Campfire Tales

Redeeming all at once,the adolescent film,the film made up with sketches and the B-movie horror genre,it was too good to be true.And however,"campfire tales " could have done all that.Preceding "the sixth sense",the film recalls,more than "Jacob's ladder" ,the obscure "carnival of souls " (1962)."Campfire tales",like the three movies mentioned has an ending with coup de théâtre,completely unusual.

So why is half of the movie routine and business as usual?OK,the honeymooners are useful for the plot,but their whole sketch has no real connection with the main story.The same goes for the little girl surfing online and her dog.On the other hand,the last sketch is at once scary and significant:its conclusion magnificently segues into that of the whole movie.

One marvelous scene:one of the boys is getting cold and he asks the girls to share their blanket:isn't it it an extraordinary clue?A lot of directors would dream of such a trick.Had the film had an internal cohesion,had he used all its sketches as it did for the last one,it would have solved the squaring of the circle and the three -despised- genres,which I mention above ,would have been enhanced.Yes,it was a heaven sent opportunity.Try to see it anyway ,it deserves better than its poor rating.

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.

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

After the success of Scream, everyone and their mother seemed to want to make some hip slasher movie with a cast of semi-familiar TV faces. In that sense, Campfire Tales fits that formula, but the stories themselves are far from the winking, slash-happy Scream successors.

A car load of teens has an accident and spend their time telling creepy stories to each other as they wait to be rescued. The first story tells the classic urban legend of the couple who park where they shouldn't and a grim surprise awaits them in the morning. The second is a disturbing variation of the "people can lick, too" urban legend about a dog who fails to protect a little girl from danger. The final installment centers on a biker who falls for a mysterious young woman with a dangerous daddy.

Each story is told with a fairly straight face and the second story really brings the chills. The final twist ending is painfully predictable, but all three stories are so solid that you probably won't mind much.

Campfire Tales was unfairly neglected upon release and I hope a wider audience will get to experience it at some point.

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".