MASSACRE - DVD cover
CAMP SLAUGHTER
(2004,Sweden)
Half a star!   
Mute. Stupid. Violent.

directed by: Martin Munthe
starring: Christian Magdu, Karin Bertling, Michael Mansson, Richard Lidberg, Annika Marklund, Eva Söderquist, Robert Arlinder, Christina Luoma, Fred Anderson, Erica Carlson, Sofie Norman, Viktor Friberg, Sandy Mansson

(back of video blurb):

"A group of youngsters venture out to a cabin to party and get away from school, duties and nagging parents for a while. What they don't know is that in the woods surrounding the cabin a mysterious figure prowl and he is not happy with the youngsters present and decides to kill them off in the bloodiest fashion conceivable...

Camp Slaughter is a tribute to classic horror films like 'Friday the 13th', 'Terror on Elm Street', 'Halloween',' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'Silent Night, Bloody Night'. A Swedish slasher movie - in English."


choice dialogue:

"Please somebody take me out of here!"

- a member of the cast sums up the feelings of the unfortunate viewer.

slash with panache?

[review by Bengt Wallman]

Being a native Swede there is not much to be proud of in the way of horror films; actually I can only think of one that's even worth mentioning KÖRKARLEN (The Phantom Carriage,1921) and that was certainly a few years back. Of course sporadical attempts have surfaced with mixed results; the hills-have-eyes-on-ski's-wannabe; BLOOD TRACKS (1985), the confused haunted-house-thingy SCORCHED HEAT (1987), the-witch-blair-project-goes-x-files-wannabe DET OKÄNDA (The unknown, 2000), and supernatural-TV-esque-thriller BESÖKARNA (The Visitors, 1988) springs to mind, even though, I should point out I have tried my best to forget them all. So now it's time again for our little nation to add our two cents to the history of horror, of course I was rooting for the home team but sadly we didn't make it to the play-offs this time around either.

In a big manor in the countryside a family unit that would be enough material for a whole psychiatrists conference (but sadly not for an actors studio) resides. The madam of the house obviously off her tinkers, possibly because she never had a daughter, spends her days singing about rabbits and harassing her seemingly retarded, but animal friendly son, while the lord slouch in an armchair with an absent minded look on his face. The madam although looking like the biological clocked stopped decades ago is pregnant with her son. But sadly she gives birth to yet another boy and resorts to keeping him locked up in a near by earth cellar, dressed in drag with a bag over his head. An upbringing that could turn even the nicest inbreed toddler into a homicidal maniac and sure enough...

Meanwhile a group of youngsters are on their way to a cabin in the woods for the usual drinking, weed smoking and casual sex. They pass by the old manor with big eyes whilst the local kid brings the rest of the gang up-to-date about the weird goings on. After hitting the son with their car only to holler the deliberately cheesy line "do you have insurance?" after him as he flees into the woods they arrive at the cabin for, well, afore mentioned drinking, weed smoking and casual sex. Little do they know their disturbing earth cellar neighbour (sporting haute couture in the style of Leatherface and/or Jason circa Friday part two) has broken out of his dungeon with an appetite for life, or death, as it were. Seeing his opportunity to take out his bad childhood on the youngsters he begins killing them off one by one...

After much gadding about in the bushes, a handful of fake, and some additional would-be proper jump scares, some hopeless "special" effects, heaps of ludicrously bad acting, even worse dialogue (in English, sort of...) and a crash course in car driving the two surviving girls end up at...yes your friendly neighbourhood manor dwelling loonies...

Oh, by the way, stop me if you've heard this one before...

For yes, the biggest surprise with CAMP SLAUGHTER is that it got distribution. Actually I have no problem with slashers that follow the formula, I mean, in a way that's part of why I like them, and granted there are films that are so bad they are good. Among the real slasher stinkers especially FATAL GAMES (1983) and DON'T GO INTO THE WOODS....ALONE! (1980) tickle my demented fancy. But CAMP SLAUGHTER (what camp by the way?), to be honest is so bad it's... simply awful. I could go into all the pitiful details of this one and a half hour slightly out of focused DV-odyssey into outer boredom (and beyond) but suffice to say it's comes across so utterly inept it's hard to decide if it's really a jokeless spoof or an over ambitious home movie. OK, its obvious Martin Munthe is a fan of the genre, why else would he fight to take this project beyond the first screening? But at the end of the day CAMP SLAUGHTER only stands as a sad reminder that fans should really stick to what they do best, watching slashers, not directing them.

The half a star? Well, out of perversion, awarded to Martin Munthe for successfully selling this piece of crap to one of Sweden's biggest film & video distributors. Heads are bound to roll on this one!

 

BODYCOUNT 6  bodycount!   female:2 / male:4

       1) Female has neck snapped
       2) Male decapitated with garden shears
       3) Male killed by axe in the chest
       4) Female found dead
       5) Female stabbed to death
       6) Female buried alive

 

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