Eli Craig

Eli Craig was born into a show business family, but didn't begin his own acting career until he was in his late 20s. The son of actress Sally Field, Craig had decided when he was younger that he wanted to stay away from show business. He got a degree in psychology, and worked for a time as an Outward Bound guide. But eventually, he was lured back to Hollywood. Craig had a co-starring role in "Deal of a Lifetime," about a high school nerd who exchanges his soul for a date with the popular girl. In 2000, Craig played the younger version of Hawk, Tommy Lee Jones's character, in Clint Eastwood's adventure about elderly astronauts, "Space Cowboys." He also had a role in "The Rage: Carrie 2," which was essentially a remake of Brian DePalma's classic 1970s horror film, "Carrie." It was on that set that Craig decided he'd be better off making his own films. He applied and was accepted to U.S.C. After graduation, he directed commercials, music videos, and short films for several years, before writing the script for "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil" with fellow U.S.C. alumnus, Morgan Jurgenson. The script was partly inspired by Craig's experience bringing nervous city kids into the woods for Outward Bound. He directed the horror-comedy, which flips the typical college-kids-get-lost-in-the-woods-and-murdered-by-hillbillies scenario on its head. Tucker (Tyler Labine) and Dale (Alan Tudyk) are nice guys, but when the paranoid kids mistake them for psychopaths, all sorts of bloody violence ensues.