Camp Blood – The Musical
If you’re the type of person who would sit down and devote half an hour to watching a movie called “Camp Blood The Musical”, then you are probably the type of person who would enjoy watching a film like Camp Blood The Musical (CBTM).
Filmed over two days with a budget of $200 (most of which went to beer and Camp Blood t-shirts) and with a running time of just 30 minutes, CBTM falls somewhere between a parody of and a tribute to the classic slasher films of the 1980s. The plot is simple and generic: six stereotypical camp counselors of the unfortunately named Camp Blood are dropped off and are killed one by one. The obvious difference between CBTM and other slasher flicks is that this one contains song and dance numbers.
The film’s non-existent budget is both a curse and a blessing. While obviously $200 doesn’t go far in the special effects department and the audio sounds about like you might expect it would, the crew did a good job of using what they had available. Even though most of the film’s musical numbers take place in front of a hand drawn backdrop and some of the actors border on tone deaf, these things just add to the film’s unexplainable charm.
CBTM’s songs vary in quality from almost bearable to downright horrible. The worst songs are the ones that take place while everybody is still alive, as not every member of the cast can carry a tune. Fortunately the worst offenders are killed off quickly, leaving us with the semi-talented performers. The girls are better singers than the guys, and the topless girls are more entertaining than the clothed ones. The tone of the songs range from humorous (such as the killer’s song) to the pseudo-serious love songs.
According to the film’s MySpace page, there are talks of making a more professional version (Camp Blood The Musical The Movie). As a 30 minute low budget flick, CBTM is cute. As a feature-length film, it would be compared to 2007’s horror musical Sweeny Todd, or more directly Southpark founders Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s student film “Cannibal: The Musical”, to which CBTM doesn’t hold a candle.
I could write ten pages worth of problems CBTM had, but that would imply I didn’t like the film, which I actually did. This movie is a perfect example of a bunch of friends getting together and, with very little money, doing something creative and entertaining. Fans of do-it-yourself filmmaking, cheap horror and (I guess) musicals could find worse ways to spend thirty minutes.
On the web: Camp Blood – The Musical on MySpace