Latest news with #TuckerAndDale
Geek Tyrant
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Review: CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD is a Surprisingly Great Slasher Film! — GeekTyrant
I walked into Clown in a Cornfield hoping for the same mischievous energy that director Eli Craig poured into Tucker & Dale vs. Evil . What I got was that and more with a fast, funny, and genuinely tense slasher that treats its clown gimmick as a springboard rather than a crutch. Right from the opening shot of cornstalks rustling under the moon during a teen party in the 90s, Craig announces that the ride will be playful, but he never forgets to keep the blade sharp. The story picks up as Quinn Maybrook and her dad arrive in Kettle Springs, a town half‑frozen in nostalgia after its corn‑syrup factory went up in smoke. Adults pine for 'the good old days,' teens livestream pranks and count the days until they can bail. 'You can feel that resentment humming under every friendly wave, and Craig uses it to wind the tension like a spitfire carnival barker cranking a jack‑in‑the‑box. That culture clash is the movie's real fuel, and Craig stages it like a county‑fair tug‑of‑war where both sides keep slipping in the mud. It's lean storytelling and no scene overstays its welcome, and every grumble between generations tightens the coil before things explode. Enter Frendo, the factory's grinning clown mascot, now stalking the fields and a mission to trim the 'rotten crop' of kids before the town rots for good. Each kill arrives with punch‑line timing followed by a grim sting, as if the movie winks at you right before shoving you off the hayride. Craig lets the kills hit hard without wallowing in them. The film nods to late‑'70s through '90s slashers and while it's self‑aware, it never feels like karaoke. Instead, it treats the genre's greatest hits as a playlist to remix. What surprised me most was the heart beating beneath the splatter. Quinn (Katie Douglas) is a teen exhausted by adults who talk without listening. Carson MacCormac, Aaron Abrams, Will Sasso, and Kevin Durand round out a cast that feels authentically small‑town, tossing barbs one minute and clinging to each other the next. The comedy lands because it's rooted in frustration we all recognize, teen culture versus parental 'make America small again' panic. Is the movie reinventing the the horror slaher film circus? Not really, but it's a riot watching a film that does a great job juggling carnage, commentary, and blood‑soaked camp, and genuine suspense without overstaying their welcome. Clown in a Cornfield begs to be seen with a rowdy crowd, the kind that laughs at one kill and groans at the next. If you've been waiting for a slasher that remembers to have fun without skimping on story, step right up!
Geek Tyrant
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL Director Blames David Zaslav for Killing TV Spinoff: 'The Slayer of All Cinema' — GeekTyrant
It's been 15 years since Tucker & Dale vs. Evil flipped the horror comedy slasher genre on its head, and fans have been hungry for more ever since. Now, director Eli Craig has revealed he was developing a spinoff series and shed new light on why it hasn't happened. In a recent interview with /Film, Craig revealed that the series was set up at TNT/TBS and it would've seen Tucker and Dale become hilariously incompetent detectives. Unfortunately, that concept never made it to air, and Craig puts the blame squarely on the former Discovery CEO, David Zaslav. 'We almost did a TV show with it that was on TNT/TBS, and you'll be happy to know that David Zaslav, the slayer of all cinema [laughs], came in and put the final nail in the coffin for Tucker and Dale as we were about to go to series, and just cancelled all production.' The original 2010 film starred Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as two sweet-natured hillbillies who are mistaken for bloodthirsty killers by a group of panicked college students, who then proceed to accidentally kill themselves in absurd and hilarious fashion. It became an instant hit with genre fans and currently boasts an 86% critic score and 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, despite its cult status and strong international performance Craig says the lackluster domestic box office, just $223,838, has made it hard for Hollywood to take the property seriously. Craig joked: 'Tucker and Dale 2 has died more deaths than the college kids in Tucker and Dale. 'We've had so many versions that have almost got off its feet or, for one reason or another, have gotten killed. It really does set us back that people can't look at the box office, the actual box office, of the movie.' The axed TV series would have been a fresh and fun twist: 'It would have been more like Tucker and Dale, but detectives. Detective Tucker and Dale, like, stupidly trying to figure out what's happening in a world where they're always getting it wrong and people are dying around them.' Despite all the false starts, Craig hasn't given up hope, saying: 'I've never completely let go of the idea we'd make a sequel. And part of the reason people want to see a sequel is because it's set up for it. ' Tucker and Dale , when I wrote it, there were these elements I wanted to follow, like Chad is still alive, Allison and Dale's story.' Craig wrapped the conversation with a message to fans: 'Hollywood is a slayer of great ideas. But stay alive, fans! Because there's always a possibility.' So while the TV show may be officially dead, the dream of more Tucker and Dale chaos lives on. Just maybe don't expect it to happen while Zaslav's still swinging the axe.
Gizmodo
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Tucker & Dale Director Blames David Zaslav for Killing TV Spinoff
It hasn't been easy trying to continue Tucker and Dale's story, and Warner Bros. Discovery's merger sure didn't help matters. The 15-year anniversary of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil was earlier in January, and if you've been holding out hope for a follow up, director/co-writer Eli Craig revealed it almost happened. During an interview with Slashfilm about his new horror flick Clown in a Cornfield, Craig noted the would-be sequel 'has died more deaths than the college kids [in the first movie]. It's always been a struggle, and then when we do set it up and get all the pieces together, it gets killed somehow.' One such version was a TV continuation on TNT/TBS (not unlike what happened with Chucky), but that ran into its own roadblock: namely, current Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav. 'Zaslav, the slayer of all cinema, came in and put the final nail in the coffin for Tucker & Dale as we were about to go to series, and just canceled all production, ' said Craig. That, in and of itself doesn't sound too surprising: presumably, this would've taken place sometime in 2022, shortly after WB and Discovery merged and the company went about laying off staff and junking various projects in the name of tax write offs. (Despite this, some projects have survived.) As for what the proposed show would've been, Craig said the titular hillbillies, played again by Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine, would've been detectives 'stupidly trying to figure out what's happening in a world where they're always getting it wrong and people are dying around them.' While that idea may be done for, Craig said he'll always want to make a sequel to his feature film debut. 'It's set up for it, and when I wrote it, there were these elements I wanted to follow,' he said. 'Hollywood is a slayer of great ideas, but stay alive, fans! Because there's always a possibility.'
