Revolution Class

"Attention campers! Welcome to North Pines, where we got lotsa soul, and rock-n-roll, and wild times." This film defines the eighties; the cheese, the mullets, the headbands, the ragged jeans. Summer Camp Nightmare is pure fun and a great addition to the eighties teen movie legacy. I also found this one hiding out in the horror section (where it does not belong). It's title is a tad misleading (except the camp part, because this movie's full of it). It's storyline is similar to that of Lord of the Flies but it doesn't take itself that seriously. Instead, it becomes one of the most hilarious flicks I've ever seen. Charles Stratton does an excellent job as a far-out Counselor In Training who leads the revolution of Camp North Pines. "Society keeps us in line by the use of fear. When we overcome fear, that's when we stand above society." With this theory, he convinces almost everyone to join the revolt. It's filled with great characters, the best of course being Runk the Punk with his Iron Maiden t-shirt. Runk, without a doubt, has the two best lines in the movie. 1) "Stay outta my face, small crap." and 2) when he and Mason (Tom Fridley from Friday the 13th Part VI) lip sync a Fear song titled "Beef Bologna" at the talent show. From there, the movie gets fairly medieval as the kids become more and more primitive. Their new society fails and all hell breaks loose. If you're a fan of the eighties, you have to find this cult classic. To the revolution!

Can a summer camp full of fun-loving kids be run without a proper counselor? Can the love of lawless behavior create a law of the land? Would you let the inmates run the asylum? A good lesson in replacing one leadership with a much devolved leadership is taught in this flick. It runs like an after-school special of the early 1980's and makes you wonder if anyone gave a damn about rules whoever comprised any. This makes you wish Jason Voorhees would make a cameo and show the show-offs a real reign of terror.

It is hard to understand that the citizens of this revolution could keep the party going day in and day out, not pursuing much in the ways of other camp activities. Probably because the heads of state can't afford winding up with outside influences killing their fun by killing them. This is why the only three people able to thwart this campy tyranny wind up on the most wanted and despised lists. Reality would have seen this film cut shorter after a couple of weeks of overpartying and the poor attitude over the guys running the camp. The happy yet sad ending conveys a meaning of life or a comparison to history. It will be clear what not to do if a filmmaker considers pulling up a bland film from a good premise.

Going by the title, one might reasonably assume Summer Camp Nightmare to be another late '80s slasher movie, but there are no masked machete-wielding maniacs on this occasion. Instead, we have a Lord of the Flies-inspired storyline in which the teenagers at Camp North Pines rebel against authority, taking the counselors prisoner. Led by the charismatic but psychotic Franklin (Charlie Stratton), the kids party and go wild, but the revolution ultimately leads to rape, revenge and murder.

Summer Camp Nightmare isn't a terrible movie, but it is terribly dated, suffering from a big dose of '80s cheeze: the music and fashion is hilarious, particularly during the camp talent show, with the only black character performing a rap (more John Barnes than Ice-T), three teen bimbos giving Bananarama a run for their money in the lack of talent stakes, and a couple of rebellious types performing an atrocious hair metal song. There's also the obligatory nerd, Donald Poultry (Adam Carl), who is a computer whizz, carrying around a box of high-tech tricks that save the day. With less of the tacky high jinx, and more grittiness and hard-edged realism, Summer Camp Nightmare could have been something special; as it stands, it is a rather inconsequential and forgettable flick.

5/10. A missed opportunity.

Well, of course I found it in the Horror section. With a title like that, what do you expect? Of course the video store employee is gonna stick it right between Slumber Party Massacre and Twisted Nightmare. It's just common sense. Especially if you haven't seen it. But I suppose Summer Camp Nightmare can be interpreted as semi-Horror, yet, officially, it's more of a suspense-drama... or thriller? I don't know. Despite the fact that we're talking about a quality flick, with quality acting, and zero gore, I still prefer to think of it as B-Horror. Now that that's settled, our story is set in an all boys camp (awsome!!) Run by an uptight religious fanatic, who has a thing for butterflies. This new camp director (Chuck Connors) is determined to make sure that everyone is watched, at all times, and that no one even remotely enjoys themselves. So, you could imagine how disgruntled everyone would be, expecting keen summer fun, and instead, the dull Mr. Butterflies has different ideas. Franklin Reilly, the evil genius (every camp has one) has stood about as much boredom as he's gonna stand. It's time for a revolution. Being an evil genius, Franklin can easily manipulate others to do stuff. Stuff, such as turning on Mr. Butterflies, and the other authority figures, lock them up, and naturally, make Franklin their leader, with the promise of unlimited freedom. Runk the punk seems to think it's a swell idea. Now would probably be a good time to head over to the girls camp, and lock up their authority figures, and bring the girls over here, so, the keen summer fun can finally begin. Lets's just hope Franklin's power doesn't go to his head. Summer Camp Nightmare is either slightly inspired, or slightly ripped off from Lord Of The Flies, which is fine, because one is cheesy 80's fun, and the other is mediocre. I'd rather watch Summer Camp Nightmare any day of the week. Whether this movie is actually a thriller at a camp, like the book probably meant for it to be, or campy Horror, like the video store guy assumed it was, it's not that important, because Summer Camp Nightmare is interesting, entertaining, and offers not one dull moment, and I'm glad to have this movie in my B-Horror collection, whether it belongs there or not. 8/10

My review was written in April 1987 after watching the movie at a Columbus Circle screening room.

Beneath the intentionally misleading release title "Summer Camp Nightmare" rests an uneasy mixture of teen hijinks pic and cautionary lecture for youngsters. In adapting William Butler's novel "The Butterfly Revolution" (film's original titled during its 1985 lensing), filmmaker Bert L. Dragin and co-writer Penelope Spheeris have created an all-too-obvious anti-fascist parable which is simply not entertaining in the manner of the S. E. Hinton ic or even the John Hughes comedies.

First few reels play like "Meatballs" without the laughs (nor for lack of tring, but the gags here fall flat), with the young boys at Camp North Pines dreaming of the slightly older girls at nearlby Camp South Pines. Fly in the ointment is new camp director Chuck Connors, styled as a strict disciplinarian who only allows an all-religious channel to play on the camp tv and locks misbehaving boys or counselors up in a detention cabin.

Pic takes a dark turn after 15 minutes when a counselor, played by Charles Stratton, organizes an instant revolution, lockng up Connors and his adult staff and having the kids and student counselors run the camp in military fashion. He quickly extends his control to the girls' camp, locking up all the adults there, too.

With teens and kids running the show, film gradually tries for "Lord of the Flies" commentary, as Stratton's fascist behavior leads to several deaths and the kids descend into barbarism. Unfortunately, Dragin's direction is very soft, denying the film the tough-minded points and power of such forerunners as Harold Becker's "Taps". Instead, we get an alternation of comedy and seriousness which represents a candy-coated lecture few kids will swallow.

Acting is passable, with Stratton very good indeed at suggesting a likable (on the surface yet megalomaniacal character.