The Charge

What the hell kind of summer camp is this?

Opening Statement

Caesar and Otto's Summer Camp Massacre is the second feature from Dave Campfield to come out from those crazy cats at Camp Motion Pictures. After the release of his first film, Dark Chamber, Camp Motion Pictures were so pleased that they wanted to give him a (small) budget to make a film that would fit more with the campy slasher/monster/gore films that the studio is known for (you know, classics like Cannibal Campout and Splatter Beach). Dave retreated to the woods (or Topanga, California) to provide them with Caesar and Otto's Summer Camp Massacre, a sequel to a little-seen comedy that Campfield had directed before Dark Chamber (called, unsurprisingly, Caesar and Otto). The film is finally seeing the light of day on DVD, and it's a worthy successor to Campfield's first feature.

Facts of the Case

Caesar (director Dave Campfield) and his brother Otto (Paul Chomicki) live together in L.A. Otto is unemployed, while Caesar struggles to break into the acting business. During his day job driving a cab, Caesar gets into a tiff with a burly gentleman, delivering a number of blows to the stranger. Tragically, this stranger turns out to be the mentally challenged brother of the local police chief. Fearing for his life, Caesar flees with his brother Otto. Desperate to find work, the two seek out Job Counselor Estevez (Joe Estevez, Zombiegeddon). Mr. Estevez sends the pair to be counselors at Camp Sunsmile. After the two meet their fellow counselors, a mysterious new woman named Carrie (Felissa Rose, Sleepaway Camp) shows up, and people at the camp begin to die. Caesar and Otto have to get to the bottom of the mystery before they become victims of the gory killer.

The Evidence

I have to get one thing straight right out of the gate: Summer Camp Massacre is not a horror or slasher film per se. Instead, it could more rightfully be called a comedy that takes place in a slasher-film world. All the usual slasher-film elements (mysterious women, random deaths, summer camp) are present, but they're only the backdrop for Campfield and Co.'s comedy. Caesar and Otto are positioned as a modern incarnation of Abbott and Costello in their later years. The original Caesar and Otto put the duo in a reality-TV show, in this feature they're in a summer camp horror film, and the ending promises us Caesar and Otto in the House of Dracula. As a comedy, the film succeeds rather well. The humor mainly arises out of the situations Caesar and Otto find themselves in, although there are a few very good one-liners sprinkled throughout the script. The vast majority of the jokes are aimed at the horror crowd (especially those that play on Felissa Rose's participation in the Sleepaway Camp franchise). However, unlike the gentle jabs and nostalgia-tinged gags of most horror-comedies, Campfield's jokes at horror's expense have a rough edge to them. Some fans might not appreciate this approach, but after years of mollycoddling, it's nice to see someone try to stick it to horror fans.

My favorite part of Dark Chamber was Dave Campfield's performance, and the same holds true for Summer Camp Massacre. His portrayal of Caesar is just effeminate, just camp enough to be funny without ever getting tired (at least to me). It's also night and day different from his character in Dark Chamber, so he gets points for range. Also, even more than Dark Chamber, Campfield has surrounded himself with other fine actors in Summer Camp Massacre. Genre stalwarts like Joe Estevez and Brinke Stevens don't have much screen time, but they bring some serious street cred to the picture. The gang of camp-counselor victims is surprisingly diverse, and although they play some obvious types, there was little of the typical wooden acting that this budget level typically produces. Paul Chomicki's Otto is also dense-but-lovable. Finally, Felissa Rose plays on her role as Angela, crafting a mysterious persona that could have been tedious but ended up being surprisingly compelling.

The DVD I received was a pre-release screener, so things could change a bit, but this disc looks pretty darn good, especially considering the low budget. Most of the film takes places outdoors in full sun, so there's little that would lead to compression hiccups. The audio isn't fancy, but it gets the job done well enough. The only extra on my screener was a 15-minute making-of that detailed the production, but the packaging promises a host of extras, including three commentaries and the original Caesar and Otto film. The making-of documentary on this disc shows the typical struggles that plague a low-budget feature, and almost everyone interviewed wears more than one hat, with a number of the actors also getting producer credits.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

I suspect that Caesar and Otto's Summer Camp Massacre is a love it or hate it film. Certainly some are going to find Campfield's brand of comedy shrill and obnoxious, while I'm sure others are going to object to his effeminate characterization. Those who are not already fans of low-budget horror are warned to stay far away, since neither the comedy nor the horror of Summer Camp Massacre is likely to be pleasant.

There is some good gore in Summer Camp Massacre, but it's fairly infrequent. Those just looking for gore and nudity will have to look elsewhere, since this film doesn't have enough red stuff to satisfy the gorehounds, and there isn't any naked female flesh on display.

Closing Statement

Caesar and Otto's Summer Camp Massacre succeeds where Return to Sleepaway Camp failed, by bringing humor and horror back to the camp-slasher genre. The film breezes easily through its 75-minute runtime, and it seems so effortless that another Caesar and Otto film is both inevitable and welcome. I think we need a sequel to Summer Camp Massacre (whether it's Caesar and Otto in the House of Dracula or not) a lot more than we need another Saw film. Those looking for an evening of low-budget fun are encouraged to seek out Caesar and Otto's Summer Camp Massacre.

[Editor's Note: No release date or pre-order information has been made available. We'll update the review when details are released.]

The Verdict

Caesar may be guilty of being flamboyant and Otto of being dumb, but Caesar and Otto's Summer Camp Massacre is only guilty of being fun.

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