Horror Movie Review - "Campfire Tales"



This 1997 movie would have been overlooked by me for several reasons. One, it had no big release (straight to video) so I missed hearing about it. Two, it’s a modern horror movie that by the description sounded like a teenage cautionary tale which is way overdone. Three, I don’t usually like anthology movies.

I actually bought it on one of those used VHS tables in the early millennium where you could get a gazillion for a low price when the video stores were selling off VHS. I’m really glad I bought it and had to eventually update to DVD!

This is a movie about some reckless teens that crash their car in the woods. They have to wait for help, so they light a campfire and sit around it telling scary stories of urban legends (which makes up the shorts within the movie).

The stories are all very well acted out and genuinely chillingly told like I’ve never seen urban legends handled before. When I’m in the “campfire tale, curled up in a blanket in the dark, someone telling me something scary” kind of mood, this is my movie! I am delightfully surprised by the acting and the plotting that went into making urban legends “real” for the viewers.

As if it weren’t chilling enough, it has a surprise ending that fits right in with the mood of the story.

Heads up; my favorite’s are the one about the couple in the RV and the one about the kid home alone. Oh my gosh! You’ll know what I mean when you check out this movie. I’m sure it can be gotten used for cheap, as it wasn’t a big release and was made 12 years ago.

If you liked movies like “When a Stranger Calls,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” or “Hills Have Eyes,” this movie has a similar feel to the storytelling.

It’s so old and not a big movie that it wasn’t too easy to find a trailer, but here’s a good one at this address. On the right hand side of the screen where it says “Film Crave Community” there’s a link to review the trailer. Click on it.

This is one of my top favorite movies for a dark stormy night.

Comments

  1. For some reason this movie reminded me of the TV Show my kids loved to watch "Goosebumps". On the show the kids would sit around and tell stories and those stories would be played out for us viewers to see. I enjoyed watching this show with them. This sounds like a movie I would probably enjoy and will put it on my to-watch list, which is getting longer ever day.
    Julie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, similar premise--but very very chilling. If you like urban legends, this is the most satisfying urban legend movie I've ever seen.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment