Sometimes the best horror movie is more than just pure horror: add in some humor and you’ve got the best of two movie genres. This play on the camp counselor/slasher flick follows a fun premise with good laughs throughout and even a few scares.
The movie opens with Sam, lead counselor and camp owner, calling his friend Chuck (short for Charlotte, played by the wonderful Alyson Hannigan) while in a bloody, frightened mess. Someone is out there and killing off all the counselors at Camp Clear Vista! Chuck is at work in a brightly-lit, busy comic book store, but helps Sam try to figure out who is doing all this killing while she stocks shelves. She asks him to think back, to recall each dead counselor so they can narrow down who is left and, therefore, who might be the killer. In a non-linear fashion, the kills unfold through Sam’s flashbacks, and the two determine Sam himself just might be the killer. But why? Enter a camp legend, evil spirits, an ex-girlfriend, and many other tropes and the movie’s suspense (and humor) builds as viewers root for both Sam and his victims, until only one person is left standing. And, as we all know, even the dead return in the best horror movies, so the question remains: how long until camp re-opens and who will be head counselor when it does?
- Top Scare: Mask-related
- Heartbeats: 2 1/2 out of 5
- Gore Factor: 3 1/2 out of 5
- Suspense Factor: 3 out of 5
- Recommended for: 16 and up