at SXSW, and I didn’t have a chance to see it then—even though I interviewed the director Eli Craig following the premiere. The first thing he said to me:

Eli: So, how’d you like the movie?

Me: Uhh. I didn’t have a chance to see it.

Eli: Really? Oh man!

Me: [thinking how bad that sounds and how much of an idiot he must think I am for interviewing him about a movie I haven’t actually seen] Well, everyone who’s seen it seems to have liked it.

Eli: Really! Cool!

The interview picked up from there, thanks to the fact that Eli’s a really nice and enthusiastic guy who was perfectly content to talk horror movies. The fact that it was a gorgeous day in Austin and we were seated on the patio of one of its most pleasant restaurants—I forget the actual name, but it overlooks some water, has the décor of an old saw mill, and I believe has either the word “Tractor” or “Goat” in the title”—helped.

Continue Reading →

When you run a website like The Flickcast, you are often lucky enough to see movies in advance of their release to the general public. Or, in the case of the horror comedy Tucker & Dale Versus Evil, way in advance.

I first saw this movie last year during Austin’s South By Southwest Film Festival and reviewed it for the site. Now, over a year later, the film has finally found distribution through Magnolia Pictures Magnet Releasing arm.

To save you the trouble of reading my review I will tell you that at the time I didn’t fall madly in love with the movie. However, it was fun and leads Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk and Katrina Bowden are likeable and very watchable.

The film has problems, of course, as to many movies these days. I don’t really blame it for its problems, though, as it aspires to do a lot and is mostly limited by its extremely modest budget. I definitely give director Eli Craig points for at least trying to do something.

So, I’m happy more people will get a chance to experience Tucker & Dale Vs Evil. Plus, if the film does well we may be able to see what director Craig does with a larger budget.

Expect Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil to hit VOD on August 26th and then theaters on September 30th. For more info, click through for the full press release.

Continue Reading →

Even though the 2010 SXSW Film/Interactive/Music Festival is all but finished, that doesn’t mean there are not still a few awards left to give out. Today the fest announced additional audience awards for films that screened during the film portion of the event.

These films include films from the Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Lone Star States, 24 Beats Per Second and Midnighters categories. For the 2010 SXSW Film Festival, 134 feature-length films, including 64 world premieres, were selected from a record 1,572 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,206 U.S. and 366 international feature-length films. 130 shorts were selected from 2,312 short film submissions.

Here’s a list of the additional 2010 SXSW Film Festival Audience Award Winners:

Feature Film Audience Awards

SPOTLIGHT PREMIERES
Winner: Richard Garriott – Man on a Mission
Director: Mike Woolf

EMERGING VISIONS
Winner: NY Export: Opus Jazz
Director: Henry Joost and Jody Lee Lipes

Continue Reading →

With his film Tucker & Dale vs. Evil playing the crowds at Austin, director Eli Craig is looking to become the American Edgar Wright. We recently had a chance to sit down with him to chat about his new movie, classic horror in general, and plans for the future.

The Flickcast: What are some of your classic horror influences?  I see some Texas Chainsaw in there.

Eli Craig: I really tried to put a lot of different films into this one; I like a lot of the older horror films going back to Sam Raimi and The Evil Dead and a lot of Peter Jackson’s older films—the old zombie slasher films. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a bit of Friday the 13^th, Cabin Fever, and even threw in a little bit of Fargo.

And definitely Wrong Turn. This is basically the opposite of Wrong Turn. And then sprinkled on top is just a little bit of I Love You, Man.

TFC: Is there something about the splatter genre that attracts you?

EC: In regards to I Love You, Man?

Continue Reading →

Tucker & Dale Vs Evil is a film I went into with low expectations and, for the most part, I was not disappointed. Showing at midnight on the first day of SXSW, it was a perfect way to start off the late night screenings. However, the film works best and can be most enjoyed if you don’t take it too seriously or expect too much from it.

While the two leads, Tucker (played by Firefly and Dollhouse‘s Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine, recently of Reaper and the upcoming Sons of Tucson), are immensely likable and have good chemistry and banter, the film falls short and doesn’t live up to their potential. This is unfortunate on many levels because given more effort and time, it probably would have turned out a lot better and been a more fitting vehicle for these two actors.

The premise of Tucker & Dale is very simple and in most cases when it comes to filmmaking, simple is a good thing. Sadly, a simple premise alone does not a complete movie make and as the movie progresses, the slender thread of that premise starts to unravel. This is where this film chiefly falls in that while it does have a simple premise, it doesn’t expand much beyond it and instead offers a string of somewhat uninspired and progressively repetitive “accidents” that go along, leading the film to its inevitable conclusion.

Continue Reading →

2010 might be the year for unexpected comedy successes, between Hot Tub Time Machine and now Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil. The latter is looking better as it mashes the genre of slasher and comedy like never before. Don’t believe me? Here’s the official synopsis:

In the vein of Shaun of the Dead, Tucker & Dale is a wild, wonky tale of two hillbilly buddies trying to survive their vacation in the woods when they are mistaken for killers by a gang of college kids. Our heroes valiantly save one of the college girls from drowning but are accused of wrongdoing. The chase ensues, not treating the students too well, leaving us with a gory but hilarious tale of two hillbillies and their hearts of gold.

Two hillbillies that aren’t the killers, but just on the wrong end of a series of mishaps? Sounds too good, no? Well it gets better when you hear that the titular roles of Tucker and Dale will be played by fan favorites Alan Tudyk (Serenity) and Tyler Labine (Reaper). 30 Rock’s Katrina Bowden also stars as one of the accident-prone college kids.

The film officially debut’s at Sundance, and is expected to have a distributor and release date shortly thereafter. Check out two brand new clips from the film after the jump.

Continue Reading →

Shaun of the Dead started a new trend of horror comedies that was once lost after the mainstream success of the Ghostbusters franchise in the late 80s. From there, films like Zombieland and Fido took the ball and ran with it. It was only a matter of time before the formula was used on something other than the zombie genre.

Enter Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, a new horror comedy in the works that puts the “teens killed by hillbillies in the woods” storyline on it’s head. The film shows what it’s like from the other end of the scale, and what if the hillbillies weren’t really all that evil.

Starring Firefly’s Alan Tudyk and Reaper’s Tyler Labine (what could become the American equivalent of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost), the film could help the genre mash-up of Horror Comedy grow some real legs, after Zombieland helped put it on the map this summer.

Check out the first trailer for the film after the jump, and we’ll be sure to have more info on the film (such as a hard release date) as soon as it comes to us.

Continue Reading →