I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, it's basically your usual slasher horror flick, more specifically of the teens-in-summercamp type, and sure, it looks a bit out-dated (1981!), as far as hair- and clothes-styles go. The story is a bit flimsy (some years earlier a camp-caretaker was heavily hurt by an unfortunate prank and now he's back for revenge on.... well, on virtually everyone), and although there's a fair amount of gore, by the way pretty well done, the killings themselves are filmed rather abrupt and sketchy, it's as if you'd need to press the slow reverse button to see what actually happened.
But still there is something extra in this movie, a sort of charming freshness (if you can say that of a horror flick), and in my opinion that's especially due to the acting. It's as if the makers didn't script anything but just let the kids think of things to do and say spontaneously, it gives it all a very natural and by that realistic feel. There are also beautiful settings of a sun-soaked lake and forest, an inventive paradox to the horrifying happenings.
With the awareness of the nowadays #me-too movement in mind, there are some scenes that really couldn't be made like that anymore, at several points young girls are harassed, overwhelmed and practically raped by horny teens who don't take no for an answer. And the various nude scenes are totally gratuit, it's for instance cringeworthy to see how the camera zooms in on the breasts of a girl taking a shower. When on the credits of the movie the name "Harvey Weinstein" prominently appears as producer and writer, you cringe a bit more, but that's with todays knowledge. Let's not forget that in those 80's days we all found these kind of things in a horror flick the most normal thing ever, flicks without a fair amount of sex and nudity were considered boring and prudish. Well, that's what evolution and progressed insight means, not a bad thing, I would say.
So to sum it up: taken the age and horror clichés into account, it's not a bad movie with a surprisingly good crew of young actors and a very satisfying amount of well-done gore.
But still there is something extra in this movie, a sort of charming freshness (if you can say that of a horror flick), and in my opinion that's especially due to the acting. It's as if the makers didn't script anything but just let the kids think of things to do and say spontaneously, it gives it all a very natural and by that realistic feel. There are also beautiful settings of a sun-soaked lake and forest, an inventive paradox to the horrifying happenings.
With the awareness of the nowadays #me-too movement in mind, there are some scenes that really couldn't be made like that anymore, at several points young girls are harassed, overwhelmed and practically raped by horny teens who don't take no for an answer. And the various nude scenes are totally gratuit, it's for instance cringeworthy to see how the camera zooms in on the breasts of a girl taking a shower. When on the credits of the movie the name "Harvey Weinstein" prominently appears as producer and writer, you cringe a bit more, but that's with todays knowledge. Let's not forget that in those 80's days we all found these kind of things in a horror flick the most normal thing ever, flicks without a fair amount of sex and nudity were considered boring and prudish. Well, that's what evolution and progressed insight means, not a bad thing, I would say.
So to sum it up: taken the age and horror clichés into account, it's not a bad movie with a surprisingly good crew of young actors and a very satisfying amount of well-done gore.