Regular readers of my review list will already know that I am a great fan of the slasher genre. For the past thirteen years, I have thoroughly enjoyed hunting down the many rarities that the cycle has to offer and then sharing my opinions with other collectors across the globe. I personally was not over impressed with Wes Craven's Scream trilogy, but I must admit that I have paid close attention to the overwhelming effect that the three movies have had on horror cinema. Just like being transported back to the glory years of the early eighties, video-stores have once again been over-populated with masked killers and screaming teens. After John Carpenter's Halloween kicked off the boom years two decades earlier, the majority of the bandwagon jumping genre entries were American, British or Italian productions. But this time around we have witnessed slashers from as far and wide as Germany (Flashback), Thailand (303 Fear Faith Revenge), Korea (The Record) and even India (Sssshhh). This was the first of two Swedish entries that were released in the same year.
Director Martin Munthe launches Camp Slaughter with an intriguing text that leads us to believe that the events we are about to witness are based upon a true account. Well it worked for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so why not? Next up we meet Constance (Karen Bertling), a middle aged woman who blames her husband for the fact that he never gave her the blonde-haired blue-eyed daughter that she so desperately craved. Instead the couple ended up with a rather dopey looking son called Adrian (Christian Magdu). They say that if at first you don't succeed then try again, and try again she certainly did. Only this time she swapped partners and tried with her own son! Constance's dream to have a blonde-haired and blue-eyed daughter was not fulfilled after her incestrial efforts and instead she was blessed with a hulking maniac that she decided to keep padlocked in an underground chamber for the rest of his life. Twenty five years down the line and we learn that (unsurprisingly) a remote woodland retreat has been built within walking distance of the madman's underground lair. Cue six dumb teens, plenty of beer and a broken padlock and away we go on a murder marathon!
Camp Slaughter was critically ripped to shreds upon release and most of the unenthusiastic reviews that I've read came from Swedish authors. I was expecting something as bad as The Night Devides the Day or Carnage Road after reading so much negativity. The major critical point from the aforementioned scribes was that the cast struggle with speaking English, instead of their native language. I am fluent in Polish, Russian and English; but under the extreme pressure of trying to deliver a convincing dramatic display, I must admit that I'd feel much more confident speaking in my native Spanish tongue. That's why I guess it's somewhat unfair to criticise such a young cast on the quality of their performances. In this day and age, the majority of cinema fans don't have a problem with subtitled features, and perhaps that's something that the producers should keep in mind for future reference. But the biggest problem with Slaughter is Munthe's pedestrian direction. The movie seems to take an eternity to pick up the pace and then when things finally kick off, the shocks always feel somewhat half-hearted. The maniac is portrayed as a retarded bogeyman and he only kills the kids if he inadvertently bumps into them whilst wandering through the woodland. This immediately cuts out the suspense that's usually conveyed in stalking scenes, which only seemed to slow things down even more. It reminded me a lot of that other pathetic Swedish slasher Blodaren.
Screenwriter Alina Warne made some of the most bizarre decisions that I've ever witnessed in slasher cinema. Her peculiar obsession with bunnies (unfortunately not the playboy kind) makes very little sense, and she even went as far as to call the killer Bunnyman? There's one point in the runtime where Constance begins singing (about pretty bunnies, naturally), and for a moment I had to double-check that this wasn't the first slasher musical. Even though its obvious that Warne knew the slasher guidelines inside out, she still breaks one of the most essential traditions of the cycle. Trudy (Erica Earlson) spends the majority of the movie without drinking, smoking and she turns down constant sexual advances from one of the randy guys. So we have an untarnished virgin amongst the group, surely she's got to be the final girl? Well strangely enough she won't be turning up for the sequel. It was quite a shock that she was murdered, especially when every other cliché in the rulebook had been underlined and dotted. Some of the dialogue is also hilariously inept at best and the feature was in places poorly scripted.
Camp Slaughter has become impossibly rare outside Sweden already and it's only one year and a few months old. I was somewhat surprised then when I read that a sequel is in the pipeline, which must mean that this wasn't as unsuccessful as many would have you believe. I for one don't think that Munthe's slasher opus is as bad as its hideous reputation makes it sound. Unlike many of its cousins, it's competently lighted and beautifully photographed and it has the odd moment of credibility. In fact there's a couple of neat touches on display and as long as the director cuts out the mundane tekno soundtrack and learns from his previous mistakes, Camp Slaughter 2 could be a contender. But for the moment if you must see a Swedish slasher then get Drowning Ghost instead.
Director Martin Munthe launches Camp Slaughter with an intriguing text that leads us to believe that the events we are about to witness are based upon a true account. Well it worked for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so why not? Next up we meet Constance (Karen Bertling), a middle aged woman who blames her husband for the fact that he never gave her the blonde-haired blue-eyed daughter that she so desperately craved. Instead the couple ended up with a rather dopey looking son called Adrian (Christian Magdu). They say that if at first you don't succeed then try again, and try again she certainly did. Only this time she swapped partners and tried with her own son! Constance's dream to have a blonde-haired and blue-eyed daughter was not fulfilled after her incestrial efforts and instead she was blessed with a hulking maniac that she decided to keep padlocked in an underground chamber for the rest of his life. Twenty five years down the line and we learn that (unsurprisingly) a remote woodland retreat has been built within walking distance of the madman's underground lair. Cue six dumb teens, plenty of beer and a broken padlock and away we go on a murder marathon!
Camp Slaughter was critically ripped to shreds upon release and most of the unenthusiastic reviews that I've read came from Swedish authors. I was expecting something as bad as The Night Devides the Day or Carnage Road after reading so much negativity. The major critical point from the aforementioned scribes was that the cast struggle with speaking English, instead of their native language. I am fluent in Polish, Russian and English; but under the extreme pressure of trying to deliver a convincing dramatic display, I must admit that I'd feel much more confident speaking in my native Spanish tongue. That's why I guess it's somewhat unfair to criticise such a young cast on the quality of their performances. In this day and age, the majority of cinema fans don't have a problem with subtitled features, and perhaps that's something that the producers should keep in mind for future reference. But the biggest problem with Slaughter is Munthe's pedestrian direction. The movie seems to take an eternity to pick up the pace and then when things finally kick off, the shocks always feel somewhat half-hearted. The maniac is portrayed as a retarded bogeyman and he only kills the kids if he inadvertently bumps into them whilst wandering through the woodland. This immediately cuts out the suspense that's usually conveyed in stalking scenes, which only seemed to slow things down even more. It reminded me a lot of that other pathetic Swedish slasher Blodaren.
Screenwriter Alina Warne made some of the most bizarre decisions that I've ever witnessed in slasher cinema. Her peculiar obsession with bunnies (unfortunately not the playboy kind) makes very little sense, and she even went as far as to call the killer Bunnyman? There's one point in the runtime where Constance begins singing (about pretty bunnies, naturally), and for a moment I had to double-check that this wasn't the first slasher musical. Even though its obvious that Warne knew the slasher guidelines inside out, she still breaks one of the most essential traditions of the cycle. Trudy (Erica Earlson) spends the majority of the movie without drinking, smoking and she turns down constant sexual advances from one of the randy guys. So we have an untarnished virgin amongst the group, surely she's got to be the final girl? Well strangely enough she won't be turning up for the sequel. It was quite a shock that she was murdered, especially when every other cliché in the rulebook had been underlined and dotted. Some of the dialogue is also hilariously inept at best and the feature was in places poorly scripted.
Camp Slaughter has become impossibly rare outside Sweden already and it's only one year and a few months old. I was somewhat surprised then when I read that a sequel is in the pipeline, which must mean that this wasn't as unsuccessful as many would have you believe. I for one don't think that Munthe's slasher opus is as bad as its hideous reputation makes it sound. Unlike many of its cousins, it's competently lighted and beautifully photographed and it has the odd moment of credibility. In fact there's a couple of neat touches on display and as long as the director cuts out the mundane tekno soundtrack and learns from his previous mistakes, Camp Slaughter 2 could be a contender. But for the moment if you must see a Swedish slasher then get Drowning Ghost instead.
