Deer Camp '86

This is a solid effort with strong character development and a semi-original story. The special effects, especially the practical ones, were outstanding-some of the best I've seen in a while. The CGI was good, though it could have been improved. The villain or monster was well-conceived, though the hunting sequences felt overly lucky. The film opens with a truck hitting a deer, so luck seems to play a big role in their game hunting. I didn't recognize any of the actors, but they all delivered excellent performances. There are some genuinely funny moments, including a scene involving a tick that was both hilarious and an effects masterpiece. The weakest aspect was the attempt to set the film in 1986; it didn't feel authentic to the era. The only 1980's thing was the pocket Simon. I would have believed it was 1996 instead, and if that had been the chosen setting, this would have been a perfect debut for director L. Van Dyke Siboutszen.

This is one of those movies that has everything going for it except for a few problems in the writing. The performances are good, it's well-shot and edited, the cast and crew seemed to be having fun (bloopers are scattered throughout the end credits), there are impressive practical FX, the music compliments the visuals, and there are a few creepy moments.

On the writing end, issues begin with the characters, who are one-dimensional. There's a cop who's only there to spout exposition, the mean fat guy and the loser whom he bullies, the psycho war veteran, the token black guy, a bland redneck, and a blander final boy. This is a low-budget horror movie, and I can forgive the character shortcomings, so let's move on... It wants to be a comedy, but it's really not that funny, and the pacing is off. There's one particular scene that only exists to make viewers squirm - they try to frame it in a supernatural way, but it doesn't work and feels like it belongs in a Jack Black movie or something. But my biggest problem is with the twist, which I won't spoil because it comes totally out of the blue. After the credits rolled, I immediately started the movie over, expecting to find some foreshadowing that I'd missed, but it just ain't there. I did enjoy the movie more the second time, though.

Deer Camp '86 works as a throwback (although it feels more early-'90s than mid-'80s), and it's definitely better than the crap mainstream Hollywood has been churning out lately, but it's neither the masterpiece nor the disaster that other reviewers have claimed. I'd imagine it works best with an audience and intoxicants.

Given the synopsis ("In the fall of 1986 six knuckleheads from Detroit ..."), you'd be forgiven for thinking this is a horror comedy. It isn't. There's some funny banter among said knuckleheads, especially in the early going, but ultimately this movie is trying to be a fairly straightforward survival/supernatural horror. Sort of Predator with a group of drunken quippy idiots instead of an elite special forces unit. There are also references to missing and exploited indigenous women that seem like they're trying to be genuinely profound. It wasn't boring but the tone was an odd mix of silly dialogue, earnest social commentary and horror imagery that didn't ever fully coalesce.

I recently watched Deer Camp '86 (2022) on Shudder. The storyline follows a group of friends from the city who head out for a deer hunting trip in the year 1986. Along the way, they stop at a bar where one of the guys becomes smitten with the bartender. Nothing serious happens, and the hunters continue on to their campsite in the woods. The next day, however, the bartender is found dead, and the police suspect the hunters might be involved. Meanwhile, something eerie in the woods seems to be stalking them.

This film is directed by L. Van Dyke Siboutszen, making his directorial debut, and stars Noah LaLonde (My Life with the Walter Boys), Jay J. Bidwell (Shaken Daddy Syndrome), Arthur Cartwright (Vanishing on 7th Street), and Tina Joy (The Secret Children).

Deer Camp '86 is one of those movies where everything is exaggerated on purpose. The dialogue, interactions, and humor feel like they're trying a bit too hard, with jokes that come off as crude for the sake of being crude without much punchline. The friendships are portrayed well, but the horror elements often rely too heavily on CGI and aren't particularly scary. The twist at the end wasn't as clever as intended, leaving me wanting more from the story.

In conclusion, Deer Camp '86 is a very average addition to the horror genre; for something in a similar vein but with better execution, I'd recommend watching Tucker & Dale vs Evil. I'd rate this a 5/10.

Well now, this 2022 horror movie titled "Deer Camp '86" turned out to be an enjoyable movie. Sure, I had never heard about the movie prior to sitting down and watching it, but with it being a horror movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to give the movie a fair chance. I am, after all, a huge fan of the horror genre.

Writers Bo Hansen and Riley Taurus put together an enjoyable script and storyline, which felt like it was a combination of 1980s slasher horror mixed in with some creature feature elements, and sprinkled with a supernatural topping. I will flat out say that I was enjoying this, because it was like watching the horror movies that I grew up watching back in 1980s. So there was some sense of nostalgia to this movie for me.

I was actually not familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list, but they had a good ensemble of talents for the movie. And the acting performances in the movie were good. I also found the character gallery in the movie to be well-written one, and that definitely added something good to the overall impression of the movie.

Visually then "Deer Camp '86" was good. There was a sufficient amount of blood, gore and mutilation in the movie to keep an old gorehound such as myself happy.

If you enjoy horror movies, then I would definitely recommend you checking out director L. Van Dyke Siboutszen's 2022 movie "Deer Camp '86". I was genuinely and wholly entertained throughout the course of the 85 minutes that the movie ran for.

My rating of "Deer Camp '86" lands on a well-deserved six out of ten stars.