The Campground

Director - Roman Jossart
Starring - Casey Weber, Anna Love, and Roman Jossart
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "This summer the campground is open"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Slashers from the 80s were great for the most part.  Horror fans now grew up with these films and have a soft spot for them.  I am one of those people.  I grew up renting those great 80s slashers from the local video store and now try to buy as many of those as I can on DVD.  In the last 5 or so years there has been a surge of 80s inspired slashers being made by indie directors and I, for one, have been loving every minute of it.  Recently I came across the indie slasher, The Campground, on Facebook and became infatuated with it.  I reached out to director Roman Jossart and spoke with him and he was nice enough to keep me informed with any news and updates on the film.  As I waited for the film he informed me that the film was actually wrapped and he wanted me to be the first to review it.  So thank you for that privilege Mr. Jossart!

     The film follows a group of twenty-somethings as they go to an old campground to party it up.  The party never really picks up so Brandon (Jossart) tells everyone about Charlie. Charlie was killed on this very campground in 1980.  The rest of the party-goers chalk his tale up as an urban legend and continue their partying.  Things go dark soon after when people go missing and they find the dead body of one of their friends.  Chaos takes over as they all flee from the campground and spend the rest of the night fighting for their life only to learn that they need to stab Charlie 7 times with the same weapon he was murdered with.

     One of the many reasons the 80s slashers are being brought back is because they can be easily made on a small to no budget.  They have simple plots, standard kills, and the killer typically wears a cheap mask or simply hides in the shadows as to not be seen.   Almost all slashers follow the same storyline and that makes it even easier to make one in modern times.  I'm not saying it is easy to make a movie because it is not.  However, if you follow the slasher formula right then you are bound to make something fans of the sub-genre will love.  Jossart, who is obviously a fan of slashers, new what he was doing and made a very solid slasher flick.  The film may not be nothing groundbreaking but I'll be brutally honest and say this was one damn good slasher.  The acting was not that great and most of the cast showed a lot of inexperience.  They all needed a little more experience to improve their performances here.  However, they may not have been in front of the camera before but all the ladies in this one were very easy on the eyes, i.e. hot as hell.  The story is something that has been done hundreds of times in almost all the early 80s slashers.  Something bad happens to someone and those that visit that location die.  Nothing new but so much time has passed since those movies were made that it was nice to see them in a more modern setting.  Finally, the film has a pretty decent body count.  The kills are nothing that spectacular but are what you would expect from most slashers and the special effects for the film goes along with those.  Overall, this is one brutal slasher for the slasher fans.  I highly recommend it!