Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) are two harmless hillbillies hanging out in their newly-acquired "summer home" when a group of rowdy college students enters their neck of the woods to go camping. The two men go to investigate, accidentally startling a gorgeous girl (Katrina Bowden) from the group and causing her to fall into the lake. Feeling badly, Tucker and Dale bring her back to their cabin to bandage her up. When they tell her friends they have her, the teens mistakenly think they have kidnapped her. From here a chain of misunderstandings ensues, and the situation goes from confusing to downright disastrous.