Zombie Campout (2002) (V)

User Rating:

3.1/10   

Director:

Joshua D. Smith

Writer:

Joshua D. Smith (writer)

Release Date:

6 May 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

A weekend of fun... becomes the weekend form hell!!

Plot:

Four friends on a weekend camping trip having the time of their lives, when radio-active meteorites crash into a nearby cemetery all hell breaks loose. Who will make it out alive?

Plot Keywords:

Meteorite | Cemetery | Camping | Campout | Radioactive

Cast

Misty Orman	...	Bunny
Tiffany Black	...	Tammy
John M. Davis	...	Steve
Jeremy Schwab	...	Trevor
Alecia Peterman	...	Lora
Cheryl Dallas	...	Lizzy
Danni Tkacs	...	Leslie
Stacy Heart	...	Pam
Robert Glass	...	Timmy
Jamie Leigh Javor	...	Kimmy
Natalie Jones	...	Kelly
Laura Beth Leither	...	Jules
Eddie Holmes	...	John
Larry Purtell	...	Park Ranger
David Phillips	...	Camper
Deborah Png	...	Camper's Wife
Damon Burris	...	Donut Eating Grip
Holden Smith	...	Bunny's Little Brother
Brian Jensen	...	Guy on Bridge
Renee McMahan	...	Girl in Car
Lauren Graham	...	Zombie
Toby Thomas	...	Red
Chad Briley	...	Charlie
Mae Moreno	...	Zombie
Todd Jenkins	...	Zombie
Lobo Lowe	...	Buck
Natalie Benmoor	...	Zombie
Rex Winfrey	...	Fisherman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Steve M. Clark	...	Camp Zombie
Brandy Crow	...	Shower Girl
Mark E. Howell	...	Billy Bob
Brooke Jester	...	Zombie
Katharine Lobrecht	...	Bikini Zombie
Nickie Ludwig	...	Zombie
Libby Milliron	...	Various Zombies
Jared Mitchell	...	Zombie
Bianca Rivera	...	Girl in Swing
Jeff Steinruck	...	Zombie
Joshua D. Smith	...	Zombie (uncredited)

Directed by
Joshua D. Smith

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Joshua D. Smith		writer

Produced by
Barak Epstein	....	associate producer
Carol Smith	....	executive producer
Joshua D. Smith	....	producer
Aaron Strader	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Richard Gunnar Nelson

Cinematography by
Lindsay Perry
Joshua D. Smith

Film Editing by
Chad Briggs
Hunter Nolen
Joshua D. Smith
Rex Winfrey

Casting by
Katrina Cook
Kim Fishman
Joshua D. Smith

Production Design by
Carol Smith

Makeup Department
Darrellene Cocoris	....	key hair stylist
Janet Harris	....	key makeup artist
Scotty Piland	....	special makeup effects artist
Toby Thomas	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Traci Borders	....	production supervisor
Laura Raymond	....	unit production manager
Joshua D. Smith	....	production manager
Amanda Tijerina	....	pre-production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hunter Nolen	....	second unit director
James Russell	....	first assistant director
Justin R. Schulke	....	second assistant director
Melanie Schuth	....	second assistant director
Carol Smith	....	first assistant director
Brandon Torres	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Traci Borders	....	boom operator
Bryan Smith	....	post-production sound mixer
Bryan Smith	....	post-production sound
T.J. Smith	....	sound
Kirby Williams	....	boom operator
Rex Winfrey	....	sound

Special Effects by
Chad Briley	....	special effects assistant
Scotty Piland	....	special effects technician
Mitch Rogers	....	special effects technician
Joshua D. Smith	....	special effects
Toby Thomas	....	pyrotechnic effects

Visual Effects by
Chad Briggs	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Natalie Benmoor	....	stunts
Chad Briley	....	stunt coordinator
Chad Briley	....	stunts
Teresa Brown	....	stunts
Todd Jenkins	....	stunts
Brooke Jester	....	stunts
Ryan Johnson	....	stunt driver
Meg Parrott	....	stunts
Glen Rowe	....	stunts
Jonathon Russell	....	stunts
Joshua D. Smith	....	stunt driver: boat
Richard Stambaugh	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Traci Borders	....	camera operator
Traci Borders	....	key grip
Barak Epstein	....	best boy grip
Barak Epstein	....	camera operator
Todd Jenkins	....	still photographer
Justin Muller	....	lighting technician
Hunter Nolen	....	camera operator
Lindsay Perry	....	camera operator
Justin Powers	....	assistant camera
Justin Powers	....	grip
Joshua D. Smith	....	camera operator
Joshua D. Smith	....	gaffer
Danni Tkacs	....	still photographer
Brandon Torres	....	assistant camera
Rex Winfrey	....	assistant camera
Rex Winfrey	....	camera operator
Daniel Zubiate	....	camera operator

Casting Department
Katrina Cook	....	extras casting
Todd Jenkins	....	extras casting
Brooke Jester	....	extras casting
Nickie Ludwig	....	extras casting

Editorial Department
Chad Briggs	....	assistant editor
Barak Epstein	....	assistant editor
Rex Winfrey	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Traci Borders	....	script supervisor
Kim Fishman	....	assistant to producer
Libby Milliron	....	production assistant
Larry Purtell	....	zombie wrangler
Laura Raymond	....	script supervisor
T.J. Smith	....	assistant to director
Amanda Tijerina	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Latetalk Productions

Distributors

• FilmOut Releasing (2005) (worldwide) (all media)

Special Effects

• Last Dragon Post

Other Companies

• Muller Entertainment  lighting

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Flower Mound, Texas, USA

Company:

Latetalk Productions

Trivia:

Joshua D. Smith appears in the end credits 25 times.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the four principals are driving to the campsite in the SUV, the wide-shots reveal only one person in the vehicle.

Quotes:

Lora: [feigns a sprained ankle] Oh! My ankle!

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Dawn of the Dead (1978)

An Off-Beat Homage to Zombie Horror!

Review, `Zombie Campout' By John Forkner

Camp: [noun:] 1. A place where a group of people is temporarily lodged in makeshift shelters. 2. Artificiality of manner or style, appreciated for its humor, triteness, or vulgarity. (American Heritage Dictionary)

I'm going to come right out and say it: While `Zombie Campout' may not redefine low-budget zombie horror, it's the stuff cult classics are made of.

The plot is paper-thin. Four friends go on a campout looking for a little action, when radioactive meteorites crash into a nearby cemetery, causing the corpses to come to life. These `things' (you can't say `zombie' in a zombie movie) make short work of the other campers, adding them to their perpetually marching, moaning horde of the undead. Can Bunny, Tammy, Trevor, and Steve escape this zombie campout and still have time to make out?

Zombie horror has been a staple of filmmakers for decades. From the pop-culture phenomenon, `Evil Dead' (and its two subsequent sequels) to the recent `Resident Evil' and upcoming `28 Days Later', zombie films have enjoyed a considerable following. But none of these is sacred when a spoof like `Zombie Campout' comes along, cramming in every zombie/horror movie cliché it can think of and lampooning them into oblivion.

Writer, producer, director Joshua D. Smith has his work cut out for him; and while it's not hard to appreciate his vision as a director, his real talent lies as a writer. The script is brimming with cheesy dialogue and clever gags, many of which are mercifully subtle (one of the funniest involving two blonde babes tying their hair back with trashy 70's porno music playing in the background), and include a handful of self-effacing asides (as yet another blonde babe observes, `This is like something out of a bad zombie movie'). Perhaps most praiseworthy is Smith's understanding and masterful use of the element of surprise. Just when I was starting to sink into my chair, another gag I wasn't anticipating was thrown at me, keeping me on my toes and into the film; something most recent big-budget comedies have real trouble pulling off. Bravo.

The acting is a bit of a mixed bag and in a campy movie such as this, where stilted dialogue and under-energized performances abound, it can sometimes be difficult to tell what's supposed to be good and what's supposed to be bad. While the entire cast seems a bit reluctant to jump on the collective `act scared' bandwagon, it's ultimately Steve (John M. Davis) and Trevor (Jeremy Schwab) who are the only ones who convincingly pull off `fear' (to be fair, the two lesbian campers have the only truly frightening moment in the film and pull it off nicely). But where the film really bogs down is in Director Smith's tendency to trap his heroes in cars and cabins surrounded by zombies and have the `What do we do now?' discussion. Everything screeches to a halt and the pacing is thrown, thanks, in no small part, to the ladies who, with zombies closing in on all sides, somehow manage to remain completely nonchalant. What happened to the urgency?

Aside from this tricky issue of acting scared in a horror movie, the four leads are fine. Jeremy Schwab's transformation from the ever-smiling `smart kid' to protective "stud" boyfriend feels perfectly natural. And when John M. Davis lets go and commits to his part, his face lights up and.is it just me, or does he bear a slight resemblance to `Evil Dead's' Bruce Campbell? The lovely Misty Orman, as Bunny, brings some nice energy to the screen, particularly in her kick-butt action sequence where she takes on a horde of the undead. Tiffany Black plays the uncomfortable Tammy (whose last boyfriend was a `total poophead') nicely, but those late-night shootings must've taken their toll on her because she seems a tad sedated. Other standouts are Deborah Png as the shotgun-toting, Vietnamese-spouting camper, and Larry Purtell as the Park Ranger whose so-bad-they're-good line readings are worth the price of admission.

The picture, though filmed in widescreen with digital video, is rather grainy and low quality, but with a low-budget film, that's to be expected and it really doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the movie as a whole. The editing is a tad choppy at points and there is a bizarre little intermission stuck in about halfway through the movie when nothing is happening. Why not put it at a cliffhanger moment?

Special effects are used throughout, many of the caliber that would make Ed Wood proud. Never mind that the CGI clip of falling meteorites shows them landing off the coast of Mexico when we've established that the story takes place in Texas. It sure looks cool and that's clearly all that matters. There's also a great use of explosives when two rednecks attempt to blast a mob of zombies away with pistols, shotguns, uzis, and finally.well.I won't give it away. The zombie effects range from simple black shadows around the eyes to detachable limbs and rotting faces that squirt blood. The film even pokes fun at its own limited effects when zombies attack a fisherman and begin to pull off his arms and legs, only to discover that all of his limbs are prosthetic.

With the characters often referring to the script for advice, takes to the camera, shots of guys reading super-macho magazine `Trucks and Boobs', and an army of bikini-clad blonde babes, `Zombie Campout' knows exactly what it is and never lets the audience forget it. The combination of off-beat humor, campy dialogue and performances, and B-movie quality special effects make this film quite a nice surprise and a gory treat for fans of zombie horror and anyone else with a sense of humor, living or dead.