Zombie Campout

Review, `Zombie Campout' By John Forkner

Camp: [noun:] 1. A place where a group of people is temporarily lodged in makeshift shelters. 2. Artificiality of manner or style, appreciated for its humor, triteness, or vulgarity. (American Heritage Dictionary)

I'm going to come right out and say it: While `Zombie Campout' may not redefine low-budget zombie horror, it's the stuff cult classics are made of.

The plot is paper-thin. Four friends go on a campout looking for a little action, when radioactive meteorites crash into a nearby cemetery, causing the corpses to come to life. These `things' (you can't say `zombie' in a zombie movie) make short work of the other campers, adding them to their perpetually marching, moaning horde of the undead. Can Bunny, Tammy, Trevor, and Steve escape this zombie campout and still have time to make out?

Zombie horror has been a staple of filmmakers for decades. From the pop-culture phenomenon, `Evil Dead' (and its two subsequent sequels) to the recent `Resident Evil' and upcoming `28 Days Later', zombie films have enjoyed a considerable following. But none of these is sacred when a spoof like `Zombie Campout' comes along, cramming in every zombie/horror movie cliché it can think of and lampooning them into oblivion.

Writer, producer, director Joshua D. Smith has his work cut out for him; and while it's not hard to appreciate his vision as a director, his real talent lies as a writer. The script is brimming with cheesy dialogue and clever gags, many of which are mercifully subtle (one of the funniest involving two blonde babes tying their hair back with trashy 70's porno music playing in the background), and include a handful of self-effacing asides (as yet another blonde babe observes, `This is like something out of a bad zombie movie'). Perhaps most praiseworthy is Smith's understanding and masterful use of the element of surprise. Just when I was starting to sink into my chair, another gag I wasn't anticipating was thrown at me, keeping me on my toes and into the film; something most recent big-budget comedies have real trouble pulling off. Bravo.

The acting is a bit of a mixed bag and in a campy movie such as this, where stilted dialogue and under-energized performances abound, it can sometimes be difficult to tell what's supposed to be good and what's supposed to be bad. While the entire cast seems a bit reluctant to jump on the collective `act scared' bandwagon, it's ultimately Steve (John M. Davis) and Trevor (Jeremy Schwab) who are the only ones who convincingly pull off `fear' (to be fair, the two lesbian campers have the only truly frightening moment in the film and pull it off nicely). But where the film really bogs down is in Director Smith's tendency to trap his heroes in cars and cabins surrounded by zombies and have the `What do we do now?' discussion. Everything screeches to a halt and the pacing is thrown, thanks, in no small part, to the ladies who, with zombies closing in on all sides, somehow manage to remain completely nonchalant. What happened to the urgency?

Aside from this tricky issue of acting scared in a horror movie, the four leads are fine. Jeremy Schwab's transformation from the ever-smiling `smart kid' to protective "stud" boyfriend feels perfectly natural. And when John M. Davis lets go and commits to his part, his face lights up and.is it just me, or does he bear a slight resemblance to `Evil Dead's' Bruce Campbell? The lovely Misty Orman, as Bunny, brings some nice energy to the screen, particularly in her kick-butt action sequence where she takes on a horde of the undead. Tiffany Black plays the uncomfortable Tammy (whose last boyfriend was a `total poophead') nicely, but those late-night shootings must've taken their toll on her because she seems a tad sedated. Other standouts are Deborah Png as the shotgun-toting, Vietnamese-spouting camper, and Larry Purtell as the Park Ranger whose so-bad-they're-good line readings are worth the price of admission.

The picture, though filmed in widescreen with digital video, is rather grainy and low quality, but with a low-budget film, that's to be expected and it really doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the movie as a whole. The editing is a tad choppy at points and there is a bizarre little intermission stuck in about halfway through the movie when nothing is happening. Why not put it at a cliffhanger moment?

Special effects are used throughout, many of the caliber that would make Ed Wood proud. Never mind that the CGI clip of falling meteorites shows them landing off the coast of Mexico when we've established that the story takes place in Texas. It sure looks cool and that's clearly all that matters. There's also a great use of explosives when two rednecks attempt to blast a mob of zombies away with pistols, shotguns, uzis, and finally.well.I won't give it away. The zombie effects range from simple black shadows around the eyes to detachable limbs and rotting faces that squirt blood. The film even pokes fun at its own limited effects when zombies attack a fisherman and begin to pull off his arms and legs, only to discover that all of his limbs are prosthetic.

With the characters often referring to the script for advice, takes to the camera, shots of guys reading super-macho magazine `Trucks and Boobs', and an army of bikini-clad blonde babes, `Zombie Campout' knows exactly what it is and never lets the audience forget it. The combination of off-beat humor, campy dialogue and performances, and B-movie quality special effects make this film quite a nice surprise and a gory treat for fans of zombie horror and anyone else with a sense of humor, living or dead.

A bit disjointed at moments but overall a great religious allegory. From some of the other reviews it is obvious that many people didn't "get it". The zombie motif is a brilliant metaphor for the ham-fisted efforts of the L.D.S. religion. The zombies symbolize the persistent evangelical (and often mindless)efforts of its missionaries. The story seems to be designed to be entertaining yet not overly preachy in its critique of Mormon and other evangelical religious cultures.

I found the abortive use of (almost) nudity to represent the sexual repression at play within the evangelical community at large. The director seems to be throwing Mormon hypocrisy at us, forcing us to examine our own conflicted values.

Today's current religious climate has made films such as Zombie Campout necessary. Here in the bible belt it is increasingly difficult to engage in constructive dialogs regarding religion. It appears that the writer chose the L.D.S. community for this metaphor as it seems to be the most glaringly obvious match for the analogy. I am sure that it took some amazing courage to produce this film and to find funding for something so critical of a mainstream religion.

Though some may find the religious overtones too subtle to grapple with I think this film will stand the test of time as the zombie novelty wears off. This film will go a long way to further religious diversity and tolerance.

Various people in a quasi-dating mode, camp out near a cemetery when the obligatory meteor shower hits. Naturally, this raises zombies. Can you say hors d'oeuvres? It is just a matter of time until someone says, "Stay in the car".

Great dialog "Glad to meet you and your car." Leftover bubblegum music for the background. They would have been better off playing "Don't Step on the Grass, Sam" during the zombie's debut. All the characters in the film are best known for being in the film "zombie Campout" (2002). The zombies look like thriller rejects. Wonder where the movie was shot? (The ranger has a faux pas Texas symbol on the jacket.) However, the long shot of the meteorites looks like Canoga Park, not downtown LA as some have thought.

The far west end of the San Fernando Valley of Southern California for hundreds of years was home to the American Indians of both Fernando and Chumash tribes. Indian villages were established at each place where a creed emerged from the canyons of the Simi Hills. These inhabitants were the original population of the Canoga / Owensmouth area.

O. K. It was shot in Flower Mound, Texas, USA. Therefore, the lake could have been Grapevine. I have a friend that bought land in Flower Mound and it looks like the spot. People go wild pig hunting there.

Strangely enough or coincidence Bunny (Misty Orman) moved from Texas to L. A. about the time of the making of this movie.

Actual bubblegum music is: Dumbhead 2002 Radioactive 2002 Pushing 2002 Forgotten 2001 Hillbilly Massacre 2001 Sheetmusic 2001 Fierce 2002 Zombie Love 2001 Grave Mistakes 2000 When I'm with you 2002 Zombie chase 2001 Perfect Girl 2002 (probably tastes like chicken) Quiet 2002 Crazy Man 2001 Forgotten 2001 Rip Off 2002 Breakdown 2000 Mars Needs Cheerleaders 2000

I predict that this movie is not campy enough or weird enough to be a cult classic.

The DVD has a few extras that you may as well watch.

This piece of tripe is utterly disgraceful, and not even good enough to be sold in the five dollar bargain bin at your local Wal-Mart. I am not sure what they were thinking when they got involved, but certainly they expected it to be better than this. Sad thing is, it could have been so much better.

I actually feel bad for the actors involved in this, because I can imagine their embarrassment. If I was them, I would try to buy up every copy to minimize the shame. Anyone voting a "10" for this movie (come on, a 10 for ZOMBIE CAMPOUT???) clearly has some stake in it. I also like these reviews that describe it as "great" and "you won't be disappointed" have only reviewed on this lame movie and nothing else.

For the sake of your wallet, don't spend a dime on this movie.

It doesn't really know what it wants to be. If Zombie Campout is trying for Evil Dead funny, it's not quite fast enough or jump out of your seat enough. If it's aiming for Dawn of the dead, it's not horrific enough. As it is, the movie plays out like a big reflexive horror movie about movies. It's just kinda scattershot as to where it wants to be at the end of the day.

This is looks to be Mr. Smith's first effort, and by the look of the credits, it's obvious he poured alot of his own sweat and effort into this film. The film has it's share of flubs (texas lic. plates everywhere, and the comet lands in northern Mexico) but it's really all in the details, and this film doesn't need to mess with it. There's no mics in frame, or crew members in the shot (well, maybe one...)

It's got some good laughs, the cast looks like they had fun (smiling zombies tell all) making it, and has really nice gore FX for a budget like this. I did spot a rubber baseball bat, otherwise everything was appropriately nasty looking when it needed to be. There aren't any FX where someone's passing off cow liver as a victim's stomach (like Romero's done...) so big ups on originality in the gore. One of the victims looked like she was really missing her arms...

I'd recommend it to someone who likes a good laugh, or anyone wanting to stage a MST3K-eque show. Better than Manos: the hands of fate or Red Zone Cuba, but maybe not some of the later Police Academy movies. I eagerly await whatever Mr. Smith does next.