Campfire Tales

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.

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")

Definitely not only for urban legend aficionados, Campfire Tales is an often scary and always fun ride through several popular stories. It is also a film that exceeded the (low) expectations I had. A horror film I had never heard or read about, a straight-to-video release (granted, the latter often presents us with a pleasant surprise, but with horror films nowadays it can be all or nothing), a cast of mostly unknowns... well, I'll leave the math to you.

The film proves to be an entertaining, suspenseful and overall very enjoyable experience. The four stories are well-paced and satisfying. The only one I felt was a little weaker was "The Locket", for the simple reason that it offers almost no explanation for its plot or the characters' actions; however, I still loved the tale, its atmosphere and ending. My favorite one was the third story, "People Can Lick Too" - the suspense in it is not only palpable, but also educational.

I found Campfire Tales to be one of those horror gems one discovers by chance, and then goes on recommending it to everyone.

7/10

This is a gem of a movie I discovered by accident. It is a nice anthology horror film which contains four stories rolled into one. There is graphic sex which is a little distracting, though. If you like this one you should check out "After Midnight".

Sporting surprisingly high production values and a cast full of familiar faces, the horror anthology "Campfire Tales" will keep genre fans mildly amused.

Why only mildly amused? Well, the cast isn't the only familiar thing about this movie. Most eek freaks have already heard variations of the film's stories around campfires of their own. To wit, the opening segment (starring James Marsden and Amy Smart) is a quick retread of "The Hook" urban legend.

The three main tales, told by a group of teenagers (including Christine Taylor and Christopher Masterson) get progressively better. Ron Livingston turns up in an acceptable bit about terrorized honeymooners, followed by a rather creepy cautionary tale of an Internet predator. Finally, the always effectual Glenn Quinn plays a stranded biker who falls for a mute, mysterious girl (Jacinda Barrett) in the film's best segment.

Of course, it's those storytelling kids who suffer the nastiest twist of all.

The film's end title music, a slightly retooled version of "The Monster Mash" is weirdly fitting. Though entertaining, "Campfire Tales" is nothing new.