Camp Blood
The film opens up with nature photographers, Sally (Meredith O'Brien) and Vic (Vinnie Bilancio), exploring the woods of Camp Blackwood, in search of an especially rare bird. On the other hand, Vic would much rather watch Sally than birds. The two run away to make out, when they hear the call of the bird they were seeking. Vic goes out to get a picture of it, but doesn't return for a long time. When Sally goes out to find Vic, his dead body falls down from a tree. As Sally walks away from the hanging corpse, a murderer in a clown mask with a machete nears her. She sees the menace, which begins a chase through the woods, ending with her death.
Cut to a normal neighborhood, where Tricia (Jennifer Ritchkoff) is just arriving home from jogging. She picks up her newspaper, which depicts the recent disappearance of the nature photographers. Tricia becomes very worried of the happening, since it occured in the woods where she and her three friends are camping for the weekend. Tricia's boyfriend Steve (Michael Taylor) assures her that everything will be safe, since they have their own tour guide, Harris (Courtney Taylor), who surprisingly turns out to be a tough-talking woman.
On their way to Camp Blackwood, they ask directions from a local townsperson, Thatcher (Joe Hagerty), who's almost given a heart attack by their sport utility vehicle's loud horn. Thatcher warns the naive teenagers that within the seemingly peaceful woods lurks a bloodthirsty madman who dons a clown mask. The woods, Camp Blackwood, has also earned the infamous title of Camp Blood by local townspeople.
One night, while sitting around the campfire, the teens' tour guide Harris tells them of the story of a man who found his girlfriend sleeping with another man, while returning from his last day of work. The man immediately went crazy, taking the two hostage in the trunk of his car and forcing them into Camp Blackwood, wearing a clown mask. As they got deeper into the woods, he killed the both of them with his machete. Tricia's the only one aware of what will soon happen, while her friends go on with their weekend outing, thinking nothing of the story. Unfortunately, they find their tour guide burned to a crisp one morning, and they know the story was true. Someone out there wants to kill them all, but they don't know their way out of the deep forest without a tour guide. Only the strongest will survive and escape the killer's bloody rampage.
Obviously and extremely low-budget, even sometimes having to use some of the actors in more than one role, this was a surprisingly entertaining horror story. The plotline's very simple and overdone, complete with the usual clichés a slasher beholds. The characters are pretty likeable, and I found the killer's identity pretty easy to figure out. I also spotted some similarities to other horror films, such as Friday the 13th 2 and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, particularly being the case for a few chase scenes. Also, Camp Crystal Lake, from the Friday the 13th series, was given the name Camp Blood.
The killer's mask is completely ridiculous, but sometimes pretty creepy. The killer's lover, who's shown in flashbacks as the story's told, was probably named after the Prom Night series, since she has the name, Mary Lou Maloney! I also couldn't help but notice that the actress who portrays Harris is named Courtney Taylor, the same name of the actress who played Mary Lou Maloney in Prom Night 3: The Last Kiss. Although, I'm not sure if this is the same actress. All in all, I thought this was pretty enjoyable and campy slasher that any horror fan might enjoy.
