Search - Camp Slaughter on DVD

Amusing and clever surprise.

Robert P. Beveridge | Cleveland, OH | 07/18/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Camp Slaughter (Alex Pucci, 2005)

Camp Slaughter (aka Camp Daze) is the first real out-and-out slasher flick that isn't part of a series in well over a decade. And not to put too fine a point on it, it may well be the best slasher flick that hasn't been part of a series since the original Friday the 13th; it's certainly the best slasher-flick spoof to come down the pike since 1981's Student Bodies. That said, the market for this movie is going to be those of us who were teens in the eighties and couldn't get enough of low-budget godawful slasher films; everyone else will probably wonder what all the fuss is about. If you're one of us, though, you're going to love this.

The plot: four modern-day young-and-beautifuls get lost in the Maine woods. While spending the night in their car, they witness a slasher killing someone. The next morning, the body is gone, and they find themselves embraced by the rather retro members of Camp Hiawatha, which was probably a scary enough place back in the eighties. They're soon told the reason everyone looks so weird: it's because camp Hiawatha is under a curse, reliving over and over the events that took place when a killer eviscerated the place (if you'll pardon the pun) in August 1981. The counselors know what's happening, and they believe the young-and-beautifuls, being outsiders who have wandered into the repetitive scene, may be able to break the camp out and finally put the souls to rest.

This is great stuff-- though, like I said, you already have to be a fan of the genre to get a lot of the in-jokes. It's what Scream might have been had that film not tried to take its postmodern angle so seriously; good, stupid fun where you, as the viewer, know the filmmakers are laughing with you, not at you, but (unlike the similarly brilliant Club Dread) stays enough on the horror side of the fence that the laughs are uncomfortable more than once. Camp Slaughter walks a balance, and does it well. More than that, buried under the deconstruction of the slasher film mores, there's a brain here. You may have to dig to get to it sometimes, but it's well worth the effort. *** ½
"

Bad but Funny, even unintentionally!

Tim Janson | Michigan | 06/07/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Well the original title of this film was Camp Daze and it was changed to Camp Slaughter I guess to make is sound more attractive. I supposed I would agree with that. Camp Daze makes it sound like one of those 80's teen sex & drug comedies instead of a horror film. The title may be about the best thing is in this lame, technically horrible, piece of junk. The plot is just weird enough that it will raise and eyebrow and make you think that it sounds pretty interesting. But then the execution turns out to be just lousy, less than amateur skill level.

Anyway a group of young-somethings are traveling along through a remote forest road when they break down. They eventually come upon Camp Hiawatha, and find themselves somehow transported back in time to 1981, and the night when a killer went out a rampage killing the teenaged campers. Somehow this group has got to free the kids from this curse and rescue them while trying to stay alive themselves. It's kind of like that movie "Frequency" meets "Friday the 13th". I guess the filmmakers were trying to do a bit of a tribute to those slasher films of the 1980's but I guess my question is, why not just do a good slasher film in the 80's tradition without the convoluted time traveling plot?

Beyond that the movie is just so technically inferior. I understand low budget and all but come on....the sound was just awful, the camera work was terrible, the lighting was poor, and the acting was strictly high school dram club, particularly with the female cast members who were all in their very first screen credit. You know that's a problem. The one positive is that it's pretty funny. They go so over the top in trying to get the 80's look and feel that it comes off more as a spoof. Not sure if they intended it that way or not but it was funny.
"

Sleepaway Camp meets Groundhog Day!

Miyana Belgarde | The L.B.C., CA. | 01/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"YES, this movie is cheesy, but it's supposed to be! I totally loved it...but I also loved Sleepaway Camp! It's too funny to really worry about "why" they repeat the same day over and over!!! If your really anal about poor transitions and bad sound effects, you'll hate it, but it's a spoof of cheesy 80s horror movies, and the Groundhog Day effect gives it a unique twist that I've never seen done in a horror film before!
Sleepaway Camp meets Groundhog Day!!!
Mmmmwwwaaahahaha!!!"

Worst movie ever?

Barry Nolanz | Pittsburgh, PA | 06/05/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"It is difficult to label anything as the worst movie ever. This movie comes so perilously close, though.

If you're like me, you'll disregard the reviews and try this movie anyway. You will be very, very disappointed.

Sound = BAD.
Acting = BAD.
F/X = BAD.
Plot = BAD. (although it is a good idea)
Entertainment Value = None.

Redeeming qualities = One. Watching the Behind the Scenes featurette and realizing that the director and the actors actually took this movie seriously."