Since they're both horror comedies, and both make use of an ampersand in their titles, we thought we'd throw them together as a twofer. Twofer, as in Two fer One... you see? Our cleverness never ceases. Not ever.
It's odd to see Simon Pegg not paired with someone who is fat and bumbling for a change, but since it's Andy Serkis in this case, we can live with it. Burke & Hare is the story of two bumbling losers in merry ole' England, whom take to grave robbing to pay the bills. It's similar in many ways to another grave robbing horror comedy, I Sell the Dead, except that the latter is a far better flick. B&H is mildly amusing, and mildly engaging, but it's more flat than anything else. Aside from a few laugh out loud moments, the funny bits are mostly non existent.
It's not a "bad" film. John Landis does his usual thing here, to a decent effect, but it just never seems to get over the top of the rise as far as either the comedy or horror aspects go. Not funny enough, not serious enough, B&H just sort of languishes in the in-between, waiting to be swept in either direction, which never quite happens. I feel confident in saying this is Simon Pegg's least satisfying film, and I've seen Run, Fatboy, Run. Yeah.
C- As a comeback, it's not such a good one for John Landis. I Sell the Dead did the whole concept better, though it was admittedly a vastly different movie, so stick with that one if you're in the mood for some grave robbing, horror hijinks. If you're a fan of Landis or Pegg though, you may just like this enough to sit through it.
Tucker & Dale vs Evil on the other hand, is a little horror comedy filled with "no name" actors, that works ridiculously well within its confines. It also has a fat guy in it, which instantly makes it more credible as far as bumbling duo flicks go.
T&D is about two rubes who decide to take them a fancy vacation in the mountains, at their newly acquired, ramshackle cabin. It's hillbilly paradise, basically. When a group of jerky college kids show up from the big city and think that the duo has kidnapped one of their lady friends, a string of wacky hijinks ensue, which leaves Tucker and Dale fighting for their very lives...
Now, I'm not one for most movies that involve wacky hijinks, or even crazy calamity; those movies tend to be moronic and they make my brain hurt. In T&D though, the moronic hijinks are actually pretty funny and not so much moronic, which left us all very impressed. How can you not love a college kid taking a running leap into a wood chipper and one of our hero's reacting by yelling "You Okay!?!" Seriously laugh out loud stuff.
Alan Tudyk will always be Steve the Pirate to me, but he's truly great in this too. The star of the show however, and it's no knock to Mr. Tudyk, is Tyler Labine. I've never seen the portly comedian before watching T&D, but I'll tell you this; he's got an awesome career ahead of him. Both of these guys made us laugh until a little bit of pee came out, and were not even ashamed to admit that.
Oh, and Katrina Bowden is a fox. A FOX!
A Why this movie hasn't been released yet is beyond me. Funny, bloody as hell, and just plain awesome, it's something any self respecting horror fan needs to see, and own, else risk sucking for the rest of your life. No really. you kinda suck if you can't love this movie. No DVD plans as of yet, but when it does hit, grab a copy asap.
