Coopers' Camera

I don't know where to start. I just finished watching the movie at its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and I am still recovering from over 90 minutes of non stop laughter. Imagine, if you could, every family dysfunction that you have ever experienced condensed into 90 minutes.

Between cringing, laughing and dying from emotional flashbacks I have never enjoyed a movie more.

I have to commend a cast that was able to pull this little gem off as according to the director it was shot in 11 days. The characters ranged from the repressed and emotionally stunted father to an alcohol fuelled, racists, mullet sporting, date rapist and multiple vehicular homicidal maniac uncle.

This is a unique film and deserves a wider release than it will get. I can only hope that it will become a cult classic to be referenced and plagiarised at will.

Go see this movie you will not regret it and you too shall appreciate the phrase "Balls deep" and you will never look at a mannequin in the same way again.

Refers to Disney's fort wilderness, it was the campground. The lodge only opened in 1991. So he refers to a very expensive camping stay for 1985. This is the most disturbing movie family.

This Christmas movie is not for the faint of heart!

I watch this movie every Christmas season and I swear it gets better each viewing.

Crude, harsh, no holds barred dysfunctional hilarity throughout! I literally laugh til I'm crying every time I watch!

The Cooper family (Jason Jones and Samantha Bee) accepted a video camera in 1985 in exchange for $2000 a friend (Dave Foley) needed to pay off a debt. They filmed the festivities, and 25 years later the tapes have been unveiled.

This film works off a few familiar premises... the found footage of "Blair Witch" or "Cloverfield", mixed with the humor of returning to the 1980s, as with "Wedding Singer" or "Hot Tub Time Machine". Perhaps, miraculously, Jones (both star and writer) seems to not repeat jokes already in the other films.

Crimped hair, New Coke, and more Star Was references than in any other film I've ever seen... and I've seen a lot of Star Wars references. I think this will appeal to a wide variety of people, both geeks and nerds, but also those who may want to relive the 1980s or see Dave Foley's bare behind.

There's a really great running joke about Viagra, where they ask, who would ever go to the doctor to get their penis to work? It's funny because it's probably true: what seemed outlandish in 1985 today seems common: male enhancement is constantly being advertised and I suspect is widely used.

As some of you might know, I write for and orchestrate Ruthless Reviews. O.K., I know, big deal. Sometimes our readers throw us a pearl. This time the pearl bore fruit in the form of this deliciously vulgar but infinitely watchable movie.

The only reasonable way that I can describe this VHS film is the joy that a dog incurs when it eats its own vomit. Yes, it is that good. From the endless mullets to the crazy Family Values, this film separates the wheat from the chaff. You are either all-in for Christmas mockery, or you are not.

Unless you are some sort of hard-core, Born-Again Christmas Freak, you should give yourself a chance to enjoy this movie. Drinking is HIGHLY recommended if you are to fully enjoy this masterpiece.

What a wonderful surprise. Thank you Winston Smith for drawing this to my attention.