I think that there are a lot of people out there that have the wrong idea about rednecks. While there definitely are some racist, po-dunk, dumb as hell country folk out there, for the most part we are not really like that.
Rednecks do have a different set of ideas as far as fashion, socializing, and music is concerned, but for the most part we are not mean or stupid. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is a perfect example of how normal, scared, and even vulnerable my community is... you know, just like everyone else.
Tucker and Dale are a couple of country boys who just want to get out to their cabin in order to enjoy a fishing and hunting vacation. They are not bad people but for some teenagers that they randomly encounter while filling up with gas at a local shop, they are seen as such and for the start of the film they are presented as though they are scary in a similar fashion to the country people in Deliverance.
The "city folk" initially try to get a closer look at these scary hillbillies but in their attempts to taunt them they inadvertently end up accidentally killing themselves. This is the "Evil" that Tucker and Dale end up having to deal with. The hot teenagers keep getting themselves into situations and they themselves believe Tucker and Dale to be the reasons why they keep dying, even though Tucker and Dale are actually trying to help them.
It's a gore-fest for sure and it probably would be wise to not let kids see it but in the end it is a very inventive take on a horror film because there actually are bad guys in this and there actually is some "evil," but it isn't the people you would suspect.
Tucker and Dale are actually a lot like a great many people that I know. They are probably perceived as being backwoods and stupid just because they don't fall into the category of societal norms that exist in most urban areas. However, they are usually a lot smarter than people might suspect even if many of them didn't go to college.
Rednecks, just generally speaking are probably a lot more "mechanically inclined" than the average college graduate and even though we certainly don't look the part, a lot of us graduated from college as well. When I'm down at the Elk's Lodge with what many people would likely consider "rednecks," you'd be surprised how intelligent and even well-read a lot of the camouflage sporting fellas are.
They're actually just really misunderstood, friendly people... just like real rednecks
This movie wasn't terribly successful in a commercial sense and it wasn't even in most theaters. I bought it on DVD because I didn't know it was even in theaters. It is considered a cult classic and there was a sequel being planned. They stopped talking about a sequel back in 2017 so unfortunately, it seems unlikely that this is going to happen.
If you haven't seen this gem of a film, i highly recommend you give it a look see.