The Camp Host

I'm not entirely sure what this was meant to be. Was it Horror/Thriller? Or was it a Horror/Comedy?

It ended up being nothing, really.

The poster itself tells us far too much by itself. We know exactly who the protagonist is and who the antagonist is, so there's absolutely no level of suspense or intrigue before we even watch the film.

Onto the actual film, and it's just not that good, and it's full of that overly annoying trope of 'stupid people doing stupid things'. It could've been an average film, had the part the characters were to play in this not been signposted before we watch the film.

It was just all too obvious how this was going to play out, though they attempted a twist ending, presumably with the hope of setting up a needless sequel. They need to leave this alone.

I watch a lot of b- horror (especially on Tubi), this one is a step above normal. The 2 leads do a great job as a real couple and the bad person is very convincing as a psychopath. The premise used the quintessential campground, but uses it in a newer way. The cinematography is superb for this type of film and there are limited night scenes (which I can't stand). The semi-yuppie couple argue like one would expect. The kills aren't too gory, but they are creative. Again, this is a very unique Mar Vista film that I did not anticipate as being this good. The female lead is a perfect fit for this role.

The movie overall wasn't completely awful. What I can compliment? The style and camera shots were decent. I also thought the plot idea itself wasn't terrible, I mean I watched the movie because it sounded like something I'd be interested in. The execution would be a different story. The actors that played the side characters did their roles well. However, the protagonist characters were uninteresting, I couldn't bring myself to care about them. The plot was just kinda boring, and there was little-to-no real depth with the killer or the protagonists. The surprises were incredibly stupid, it felt insulting to the viewer. It was like they were getting ready to end the film, wrapping it up with a bow (if they'd ended the movie just a few minutes earlier, this would have a higher rating), and then decided to add two of the dumbest "plot twists" I've ever seen for the sake of trying to either set up a bad sequel or.....I don't know, shock value? Because they don't make sense. It's just senseless plot twist. I probably would have laughed at how ridiculous it was if I wasn't baffled at how random it was. This movie is just nothing special, and I had to watch it at two separate times because I got bored. Wouldn't recommend.

On its surface The Camp Host is a love letter to a genre that has become over saturated with cliches and trusted imitations.

Subtle nods to horror trailblazers are not obvious but are there for the true fan to smile at.

What's most impressive is the reassurance of what can be achieved on a small budget in the hands of a talented director who knows and loves their craft.

Without the aid of expensive cgi McComas achieves what most modern horror films fail at, creating an atmospheric environment that feels fraught with danger. Just like early Carpenter and Hooper he is able to present a threat that is grounded in reality but elevated to the extreme.

This isn't the full picture though, once all the blood, gore and, yes, feces has run off into the woods the question of 'What is wrong with the world?' lingers.

Not why are there crazy serial killers in the woods but why are we all so sure that our world view is right?

How can we be so unwieldy in our beliefs even in the presence of those with more reason and experience to comment?

In summary The Camp Host is a skillfully made modern slasher with a retro vibe in the truest form that takes a subtle dig at modern mainstream cultural values.

Taking a trip together, a married couple staying at a remote camping site in the woods are shocked to learn that a series of disappearances around the area is the result of a tyrannical camp host who kills off those that break her rules about staying there and must get away alive.

This was a rather fun and solid genre outing. One of the finer features here is the way this one brings about the kind of starting point necessary to follow through with the premise. Getting an early taste of the type of character she is with their arrival at the site hoping for just a simple way to enjoy the sights while relaxing off the road during their journey, the fervent way she tries to defend the sanctity of the forest around her is rather fun. It all manages to bring together the type of storyline present here where the two of them are shown to be a somewhat understanding type that are willing to go along with the rules but are a bit more freer with following them outside of her sphere of influence which is a factor that goes against the rest of the denizens camping around the forest which is where the main setup comes together quite nicely. This makes for a fun time when it starts to turn into a slasher effort where the punishment for failing those rules means the participant is killed off in gruesome fashion. Featuring a slew of strong attacks with the opening scene in the tent on the couple, the attack in the bathroom on the disrespectful camper, or attacking the one friend in their tent through an attack witnessed in the distance through shadows makes for some rather intriguing moments for some decent brutality along the way. The final half here, featuring a solid inverse of the type of confrontations normally associated with the genre as the discovery of her actions provide a rather different type of action against the killer than expected which allows this to have quite a lot to like about it. There are some factors here that hold this one down. The main issue to be had against it is the overly dramatic way this one tries to make the killings justified, as even though they come off that way there's still so much unnatural action taking place to try to make that the case. The majority of these encounters do feel more like pettiness and vindictiveness than anything, especially for the way most of the attempts are done even when characters do show remorse or are guilted into doing what she wants so it doesn't make any sense why that occurs. Other times, the fact that her challenges to them are done for immensely petty motivations is as lame as the actions being committed causes everything to feel somewhat underwhelming, especially once the killings start since that just makes it so obvious she's insane that something should've been done much earlier about it. Still, these are the factors that really hold it down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.