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 Despite being warned about the devils and demons lurking in
the hills, a young professor (Vincent Van Patten) leads a group
of sorority sisters to Mystic Mountain in search of fossils
and artifacts. The nature studies turn deadly when a horny biker
gang invades the camp. Things get much worse for the bikers
and college kids when a lake monster and giant druid searching
for sacrifices crash the party.
Camp
Fear (aka Millennium Countdown, aka Cheerleader
Camp 2 thanks to slasherfilm urban legend and unscrupulous
bootleggers) is a strange little film hurt by its own legend.
While it does star Betsy Russell, Buck Flower, and some sexy
models/porn stars, Camp Fear is nothing like Cheerleader
Camp. Anyone picking up a copy expecting a sequel to that
slasher will be very disappointed. Actually, Camp Fear
feels more like a neutered version of Scalps with bits
of The Prey thrown in for seasoning.
The
acting in Camp Fear is pretty abysmal, but the presence
of Buck Flower and Michelle Bauer gives the film a weird charm.
Sure, Flower is playing a crazy old drunk for the 100th time,
but he has several laugh-out-loud one liners every time he's
on screen. Bauer's role is little more than a cameo, but she's
the only sorority girl with any sort of acting ability. Poor
Betsy Russell has little to do in the first half other than
smiling and staring at Van Patten. She spends the second half
of the film running and screaming through the woods.
Director
and screenwriter Thom Keith gives the viewer a few odd twists
during the course of the film. The biker gang, loathsome at
first, becomes heroes when trying to save the girls from the
giant druid. This also happens with the druid trying to sacrifice
four souls to his water god so humanity can survive another
thousand years. Luckily for the druid and mankind those sacrifices
don't have to be virgins since the "offerings" have
seen more traffic than a metropolitan freeway. As for Keith's
time behind the camera, one suspects the film was never really
finished due to very choppy direction and characters referencing
events the viewer never sees.
Fans
searching for a fabled lost slasher will find Camp Fear
a major disappointment since there is damn little stalking or
slashing. Bad movie buffs, however, will love every mind boggling
minute of this fractured curiosity. The first five minutes offer
the viewer more breasts than a bucket of fried chicken. More
no-budget than low-budget, Camp Fear may not have scares,
suspense, or even a coherent story, but it still manages to
entertain. Especially for the first five minutes.
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