What actually happens
A gas station meeting goes badly
Some college kids drive to West Virginia to camp, and at a gas station they run into Tucker and Dale, who are friendly hillbillies and have just bought an empty cabin by a lake. Tucker tells Dale to go talk to Allison. Dale's nervous manner and appearance frighten her and her friends. While the pair fix up their cabin, Chad tells the others about the Memorial Day Massacre, a hillbilly attack from twenty years earlier. The kids go skinny-dipping at the lake where Tucker and Dale are fishing. Allison is startled by the pair and hits her head, and the hillbillies pull her out before she drowns. The other kids run off, sure that Allison is being kidnapped.
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A beehive makes Tucker look like a murderer
Allison wakes up at the cabin the next day, scared at first, and slowly gets to like Tucker and Dale. Chuck goes for the police, and Chad leads the rest of the group to the cabin to save her. They arrive just as Tucker hits a beehive while cutting wood and swings his chainsaw wildly. The kids scatter, and Mitch accidentally impales himself on a branch. Chad convinces everyone that Mitch was murdered. They attack the cabin after mistaking Allison and Dale, who are digging an outhouse hole, for a grave digging. Todd falls onto a spear that he carried himself, and Mike dives into a wood chipper while trying to tackle Tucker. This is the scene people dread most, and it comes in the middle. Allison is knocked out by Dale's shovel.
Chad goes off the rails
Chuck returns with Sheriff Gurr, who doubts Tucker and Dale's story and then accidentally kills himself with a loose beam. Chuck grabs the sheriff's gun and shoots himself by accident. Chad takes Dale's dog Jangers hostage, then captures Tucker, hurts him badly and removes two of his fingers to draw Dale out. Allison calms everyone down and Chad says his father was a victim of the Memorial Day Massacre, but then Jason and Chloe break in. Chad sets Jason on fire by accident, and Chloe throws an accelerant on him while trying to put it out. In the chaos Tucker, Dale and Allison escape, while Naomi, Chloe and Jason die and Chad is injured, disfigured and unhinged.
The sawmill and the chamomile
The truck crashes, and Tucker, injured, tells Dale that Chad has taken Allison. The dog Jangers leads Dale to an old sawmill. There Chad says he will kill Allison for taking the hillbillies' side unless she agrees to be his girlfriend. Dale shows up and rescues her, and they barricade themselves upstairs, where they find newspaper clippings. The clippings show that Chad's father was behind the Memorial Day Massacre, which makes Chad half hillbilly. While Chad is distracted, Dale hurls a box of chamomile tea at him, which sets off an asthma attack, and Chad falls out of a window. Three days later, a news crew reports the deaths as a suicide pact led by Chad, whose body has not been found. Tucker mends in a hospital bed while Dale takes Allison bowling, and the two confess their feelings and kiss.
The ending, explained
Chad falls out of a window after the chamomile tea triggers his asthma attack, and he is believed dead. Three days later, a news crew reports that the deaths look like a suicide pact, which ties back to the opening footage of Chad killing a news crew. Tucker, Dale and Allison all survive. Tucker mends in a hospital bed, and Dale takes Allison bowling, where they confess their feelings and kiss. Jangers the dog is fine. Mitch, Todd, Mike, Sheriff Gurr, Chuck, Naomi, Chloe and Jason do not make it.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: The dog is threatened but gets rescued.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Tucker and Dale vs. Evil scary?
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is a 3 out of 10. It is a horror comedy with low dread, some gore and several jump scares, and most of the violence is a set of accidents played for laughs.
How does Tucker and Dale vs. Evil end?
Dale flings chamomile tea at Chad, who has an asthma attack and falls out of a sawmill window. Chad is believed dead. Tucker, Dale and Allison survive, and Dale and Allison kiss.
Does the dog die in Tucker and Dale vs. Evil?
No dog dies in Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. Chad takes the dog Jangers hostage, but Tucker rescues him.
Is there a post-credits scene in Tucker and Dale vs. Evil?
No. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
Who is the killer in Tucker and Dale vs. Evil?
Chad is the real danger. He is the son of the man behind the Memorial Day Massacre, and he spends the movie convinced that Tucker and Dale are the murderers.
