Summer Camp (1979) User Reviews

Don't expect much

[welhof1 · 4/10 · 5 June 2020]

I wasn't really disappointed. First there is a lot of nudity and sexual antics going on. The film quality was very poor. The sound was muffled in parts. The scenes seemed to jump from one to the other with little explanation. The plot was so thin, nonexistent. Names were rarely used so you didn't know who was who. The girls all seemed to look alike. Characters just appeared (like the short blonde at the end)

If you want a quick 90 minute camp film with topless girls and silly antics this is your movie.

Campy goings on in Meatballs, minus the clothrs

[videorama-759-859391 · 4/10 · 24 October 2014]

John Laughlin again proved a piece of eye candy for this R rated version of Meatballs. I really don't need to say much more, but there art some tender moments with young camper Laughlin who falls for a female camp counceller. The title song is one, I can't get out of my head. Yes there are raunchy goings on, and we do have a vixen here that gets it on with a lot of guys, and an older one, from which great dialogue springs doing climaxing: River, mountain, Streaaaam! It seems though talented actor, Laughlin, way better, than was offered here, was typecast, where really, we were blinded to all the good work, this guy can produce. Here it's just a raunchy, dirty, get your clothes off comedy with a few laughs and gags, but really doesn't rise above poor, stereotypical, sex comedy fare, where it wasn't really until Porky's brought the quality level of this ilk, much higher. If you want to get a bit titillated, and be mildly amused, kick your feet up, and watch.

Cheap Animal House knock-off

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 21 September 2017]

SUMMER CAMP is a cheap independent comedy about an overage group of summer camp counsellors who are sent back to camp ten years after they first attended in order to revamp the place. You quickly realise that that this is a cheap rip-off of ANIMAL HOUSE, and there's even a scene where the characters have a toga party of sorts. The plot consists of the usual frat house antics which are delivered on a really low budget without much interest. There's some romance, plenty of lame humour, and a bit part for a pre-scream queen Linnea Quigley. Personally, I'd prefer a similarly-set slasher like THE BURNING.

good

[ethylester · 25 June 2002]

I really liked this movie a lot. There was nothing bad about it. The characters weren't too stereotyped and the things people did weren't too outlandish. There were a few unbelievable things, but mostly, I thought it was all in good humor and worth watching again. It made me laugh. I'd recommend it to anyone who would like to be entertained just for the hell of it.

A dead zone; a complete waste of time

[Groverdox · 2/10 · 29 June 2016]

"Summer Camp" is an unfathomably tedious "Meatballs" cash-in that manages to avoid characters, scenes, laughs and anything else you might expect to get in a comedy, or even a movie. Chuck Vincent was a porno filmmaker, and he should have stayed one. What you get in "Summer Camp" is like watching a porno without the real sex.

Unlike most boob comedies, this one does have a couple of sex scenes, played for broad laughs rather than eroticism. It is hard to imagine anyone who would laugh at people simulating sex - little attempt is made to convince you it is real - while shouting nonsense at each other. The age group that might think this is funny - 5 year olds, perhaps? - will be too busy asking their parents what those two people are doing.

I suppose you have to concede that this movie does have characters - I think maybe the fat party animal guy was in it, and the stuck up girl, and the guy who owns the camp and thinks it might go bust. You spend the whole movie with them, but none of them make any kind of impression. The only reason why I was able to detect the above is because they are stock characters in every movie like this, so you assume that that is who they are supposed to be - the movie doesn't tell you.

This is for Linnea Quigley completists only. Yeah, she takes her top off a few times.

Rather unexciting teen movie

[blumdeluxe · 2/10 · 24 October 2017]

"Summer Camp" is a teen movie telling the story of a summer camp that's about to be shut down due to a lack of success. Thus, the director invites several young college kids to join the camp, hoping that they will convince their parents to donate remarkable sums.

The movie delivers more or less what you'd expect from such a film. The story is rather boring and won't catch many people. You get to see some semi-nudity and sexual tension but on a level that's still more or less harmless. Of course in the end the camp is based on an oil mine, what else would you guess. Alarming is that some of the boy-girl interaction in the movie seems to be less consensual than forced, which is something that should be avoided, even in such a rather casual movie.

All in all you won't get too excited about this film. If you're looking for something easy with a bit of nudity and tension this could be a thing, but it is surely not a good movie in itself.

BAD!

[BaronBl00d · 2/10 · 7 July 2020]

You know when you sit down to a movie like this that...well, there will be some limitations to budget, acting skill, sets and scenery, special effects, and story not to mention taste. Some of these small budgeted sexploitation movies are funny and rather enjoyable for what they are. This is NOT one of those films. I had trouble just thinking up some title for the review that is how plain boring and awful the movie is. A summer camp is in need of repairs in order to stay in business so it invites previous campers under the guise of summer fun to use them as cheap labor. Okay, the premise is decent enough. Yes, we can expect some pretty good-looking people to come to the camp. Certainly, some will disrobe. There should be some sophomoric humor as well, BUT the plot will at least be the focal point to all the action in some way. Not in this film. Here it is nothing more than a plot device to get these young people to the summer camp. We do not see the campers do one thing to rebuild the camp. In fact if not for the "prospector" storyline at the beginning and end of the film(and when you saw him in the beginning you knew exactly what Deus ex Machina was going to happen), you could easily forget what the film was about as nothing in it has to do with the story. What do we get? One scene after another of girls either disrobing or engaging in sexual play(again, I have no problem with this at all) or, and these scenes were really the hardest to sit through, a group of buffoonish guys judging the size of feces in a contest or charging admission to see girls in a shower, or one of the longest, most-prolonged panty raids in film with virtually no payoff in terms of sexual interest or humor. Look, the girls are fairly attractive. They do what you want them to do. The rest of the film is one major snooze. Done by porn director Chuck Vincent - who would go on to do Wimps and Hollywood Hot Tubs - this film is really nothing more than an exercise in naked tedium.

A good try

[dr_midnight32 · 10/10 · 15 November 2001]

While this has been done before, this little Meatballs rip-off is pretty good. As with every boobie movie, as long as your mood is as silly as the film your watching, you'll have a good time. MUST be watched if only to hear the silliest version of "Row, row, row your boat" EVER to be committed to film. Have a good time with this one. Recommended

Liked the movie, not the best, but it's okay.

[Killer_7001 · 6/10 · 2 April 2002]

Funny, in a corny sort of way. Saw it first in 1979. Still feel the same way about it. Wasn't meant to be an Oscar winner. After observing the movie several times over the last 20+ years, it still retains it's genuine low budget laughs.

Awful entry in the T & A teen sweepstakes

[gortx · 11 March 2007]

I'm not sure in what context the other commentators had when writing their reviews, but by any reasonable standard this is a near unreleasably bad film. It probably got a minimum of theatrical play-dates and some cable airings over the years. With the exceptions that it was one of Chuck Vincent's first crossover films and that it denotes one of Scream Queen Linnea Quigley's first film roles, very little distinguishes SUMMER CAMP as a feature film.

Mean, tasteless and without humor, wit or story, SUMMER CAMP just glides along stringing scene with scene. The frequent nudity is probably what garnered the film a release at all. The film played as part of the Grindhouse series playing at L.A.'s New Beverly Cinema, and, even with a dedicated audience the laughs were few. According to IMDb, the film is not available on DVD (or even VHS) - and that is not a surprise.

Fun Movie

[heavymetaltoyjunkie · 10/10 · 2 March 2022]

Not for the PC crowd or newer generation, you wont get it..its your typical fun 70s/early 80s teen movie, lots of nudity, lots of good jokes and references that most wont get and its a shame cause its actually a good movie but, Im fine with being apart of the minority.

Great campy movie

[brixtonwa · 8/10 · 25 March 2018]

This is a typical movie of the late 1970s when camp movies are popular. It's one of those movies that's fun to watch on a day that you just want something that is cheap and has lots of laughs. Acting wasn't the best but it was a lot of fun and really work for this movie. Enjoy