Campfire tales - Racconti del terrore

The horror anthology movie has been a popular source of enjoyment for horror fans for a number of decades. As is pretty much always the case, the quality of each segment of the films varies - and this always will be the case. Case in point Campfire Tales.

Something of a little treat for those inclined, this offers up four main stories and a wraparound device which involves four teenagers telling the tales around a campfire after their car has crashed. In my own anthology experiences, the main stories have tended to improve in quality as each story plays out, Campfire Tales is different, it opens weakly - has two great stories in the middle - and then closes on a damp boring squib. leading into the big - if unsurprising - reveal at films end.

The poster for the film puts Amy Smart and James Marsden up at the front, which is a bum steer given that their screen time is not massive. Their story, "The Hook", opens the film and it's poor, devoid of scares and tension, and it obviously gears itself up for a chilling reveal but it ends up more funny (even baffling) than creepy.

"The Honeymoon" is up next and things significantly improve. Based on one of the most famous of urban legends, this finds a young couple of honeymooners stranded out in the woods when their camper van runs out of petrol. Choices are made, menacing terror begins, which all leads to a genuinely shocking finale.

Next up is "People Can Lick Too", which finds a young girl home alone and stalked by a paedophile she met on line. The whole episode has a sinister eeriness to it, with some reveals sending chills down the spine. The ending is heart stopping and blood curdling.

The last segment is "The Locket", which is well acted but ultimately more wistful and ethereal than anything scary or unnerving. Though the denouement is sure to appeal to many. Nice musical score here as well. And on to the reveal, straight out of The Twilight Zone and from any number of films of the same ilk. Great fun even if not all the stories knock it out of the park. 7.5/10

Good (not great) little horror film with a high "creep" factor (not to be confused with a 1991 movie by the same name, or the more recent (2001) Campfire STORIES). Central tale of stranded teens telling ghost stories around a campfire in spooky woods nicely leads into, and ties together the different stories that make up the bulk of the movie (Watch for Ron Livingston (Office Space, Band of Brothers) and Jennifer MacDonald in a spirited, sexy segment ("The Honeymoon")). Solid acting and a few truly "scary" moments make this an above-average chiller. Good example of interesting story line, coupled with quality ensemble acting resulting in a whole greater than the sum of its parts. "Surprise" ending of the main story adds nice creepy twist, although some may see it coming. Movie is not available on DVD, but can be found on VHS.

While driving in a dangerous zigzag manner on a lonely road in the night, the teenager Cliff (Jay R. Ferguson) has a car accident with his friends Lauren (Christine Taylor), Alex (Kim Murphy) and Eric (Christopher Masterson). While spending the cold night stranded in the woods around a campfire, they kill time telling ghost stories. In "The Honeymoon", the couple Rick (Ron Livingston) and Valerie (Jennifer MacDonald) travels in their RV to Las Vegas in their honeymoon. Rick takes a shortcut to visit the Clayton Caverns in the night, but the stranger Cole (Hawthorne James) advises them to leave the spot since dangerous creatures attack people in the full moon. In "People Can Lick Too", on the eve of her twelfth birthday, Amanda (Alex McKenna) tells her Internet friend Jessica that she is alone at home. However, Jessica is actually a psychopath. In "The Locket", the biker Scott (Glenn Quinn) is crossing the country on his motorcycle. When he has a problem with his bike, he finds an isolated house where the gorgeous dumb Heather Wallace (Jacinda Barrett) lives with her father. When the man returns from his herd, Scott finds the truth about Heather.

"Campfire Tales" presents three good horror tales, with monsters, psychopaths and ghosts and a surprising twist in the end. The weakest segment is "The Hook", with Eddie and Jenny, but the other stories a great. The plot point is totally unexpected and gives a great conclusion to this above average horror movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazul): "Contos da Meia-Noite" ("Midnight Tales")

After the success of Scream, everyone and their mother seemed to want to make some hip slasher movie with a cast of semi-familiar TV faces. In that sense, Campfire Tales fits that formula, but the stories themselves are far from the winking, slash-happy Scream successors.

A car load of teens has an accident and spend their time telling creepy stories to each other as they wait to be rescued. The first story tells the classic urban legend of the couple who park where they shouldn't and a grim surprise awaits them in the morning. The second is a disturbing variation of the "people can lick, too" urban legend about a dog who fails to protect a little girl from danger. The final installment centers on a biker who falls for a mysterious young woman with a dangerous daddy.

Each story is told with a fairly straight face and the second story really brings the chills. The final twist ending is painfully predictable, but all three stories are so solid that you probably won't mind much.

Campfire Tales was unfairly neglected upon release and I hope a wider audience will get to experience it at some point.

The Honeymoon.

The first segment is based on a different version of The Hook. It's somewhat similar to the urban legend, with a couple going to an isolated area with an unknown killer lurking around. One thing they added is a random local man who appears and tells them a creepy short story that gives off an unsettling vibe. The segment does a good job build up the tension to it and is somewhat suspenseful. The scene with the killer is terrorizing. Valerie is creepy, but the noises it makes are pretty stupid. The ending of the segment is similar to the urban legend. Overall, it's a decent one to start off with.

People Can Lick Too.

The second segment is somewhat similar to the urban legend itself. It goes through a decent pace and is built up pretty well. The scene with the chat room is disturbing because it revealed that the girl whom Amanda is talking to is an online predator posing as a young girl. Unfortunately, the two characters in the segment both sisters aren't that likable at all because both of them are bratty characters. The segment has pretty good tension with the predator stalking Amanda in the bushes, entering her house, and the garage scene. The ending is really similar to the urban legend itself. Overall, just like the previous segment, this is a decent one.

The Locket.

I don't know what urban legend this segment is based on, but it's about a young man who enters a farmhouse with a mute woman who lives there. Just like the previous segment, this one is built up nicely, and it is interesting to watch this. I think the character enters a place that is a time loop with an incident that repeats over and over again. It does build tension to it and is chilling on how it's executed. The ending itself is strange but interesting on the twist of it. Overall, another good segment.