THE SACRAMENT (2014)

THE SACRAMENT (2014)

Label: Magnet Relesing
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 99 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with Optional English, Spanish Subtitles 
Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Director: Ti West 
Cast: AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Kentucky Audley, Amy Seimetz, Gene Jones

Director Ti West has made quite a name for himself since coming onto the indie--horror scene with The Roost (2005) and the one-two punch of The House of the Devil (2009) and The Inn Keepers (2009). I'm a fan of his style and the meticulously composed shots with a deliberate build-up. I even love the maligned Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009) which West disowned when producers re cut the film with additional footage, even with it's problems it's a fun, gooey comedy with a lot of icky moments. 

Afterward Ti West kept busy with contributions to the anthology films V/H/S (2012) and The ABCs of Death (2012) both of which I strongly disliked, particularly the V/H/S entry which I felt was the worst of the bunch. Coming into The Sacrament (2014) I didn't have a lot of expectations one way or the other. I try not to get too excited or down on a film prior to watching it, even if I feel the filmmakers previous few outings were duds. The proof is always in the pudding. 

The Sacrament is a modern retelling of the final days of the Jonestown cult and the mass suicide that occurred there in 1978. Framed as a documentary shot by two VICE Media correspondents Sam and Jake (AJ Bowed, Joe Swanberg) who learn through photographer friend  Peter (Kentucky Audler) of a hippie-styled commune located outside of the United States. The photographers formerly drug-addicted sister Caroline (Amy Siemetz) now resides in what sounds like a Utopian paradise in the jungle and she wants him to come visit. 

The brother is concerned for the sisters safety and the VICE guys see it as a great story opportunity and set off to the undisclosed location. They arrive at the rural location known as Eden's Parish, a self-sustaining commune. After a threatening encounter with armed gunmen the trio meet-up with Caroline and things start to smooth out. The place seems pretty alright and the two hundred or so followers seem well adjusted and happy to be there, most having escaped lives of poverty and drug addiction in the U.S.. They seem quite happy to be there and follow a man that everyone calls Father (Gene Jones).

The film plays out documentary style with time stamps and location titles as the crew document the cult and interview a few of the followers of the beloved Father. Perhaps the strongest element of the film is that we get a peek inside the cult and a taste of the mentality as the followers reveal why they chose to drop out of society and what drew them to Father. 

The crew are granted permission to interview Father that night at an assembly and we see the overwhelming love and support  for him from the many followers. Gene Jones is pretty superb as the charismatic cult leader. A slow drawn out speaker he oozes charm and love, which makes it hard to interview him, he's one of those guys that can turn your question around on you twice and never once actually reveal anything. 

After the assembly things start to turn a bit dark for it seems the newcomers have created a movement of descent among his followers and Father is none too pleased. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the events and Jonestown know the direction the film turns afterward. The story held absolutely no surprises  for me which is a disappointment - this is pretty much a straight-up fictionalized account of the Jonestown cult's final days and doesn't stray from it.

That's not to say that the performances are not effective - the dynamic of the cult followers and the charismatic leader are very good, creepily so. The VICE crew keep us rooted in the story as they are a stand-in for the viewer playing both skeptic and cautious believer. To their credit they didn't make any decisions that made me yell at the screen in anger which is a plus, all too often these found footage type films are filled with dim witted decisions. The most harrowing scene for me was that of Peter and his demented sister at the end of the film, he is powerless to stop what's transpiring around him, it's a very affecting scene. Throughout the film you  can tell she's just a bit off - she's sort of the second in command at the parish - and as the utopia unravels so does she with tragic consequences. 

The camerawork is pretty decent and does feel like an authentic documentary, as is often the case the camera catches a bit too much to be based in reality but the filmmakers are making a film here and Ti West is someone with a deliberate style of cinematography and I can imagine it might have been hard to relinquish control of the camera for this as cinema verite seem at odds with West's deliberate composition, to that end does not feel like a Ti West film but the writing certainly does.  

I enjoyed it but I didn't love it just for the fact that I knew what would happen because it'd so adherent to the source material meant that there were very few surprises. I appreciated the performances and there's some decent tension being built-up but this has zero re watch factor for me. I thought Timo Tjahjanto and Gareth Edward's "Safe Haven" segment from V/H/S/2 was a more interesting and original take on cult story. Not awful but definitely my least favorite of Ti West's feature films. 

The disc from Magnet Releasing looks and sounds great - shot on the Canon C300 digital camera is looks like a a nive HD documentary with a decent surround mix. There's a director's commentary a four featurettes documenting the making-of the film. 

DVD Review: HERE COMES THE DEVIL (2012)

HERE COMES THE DEVIL (2012) 

Label: Magnet Releasing 

Region Code: 1 NTSC

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 98 Minutes

Audio: Spanish and English 5.1 Dolby Digital with Optional English SDH Subtitles 

Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) 

Director:  Adrian Garcia Bogliano 

Cast: Francisco Barreiro and Laura Caro, Alan Martinez, Michele Garcia and Barbara Perrin Rivemar, Jessica Iris and Dana Dorel

A young couple are on a day trip in Baja, California when their pre-teen kids Sara (Michele Garcia) and Adofo (Alan Martinez) disappear on what turns out to be a cursed mountain. The parents argue and lay blame on each other but thankfully the kids are found the next day and returned to the parents seemingly unharmed... but there's somethings not quite right about the kids afterward, there's something sinister about them. 

Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano grabbed my attention from the first shot of two attractive young women engaged in a strenuous scissoring-session -  it's hot stuff. Surprisingly there's a strong sexual element to the movie with multiple moments of onscreen sex and sexuality - some of it straight-up and some of it more subtle and darker. Scenes of finger-banging, scissoring and pierced nipples pepper the film as do more disturbing implications of incest.

The mother (Laura Caro) is the first to notice that something is wrong with the children. Concerned for their well-being she takes her daughter to a doctor and a psychologist - the doc tells her that her daughter's hymen is missing and the head-shrink says that the children may have suffered a traumatic sexual encounter on the mountain. Out of their minds with the idea that the children may have been sexually assaulted the parents investigate the involvement of a dim-witted weirdo named Lucio (David Cabezud) who frequents the mountain. When they discover that Lucio has a pair of their daughter's period-stained panties in his possession you can imagine the encounter tuns dark. I will say that the gore throughout is not overwhelming but this scene specifically is tense and very brutal.

Afterward the strange occurrences continue and while the father chooses to ignore it altogether mom discovers that the kids have been skipping school and returning to the mountain, but to what end? As mom sleuths the mystery she discovers the horrifying truth about her children and the dark forces at play. 

There's some decent side characters including the dim-witted Lucio and the creepy gas station attendant who provides a dark mythology about the cursed mountain with his own tragic connections to the events. There's also police officer who assists with the kids recovery but whom also suspects the parents in the  death of Lucio, this cop has one of the most magnificent mustaches of all time, it's quite a soup-strainer. 

The supernatural element become more pronounced as the movie rolls along which includes the babysitter recounting a surreal and trippy nightmare scenario which occurred  while she watched the kids one night. It's a hallucinatory encounter involving lost time, incestuous overtones and the existence of Satan which ends with her revealing two large footprint-shaped bruises across her chest and barbel-pierced breasts - by far my favorite sequence of the movie. 

Verdict: Here Comes the Devil (2012) has an effective creepy kids vibe and unsettling supernatural elements plus shocking moments of sex and carnage. This gets a definite recommend to horror fans who can tolerate a bit of a slow build-up. 3.5 Outta 5 

Blu-ray Review: BAD MILO! (2013)

BAD MILO! (2013) 

Label: Magnet Releasing
Region: A

Rating: R

Duration: 84 Minutes

Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio: English DTS-HD Master 5.1 Audio with Optional English Subtitles

Director: Jacob Vaughn 

Cast: Ken Marino, Gillian Jacob, Peter Stormare, Patrick Warburton, Erik Charles Nielson, Steve Zissis, Toby Huss

At it's heart Bad Milo! is a scatalogical version of David Cronenberg's The Brood (1979) by way of 80's horror comedies Critters (1986) and Basket Case (1982) starring Ken Marino (Role Models) as an average put-upon guy under enormous emotional strain. He has a devoted wife Sarah (Gillian Jacobs) who wants a baby, a manipulative boss (Patrick Warburton, TV's The Tick), an annoying co worker (Erik Charles Nielson, TV's Community) and free-spirited mother (Mary Kay Place, TV's Big Love). All of these elements add to his distress and that stress is manifesting itself as a painful gastrointestinal anomaly which he believes might be an ulcer and what the doc diagnoses as polyps. They're both wrong, the cause of Duncan's gut-churning is a vicious, pint-sized ass monster, a toothsome and clawed monstrosity that carries out Duncan's subconscious desire to hurt those who have done him wrong, it emerges from his clenched-sphincter from time to time killing, the ensuing string of deaths are blamed on a rabid raccoon by the media. 

It's a fun watch with some great comedic moments including a nightmare dinner scenario with Duncan's mother who invites an annoying  fertility specialist (Steve Zissis, Baghead) to speed along the baby-making process for her son while her way-younger husband Bobbi (Kumail Nanjiani, TV's Portlandia) whom makes uncomfortable comments about the size of his cock and the difficulty of squeezing into Duncan's mothers ("just-the-tip Tuesday"), eww. 

The film has a great cast heavy with TV comedy players, plus Peter Stormare Toby Huss (HBO'S Carnivàle) plays a humorous proctologist with a colorful bedside manner ("you've got a trooper in your pooper") and an estranged new age father played by News Radio's Stephen Root who is always a pleasure, it's a tremendous cast.

(The Big Lebowski) as a new age hypnotherapist with a mouthy pet parrot who convinces Duncan he must bond with his deadly inner-turd to curb it's murderous tendencies.  

The creature design of Milo is pretty awesome, a cute and dung-demon that's equal parts wide-eyed Gizmo from Gremlins (1984) and grotesque Belial from Frank Henelotter's Basket Case (1982) rendered onset by puppeteers with very little digital enhancement which gives it a particular 80's feel, loved it. Unfortunately the blood spatter is digital but it's not awful. 

There's not a ton of gore but what there is of it is fun stuff, including a painful penis-shredding, ouch. When Milo initially renters Duncan's sphincter the clawed-creature crawls up the leg towards his anal-nest, that made my leg twitch. 

Bad Milo! is a decent horror-comedy with a quirky heart and a fun premise and a great cast who keep this absurd comedy entertaining. It definitely plays up the comedy more than the horror while dealing with real-world issues of fatherhood fears, abandonment issues and relationships wrapped up in toilet humor, fun stuff.

Blu-ray: Magnet give Bad Milo! a very nice 1080p widescreen presentation with an active DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track with a nice set of extras. My only beef with the release would be that they opted not to use the theatrical poster and went with a generic photo shopped cover.

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Ken Marino, Gillian Jacobs, Director Jacob Vaughn and Writer Benjamin Hayes
- Trailer (2:10) HD
- Magnet Trailers (9:08) for Last Days on Mars, How I Live Now, Best man Down, Mr. Nobody HD 

- Extended Outtakes (7:40) HD
- Extended Dinner Scene (7:01) HD
- Deleted Scene: Veterinarian (1:20) HD
- Behind Milo: The Puppeteers! (1:33) HD
- Behind Milo: Raw Take (1:04) HD
- Interview with Ken Marino  (9:49) HD
- AXS TV: A Look at Bad Milo (3:03)

Verdict: At the end of the day Bad Milo! is a fun weekend watch. I'd highly recommend this to fans of Deadly Spawn (1983), Brain Damage (1988), Ghoulies (1985) and Critters (1986). A b-movie horror-comedy with heart, that's not particularly clever but pretty darn entertaining. 3.5 Outta 5 

DVD Review: V/H/S/2 (2013)

V/H/S/2 (2013)

Label: Magnet Releasing
Release Date: September 24th 2013 

Region Code: 1 NTSC

Duration: 96 Minutes

Rating: R

Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 with Optional Spanish and English SDH Subtitles

Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.78:1) 

DirectorS: Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Edúardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale,
Timo Tjahjanto, Gareth Huw Evans, Jason Eisener

Here we have another entry in the found-footage anthology series, a sequel to V/H/S (2012) with a new set of directors taking a stab at things, I wasn't completely enamored with the last entry and was down right disappointed with a few of the vignettes (lloking at you Ti west) so lets see what we have this time out. 

We begin with 'Tape 49', a very familiar framing device as two private investigators on the trail of a missing teen unlawfully enter a house and come upon a bank of TV monitors and stacks of VHS cassettes. The female investigator is tasked with pouring through the videos while the man searches through the seemingly empty house for clues to the missing teens whereabouts, this is our introduction to the shorts, much like we saw in V/H/S and it's just as weak here as it was then. The warp-around is directed by frequent Adam Wingard collaborator Simon Barrett whose written some good material previously with the creepy Civil War-era chiller Dead Birds (2006) and the recent You're Next (2011) but this just didn't do much for me unfortunately, it's a shame this is your first and last impression of the film. 

Up next is Adam Wingard's 'Phase 1: Clinical Trials' with Wingard in he staring role as a video game designer who has lost an eye in a car accident, we catch up with him just as an experimental camera-eye has been installed in his eye socket and he's returning home post-surgery. As night settles in begins to see strange things happening around his house, it's pretty much a variation on what we've seen previously in the j horror film The Eye (2002) or the underrated Body Parts (1991) with Jeff Fahey, this is a pretty effective entry and infinitely more fun than any of the Paranormal Activity (2007) entries in my opinion, plus we get a bit of nudity, too. 

The Godfather of Found Footage Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project) offers up 'A Ride in the Park' a novel take on the zombie genre, featuring a mountain-biker with a Go Pro cam mounted-to his helmet as he hits the dirt trails for some extreme off road action until he happens upon a woman is distress, she's bloodied and vomiting. Dismounting his mountain bike  he attempts to offer aid when she attacks him, tearing out  a chunk out of his throat, he stumbles though the woods a short distance and bleeds out. A few moments later a coupe happen upon his corpse when he is suddenly reanimated as a flesh-chomping zombie, the remainder of the short plays out following his zombie exploits captured on the Go Pro camera set-up, it's definitely a novel idea with an interesting POV. I enjoyed the gore and some interesting POV shots - like when he's run over by an SUV, it made for a fun entry. 

Up next is what I think is one of the stronger entries co-directed by Timo Tjahanto (The ABCs of Death) and Gareth Huw Evans (The Raid) which features three documentary filmmakers gaining access to an Indonesian doomsday cult compound, while interviewing the cult leader he suddenly announces to his followers that the end is here, that the glorious event they've been waiting for is upon them... and it's pretty great vignette. We get a bit more character development than what we've seen up to this point including a love-triangle, but nothing too distracting as to take us away from the apocalyptic matters at hand, one of the documentarian's unplanned pregnancy actually plays into the proceedings, in fact it may have spurred the apocalypse. A blood-soaked and frantic affair, the chaos that ensues is fantastic and it went places I was not expecting we have Jonestown-style mass suicides, zombie ghouls and a horned demon unleashed up the world, I loved this entry and felt like it could have easily been expanded upon into a feature length film, I wanted more but what we get is just enough, this one really opened up the scope of the found-footage entries on the disc, it felt like a new take on the sub-genre an is handled quite deftly, these guys had a vision and it's a brutal bloodbath of fun. 

The segment I was most anticipating is from director Jason Eisener who directed the fantastically entertaining a violent retro-grindhouse romp Hobo with a Shotgun (2009) and the creepy 'Youngbuck' from The ABC's of Death (2013) anthology and it didn't disappoint me. Entitled 'Slumber Party Alien Abduction' it features a brother and sister left alone at their lakeside home for a weekend, the older sister's horny boyfriend arrives and the young brother invites a few of his naughty friends over, pretty soon it's a party. The young boys love to prank the horny older teens and capture their shenanigans on video, including, at night the boys bust into the girls room at catch her topless while straddling her boyfriend, enraged she chases the boys outside and it's then that the kids notice some strange lights hovering over the lake, bit don't pay much notice. As things settle down the vengeful sister notices that the boys are watching porn in the front room and turns the camera on them, catching one of 'em wanking it to the dirty movie, and that's when the shit starts to happen, an alien abduction scenario is underway as the teens are bombarded with noise and piercing bright light, slender armed alien greys are out to get 'em! I thought this was a really effective entry, it's fun and ratchets up the suspense right up to the end, this is great stuff and the ending was startling sad.

The film finishes up with the end of the wrap-around story which as I said up front was quite a let down, but overall V/H/S/2 is a step-up in pretty much every way from the first entry, the stories are better, more consistent, they're creative and have a broader scope plus it's executed deftly. 

DVD: The single-disc DVD from Magnet Releasing presents the film in 16:9 widescreen (1.78:1) with English Dolby Digital 5.1 with choice of Spanish or English subtitles. The DVD features both the unrated theatrical cut and the R rated version, not sure what the differences are, I watched the Unrated cut and it's the exact same length as the rated. There;s a nice compliment of extras including behind-the-scenes featurettes, trailers, galleries and a running audio commentary from the filmmakers, it's a very nice package from Magnet. The movie is also available on Blu-ray and as a DVD/Blu-ray/VHS combo, very cool. 

Special Features:

- Tape 49 Rewind (1:39) 

- Dissecting Phase I Clinical Trials (2:28) 

- Inside Safe Haven (3:34) 

- Slumber Party Alien Abduction: Behind the Lights (5:56) 

- A Ride in the Park: I Dare You (3:06) 

- AXS TV: A Look at V/H/S/2 (2:58) 

- Behind the Scenes Photo Galleries

- Filmmaker Commentary

- 2 Theatrical Trailers (3:56) 

- Magnet Trailers: Hammer of the Gods, Europa Report, Prince Avalanche, Syruo  (8:39) 

Verdict: A fun found footage anthology that improves upon the first film in nearly every way.  I went in with tempered expectation having been a bit bummed by it's predecessor but I walked away having had quite a bit of fun, a definite recommend and a fun watch with a few good scares and some interesting ideas that are executed quite well. 4 Outta 5 

DVD Review: SUSHI GIRL (2012)

SUSHI GIRL (2012)

Label: Magnet Releasing

Region Code: 1 NTSC

Rating: R

Duration: 99 Minutes

Video: 16:9 Widescreen (2.40:1)

Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital EX with Optional English Subtitles

Director: Kern Saxton

Cast: Tony Todd, James Duval, Noah Hathaway, Andy Mackenzie
Mark Hamill, Sonny Chiba, David Dastmalchian, Michael Beihn, Danny Trejo, Jeff Fahey, Cortney Palm

Tagline: Revenge is a Dish Best Served Raw

Synopsis: Brand new prison parolee Fish (Noah Hathaway) has spent the past six years in incarcerated following a botched diamond heist, the only one of a crew of five to get nabbed by the police afterward, being a stand-up guy he's not rolled on any of them while in prison, their secrets are safe. The very night he is released from the prison he's invited to a celebration dinner reuniting the five men who performed the heist, and what begins as a congratulatory and lavish Yakuza-style sushi dinner served off the nubile flesh of a gorgeous young woman (Courtney Palm) quickly turns quite a bit more sinister when old wounds are re-opened and the proverbial salt is applied with bitter viciousness as Fish's former friendlies attempt to find out just what exactly happened to the missing diamonds following his incarceration. 

The leader of the crew of criminals is Duke (Tony Todd), a well-mannered but menacing presence, it is Tony Todd after all, the guy just does not do sweet. Duke is joined for dinner by the perversely effeminate Crow (Mark Hamill), the bearded mad dog Max (Andy McKenzie) and the coke-sniffing Francis (James Duvall), whom is the most square of the bunch, his former life of crime seems to have left a bad taste in his mouth and he's reluctant to join in on the Duke's sadistic games, particularly a torture game involving a storied three-minute timer, interrogation and brutality. We get all manner of the ultra-violence as the crew not-so-politely inquire as to the whereabouts of the missing loot, there's a sock full of broken glass upside the face, broken ribs, chop sticks used rather inappropriately, the fingering of an open wound and the removal of teeth, it's not for the squeamish but fear not for it's not on the level of what some might all "torture porn" either. I'd put it right up there with the "ear" scene from Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992). There's some undeniable and delicious Tarantino influence throughout the film, particularly the dialogue which is razor sharp and the words spewing from Todd and Hamill's mouths are delightful to the ears. it was particularly enjoyable to see Mark Hamill seemingly channeling an effeminately perverse version of his iconic Joker character from Batman - The Animated Series, truly sublime.

The cast is superb through and through with great volatile chemistry from the main bunch of guys as they spew barbs of sarcasm, we also get fun cameos from genre legends Danny Trejo and Sonny Chiba, plus a brief Planet Terror (2010) reunion of Michael Beihn and Jeff Fahey, loved it! It took me a few minutes to place James Duvall, whom I remember so fondly from Doom Generation (1995) and Donnie Darko (2001), he's not quite so baby faced these days and I wondered what the Hell happened and then I went to the bathroom and took a look at myself in the mirror, what the fuck happened indeed. Sushi Girl is just a great watch from start to finish, it's a bit of heist film, there's a great revenge thread and it ought to thrill fans of classic grindhouse cinema as well as those who love the recent wave of exploitation throwbacks, too. 

The DVD comes jam-packed with extras including two audio commentaries from the filmmakers and cast, a reel of outtakes, an alternate reveal and ending, a producer's video diary, a hour long making-of documentary, trailers, poster and still galleries and my favorite would be some retro shot-on-video aesthetic commercials which were quite fun, Sonny Chiba selling soy sauce, gotta love it. Also, be on the lookout for a great Easter egg featuring Mark Hamill and a prop from a certain Kevin Smith film, it's a fantastic edition sure to please special feature lovers.

Special Features: 
- Filmmaker Commentary with Kern Saxton, Destin PLaff, Neal Fischer and Suren M. Seron
- Cast Commentary with Tony Todd, James Duval Noah Hathaway, Andy McKenzie, David Dastmalchian, Destin Plaff and Kern Saxton- Sushi Girl: A Documentary (59:54)
- Outtakes (16:59) 
- Producer’s Diaries (7:22) 
- Sushi Girl Music Video: "Victories and Consequences: by Send the Sages (3:52)
- Fake TV Commercials a la Sushi Girl: Falkore Plumbing (1:34), Colonax (2:06), Killaman Soy Sauce (0:36)
- Alternate Reveal (0:30)
- Alternate Ending (1:53)
- Poster and Promotional Image Gallery
- Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery 
- Storyboards
- Trailers: Green Band Grindhouse Trailer (2:07), Red Band Voices Trailer (1:55), - Magnolia Trailers: John Dies at the End (3:53), ABC's of Death (3:54) 

Verdict: A pretty fucking sweet, fast-talking, slice of revenge awesomeness, a great watch and it gets a high recommend, fun stuff. A great feature film debut from filmmaker Kern Saxton right outta the gate, can't wait to see what's next for the young director, this is exciting stuff.  4 Outta 5
  

http://www.magnetreleasing.com

DVD Review: TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL (2010)

TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL (2010) DVD

LABEL: Magnet Releasing
REGION: 1 NTSC
RATING: R
DURATION: 88 mins
VIDEO: 16:9 Widescreen (2.35:1)
AUDIO: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
DIRECTOR: Eli Craig
CAST: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden
TAGLINE: Evil just messed with the wrong hillbillies!

SYNOPSIS: Tucker and Dale are two best friends on vacation at their dilapidated mountain house, who are mistaken for murderous backwoods hillbillies by a group of obnoxious, preppy college kids. When one of the students gets separated from her friends, the boys try to lend a hand, but as the misunderstanding grows, so does the body count.

TUCKER AND DALE VS EVIL flips the switch on the backwoods horror cliches we've seen in films such as WRONG TURN, DISMAL and Adam Green's HATCHET films wherein scary hillbillies take a cleaver to the city folk who happen upon their swampland killing grounds, it's a cliche we've seen many times over since the Tobe Hooper's THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and its going strong with a few new entries every year since. First-time Director Eli Craig's TUCKER AND DALE turns the idea on it's head and it's the scary city folk who terrorize our friendly West Virginian duo of Tucker (Alan Tudyk, SERENITY) and Dale (Tyler Labine, TV's REAPER), two landscapers on their way to their newly acquired fixer-upper cabin in the woods for some rest, relaxation and unbeknownst to them - crazed preppy killers.

It's while stopping off at the local store for supplies that they first encounter a group of college preps on spring break, frat guys and frat-boy fuck dolls; the two most central to the story are the attractive but nice blonde Allison (Katrina Bowden) and Chad (Jesse Moss) who's right up there with cinema's geatest 80's assholes plus seven others. The uppity city kids assume the worst when they meet the "scary" looking hillbillies which leads to an awkward encounter when the usually shy Dale musters up enough courage to introduce himself to Aliison while unfortunately holding a scythe in hand and laughing manically, the preps speed off believing they've just barely escaped certain death at the hands of a rural psychopath.

As it turns out the college kids are heading to the very same part of the woods as Tucker and Dale. The group set-up camp near the lake, and while gathered around the campfire Chad tells the story of the Memorial Day Massacre which took place twenty years prior, a horrific event in which hillbillies slaughtered a group of city kids much like themselves. Their fear of rural people comes into play later that evening when Allison slips on a rock and falls unconscious into the lake just out of sight of her friends. Luckily, Tucker and Dale just happen to be fishing nearby and pull her from the water but when the preps see what's happening it appears to them that the hillbillies have kidnapped Allison and that the events that happened two decades earlier are happening all over again.

This misunderstanding sets off a string of comically, unfortunate events with the preps being egged on by the progressively nuttier and homicidal Chad to launch a violent assault on the cabin in an ill conceived rescue mission. During the attack the irrational preps die off through their own misguided and violent actions; my favorite involves one ending up launching himself head first in a wood chipper while another brutally impales himself on a tree branch thinking he's being chased by a chainsaw wielding Tucker who himself is only running from an angry hive of bees. They continue to mount additional attacks on the cabin all the while the befuddled Tucker and Dale believing Allison's friends have flipped their lids, not understanding why they're under attack.

It's not really a gore-fest but the kills are pretty great nonetheless, they're intense with some nice low-budget gore effects that should satisfy most horror enthusiasts, particularly the wood chipper torso. The film delivers with a winning sense of humor that feels natural and not too forced, it's well-written and delivered pitch perfectly by the duo of Labine and Tudyk who have such great chemistry together onscreen. I would definitely like to see these two paired up again, perhaps in a sequel. 

The disc features a nice selection of bonus features including a fun commentary with the director and stars, outtakes, storyboards, a making of mini doc, a fun featurette with clips from the film from the POV of the college students which puts a more traditional spin on the film, an HDNET featurette, a theatrical trailer plus a collection of Magnolia trailers.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Making of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (12:34) 16:9
- Tucker and Dale ARE EVIL: The College Kids Point of View (16:48) 16:9
- Outtakes (7:53) 16:9
- Storyboards
- Commentary with Director Eli Craig, Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk
- HDNET: A  Look at Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (4:34) 16:9
- Theatrical Trailer (2:23) 16:9
- Magnolia Trailers (9:29) 16:9

VERDICT: Definitely a fun send-up of backwoods horror that puts the genre up on it's ear, seriously funny stuff. I'm here to tell you that you need not even be a fan of horror to enjoy the comedy elements, the wife was in stitches from start to finish, at least when she wasn't horrified by the carnage onscreen, she's definitely not a fan of horror by any stretch of the imagination but she really enjoyed this one. An inspired debut film and one of the best horror-comedies of 2011, do not miss this one. 4 outta 5