Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Michael Allen
Spirit Camp is a film that was edited, directed, and scored by actor Kerry Beyer. The film was released on DVD on December 27th and the film blends campiness, cheerleaders, and some choice cuts in this second Kerosene Film production. The acting by a few of the smaller characters comes across as amateurish, but Julin as Rachel and Roxy Vandiver as Nikki shine like two golden globes. Spirit Camp is a film for horror film fans made by horror film enthusiasts.
The story starts off with a small group of cheerleaders camping in the forest at night and viewers will instantly know something not good is going to happen. Fast forward a bit and we have the first nude shot three minutes out and a gorey sequence shortly after that. These early scenes do their job and hook the viewer, hopefully not fatally. Two years into the future a second group of cheerleaders, unknowingly, return to the scene of dismemberment and before the full complement of pom-pom girls can get together to say some cheers the bloodbath renews. Things do not get much better for the minor characters in the film as one girl foretells her doom: "I am going to go for a walk [alone]" (Spirit). That is an instant death sentence in most horror movies!
The characters, who are few to begin with, narrow quickly, as an unknown man or woman mistakes the cheerleaders for firewood and beheads or dismembers many a pretty body. The female cast are mostly out to titillate, yet Julin and others, to a lesser extent, manage to utilize every scene to display emotion, or to externalize internal states of anger or jealousy. Julin realizes that acting does not always involve overacting and her scenes often create the most, laughs even when she is not central to the scene. It is hard to create a laugh from a hair flip, but she manages. A round of applause also goes out to Vandiver, who was already mentioned and the very animated and soon to be dead local sheriff (Brandon Smith). The acting is on par, while the characters are able to remain alive in the film.
To see naked breasts is often a good thing, but in a horror movie this use of sexuality earlier in a film often signals a poor quality film. This is not the case in Spirit Camp. The nudity is not primary to the story and the writing is strong enough to deliver some laughs, keep the film moving, and deliver a somewhat complex ending. Here is a hint to the ending without giving the killer away; the strong, silent, dumb looking types often get the blame for being the killer, but looks are often deceiving, especially in horror films. Even the film comes across as something more than it appears to be from the early cliched scenes.
Here is that horror brain lesson of the day that you were trying to avoid. Kerry Beyer appeals to three of the four f's of the hypothalamus, which are feeding, fighting, fleeing, and fornicating (not that f). However, Spirit Camp is not a film about the brain, nor of feeding. This is a film about girls running for their lives, fighting off knives, and trying, unsuccessfully, to seduce the local gas station attendant, or the very gay co-squad captain. Spirit Camp is generally a well placed action film packaged in to a horror film, as the kills pile up quickly. Plus, there are explosions too. But, alas the ending of the film and this lesson come far too quickly.
This film was shown in Texas during its premiere and the film is spreading its blood soaked wings to other markets. The best way to currently see this film, if you are not in the deep south, is to purchase the DVD. If you are loyal horror fan who likes the classic horror elements of breasts and blood plus a masked killer then Spirit Camp is one of the best horror indie films thus far for you. Have a look some of the sites for Spirit Camp to find out more about Kerry Beyer's latest horror film offering below. Support quality indie films like this one. This is where the best creative ideas are!
Plot/story/treatment/attitude: 7.25.
Acting/believability/evenness: 8 (central characters).
Setting/realistic/authenticity: 6.
Overall: 7 dirty thoughts out of 10.
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Posted in: 2010,acting,cast,crew,dvd,dvd artwork,homepage,horror,movie review,serial killer,thriller,writing
1 comments:
Roxy Vandiver here. Thank you so much for this glowing review!
www.roxyvandiver.com
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