Camp Blood

Camp Blood

DVD cover
Directed by Brad Sykes
Produced by David S. Serling
Written by Brad Sykes
Starring Jennifer Ritchkoff
Michael Taylor
Tim Young
Betheny Zolt
Courtney Taylor
Music by Ghost
Cinematography Jeff Leroy
Edited by Jeff Leroy
Production
company
SNJ Productions
Distributed by Astro Distribution
Dead Alive Productions
Intervision Picture Corp.
Razor Digital Entertainment
Release date
  • April 4, 2000 (2000-04-04) (United States)
Running time
 73 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Camp Blood is a 1999 direct-to-video slasher film written and directed by Brad Sykes.[1] It was followed by four official sequels and one unofficial film entitled Within the Woods. Camp Blood stars Jennifer Ritchkoff as a young woman who travels to a deserted camp with her friends, only to find themselves at the mercies of a killer clown.[2] The movie had a home video release in April 4, 2000 and was released to DVD in 2002.

Plot

A guide and a tourist are birdwatching in the shades of Camp Blackwood and begin to have sex. Suddenly, a man in a clown mask appears and brutally murders them with a machete.

The story then focuses on four campers, who are planning a trip to Camp Blackwood. On the way, they meet the madcap Bromley Thatcher. After a brief exchange that includes a warning from Thatcher - "I'm not talking about a ghost here boy, I'm talking about a man, a REAL man, and he's in those woods!" - the group head into Camp Blackwood, now known to the audience as 'Camp Blood'.

In the woods, they meet their guide, a butch lesbian known as 'Harris'. After spending the day doing menial tasks such as collecting firewood and setting up camp, the group settle down into their respective tents to enjoy a session of late-night love making. The group awake in the morning to find the burnt-out carcass of Harris on the campfire (apparently murdered by the killer clown). The majority of the plot then revolves around the clown chasing the various characters through the woods and brutally murdering all of them but Tricia, who manages to run away from the clown.

In attempting to escape the murderous clown, Tricia runs to her deceased boyfriend's automobile. At this point, she meets Thatcher, who attempts to aid the clown by hindering Tricia's escape. In the ensuing melee, Tricia hacks Thatcher to death with the clown's machete, and enters the car and runs over the clown, who is revealed to be Harris. Just as Tricia is driving away safely, the clown appears in the back seat and strangles Tricia into unconsciousness.

When Tricia regains consciousness, she is in a mental asylum. After giving Tricia an injection, the 'doctors' depart from the room. It is at this point that Tricia hallucinates the clown entering the room.

Cast

Ivonne Armant's character shares a name with the ghostly slasher Mary Lou Maloney from Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987) and Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1990). However, since Armant's character seems strictly mortal in nature, it is presumed that the two characters are not meant to be one and the same.

Reception

Digital Retribution gave the film a mixed score of 3 out of five, writing, "Given the title and the Ralph knockoff, Camp Blood was obviously made by fans who wanted to do their own version of Friday the 13th. I don't mind that, but unfortunately the film is done well for the budget, leaving only the script and gore as a marvel of bad filmmaking. The end result is a fairly typical slasher, when a movie about a killer in a silly clown mask could've been so much more. Just watch the trailer, it's a lot funnier than the actual movie."[3] Something Awful heavily panned the film, stating that "If you're an aspiring horror director and you want to see a moving list of things not to do, this movie is for you."[4]

Sequels

Sykes quickly followed up his 1999 release of Camp Blood with a sequel, Camp Blood 2, in October 2000. A third unofficial film, Within the Woods, was released five years after that, in 2005. Sykes wrote and directed both sequels and actress Jennifer Ritchkoff reprised her role as Tricia Young for Camp Blood 2, but did not return for the third film.

Four sequels were released beginning 2014 with Camp Blood: First Slaughter,[5] which was written and directed by Mark Polonia, and is sometimes referred to as Camp Blood 3. Three more installments were released, Camp Blood 4, Camp Blood 5, and Camp Blood 666, all of which were released in 2016. Like First Slaughter, these films do not take into account the third movie created by Brad Sykes in the Camp Blood series, Within the Woods.

References

  1. ↑ Harper, Jim (2004-01-01). Legacy of Blood: A Comprehensive Guide to Slasher Movies. Critical Vision. pp. 73–74. ISBN 9781900486392.
  2. ↑ Normanton, Peter (2012-10-18). The Mammoth Book of Slasher Movies. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 9781780330419.
  3. ↑ B., Devon. "Camp Blood DVD Review". Digital Retribution.com. Devon B. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  4. ↑ Wade, Evan (December 13, 2005). "Review - Camp Blood". Something Awful. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  5. ↑ Torfe, Pat (2014-06-19). "[DVD Review] 'Camp Blood: First Slaughter' Fails More Than Just Archery". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
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