wes-connors "Welcome to 'Camp Bleeding Dove', where seven hot-blooded college freshmen are left in charge of dozens of high-maintenance campers. When 'Chief Oberon' (Peter Stormare), the camp's only responsible adult, is hit by lightning, it's a hormonal free-for-all as the counselors 'Wichita' (Brad Renfro) and 'Wendy' (Dominique Swain) score with each other while trying to control the underage masses. At the end of 40 days, everyone is guaranteed memories that will last a lifetime!" promises the DVD sleeve description. Debuting director Daniel Waters' teen sex comedy is alternately appealing, embarrassing, teasing, and stupid. Unfortunately, emphasis is firmly on the latter.** Happy Campers (1/21/01) Daniel Waters ~ Brad Renfro, Dominique Swain, Jaime King, Justin Long

justin-kapust In the winter I watch this title weekly. It may be another "Teen" Movie, but appeals to both teens and those who left their teenage years a decade ago.The filming style is very independent and very beautiful, If you watch it just for a plot, sure it is quite similar to the usual "Teen Dramas", If you look a bit deeper, and take something from this title, well you will be a Happy Campers addict like me.It contains the basic of love found, friends made, and the interactions of various persons from various backgrounds. What it has which make it unique, is the out of the ordinary ending, the intense imagery, and most importantly love lose.I give it a 10.

carnivalofsouls Daniel Waters guaranteed himself a place in cinema history with his debut screenplay "Heathers", one of the sharpest, blackest and downright original films of the second half of the eighties. Yet in the meantime he has seemingly enjoyed his well-paid limbo in hackville, churning out scripts ranging from the what-was-he-thinking (yes "Hudson Hawk", we mean you) to the sublime (the second and best installment in the Batman franchise). Thus the phrase "Daniel Waters' directorial debut" immediately raises expectations, will it be a twisted and perverted return to his "Heathers" world view? The answer is yes.The premise is as warped as one would expect - a black, and I mean black, satire on the banal summer camp genre, using it as a metaphor for the point in our lives when, as teenagers, our childhood innocence gives way to the disappointments and tribulation of adulthood. If this sounds pretentious that's because it is, wildly so, but one has to give Waters some credit for not simply churning out a "Heathers" clone ("Jawbreaker" did us that favor). And while the characters are nowhere near as nihilistic as in that film (more so they are skewered stereotypes), the film does, particularly in the second half, move into bleak territory. The film's primary saving grace, besides a typically biting screenplay from Waters, is his outstanding casting, notably Stormare, Swain, Renfro and, particularly, the underused Bergl, all of whom deliver fine performances but struggle with the main flaw in Waters' script, none of the characters are very likable. It's not a great film, in fact it is a very flawed one, but it is never anything but ambitious and frequently very funny. It also makes an interesting double bill with "Wet Hot American Summer", another off-the-wall satire on the genre released the same year. Let's just hope we don't have to wait so long for his next film.

oz244 Okay...not moved in the, "Oh my god, I'm about to cry!" sense, but, it was touching. I thought that the movie was an all-around worthwhile production and well worth the $1 that I spent to rent it. It's about more than just sex. (It has to be! If it were just sex, than this movie could've been a whole lot raunchier. Honestly, that's the one thing that disappointed me.) It's about people, and feelings, and relationships, and growing up, and all that other cheesy stuff. The end sums it up, and it even makes reference to itself being cheesy. This movie shows that people have depth. All of the characters have depth. Complications...and those complications are well explored. I think that some people can miss the point when watching this movie. If you're one of those people, try watching it again. It's defiently worth it.