‘Pitch your tent, dig your grave.’
Camp Dread is a 2014 American horror film written and directed by Harrison Smith (The Special; Death House; 6 Degrees of Hell, Zombie Killers: Elephant’s Graveyard).
The movie stars Eric Roberts, Danielle Harris, Felissa Rose, Kyle Patrick Brennan, Ashley Caspermeyer (The Bates Haunting), Nicole Cinaglia (Hallows’ Eve), Apryl Crowell (Dracula’s War), Brian Gallagher, Gnomi Gre, Alexander Mandell, Montana Marks, Angel Anthony Marrero, Susan Moses, Joe Raffa.
The “Summer Camp” horror trilogy was one of the most popular franchises of the 1980s. However, the decade ended and so did director/writer Julian Barrett’s career. Now Barrett has a plan to resurrect “Summer Camp” in a modern reboot that entails using a reality show as its template and source of fundraising. Should it succeed Barrett would once again be at the helm.
Bringing together an eclectic group of young “contestants” as well as his former stars Rachel Steele and John Hill, Barrett seems to have put together a sure-fire recipe for success. Then people start dying. For real. And “elimination” takes on a whole new meaning as “Dead.tv” clearly shows the slasher film has grown up…
Reviews [click links to read more]:
“Monsterman’s Cleve Hall supplies the over the top and visceral gore which echoes back to Savini’s more tactile kills from the first F13 and The Burning. Though the twist is modern, there’s a lot of old school slasher goodness at play at Camp Dread!” Ain’t It Cool News
“Camp Dread goes through the beats of a typical slasher, but what’s interesting is that Barrett’s true intentions remain cloudy throughout all the impaling and throat gashing […] keeps you guessing until the final minutes. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the 88 minutes leading up the revelations to be all that interesting or entertaining.” Bloody Disgusting
“With names like Danielle Harris, Felissa Rose, and Eric Roberts attached to a film, one would naturally expect some pretty great performances. Surprisingly though, the best acting was done by the lesser known stars who made up the group of unsuspecting youths. With the exception of one or so deliveries, everyone seemed rather natural, making for a better viewing experience, overall.” Repulsive Reviews
“In the end the kills are too modest, the gore is almost non-existent, the dialogue is ridiculous and the direction is amateur. We even get an overtly obvious red herring killer-who’s-not-the-killer. This is a lot of genre cliches packed into one and half hours of patience-thinning substandard horror.” Shock Till You Drop
“Gorehounds, take note: there are some very nice goodies waiting for you here (practical effects, guys!); granted, with the aforementioned character development, it takes a bit to get to it, but it’s made all the more valuable once you get there. I have to say, this flick has one particular kill scene that I’ve never seen before; and at no time does the grue disappoint.” Legless Corpse
Choice dialogue:
“Hot people are never the killers.”
Cast and characters:
Eric Roberts … Julian
Danielle Harris … Donlyn – Halloween; Stake Land; Hatchet II; et al
Felissa Rose …Rachel
Joe Raffa … Novak
Montana Marks … Katie
Davy Raphaely … Vinny
Gnomi Gre … Missy
Alexander Mandell … Matty
Ashley Sumner … Sarah
Angel Anthony Marrero [as Angel Valerio] … Calvin
Nicole Cinaglia … Adrienne
Kyle Patrick Brennan … Jerry
Angel R. Sanchez II [as Angel Sanchez] … Ming
Brian Gallagher … John Hill
Tommy SzTubinski … Michael
Release:
Camp Dread was released by Image Entertainment in North America on April 15 and in the UK on June 2.
Film Facts:
Formerly known as Dead TV
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