UnderPressure Being familiar with Stagedoor Manor, the camp which "CAMP" was based on, and having attended a similar institution as a child, I turned on this movie fully expecting a nice homage to a place where young people can be themselves and explore their personalities and interests. But instead I was completely blindsided by the horrendous script and exceedingly poor execution of this terrible excuse for an indie flick.This film contains the most stilted and awkward dialog I've ever heard in a feature film. And I don't mean awkward in a fun, teenager way, I mean awkward in the way that some conversations just didn't make sense.In other cases, character traits or flaws were mentioned in one scene never to be seen or heard about again; these traits and flaws had zero impact on the behavior of the characters and came completely out of left field.Many key "plot points," in the film are not actually depicted, they are mentioned as necessary throughout to fill in the audience in a kind of "oh by the way" or "did you hear?" fashion. Instead, the script focuses on amateur and frankly boring musical covers by the less than impressive "campers." Also hindered by these overly-long and terribly-choreographed "show" scenes was the character development for the majority of the main characters. With the possible exception of Michael (Robin de Jesus), the campers and their theater teachers begin and end the film having experienced no personal changes, having undergone no transforming journey. Oh wait; one character does changes, however it wasn't over time brought on by understanding and acceptance, or simple cause and effect: it occurred in a matter of seconds, to suit the purpose of this hackneyed screenplay.Probably the most horrible thing about the film was that there was no supervision of the handful of campers. In fact the only adults at the camp seemed to be two staff members, three instructors, and five musicians, none of whom ever appear as the campers run around all night, take off their clothes, make out, and have sex. And while I know, having attended and been a counselor at a camp like this, there are many real campers who have gotten away with such things and more, these particular campers seem carefree and careless about what they do; they don't have to sneak around or take any caution in their activities. In fact there are no consequences for anybody, whether they be drunkard counselors or campers trying, literally, to murder one another. Besides the obvious reasons this might be a problem, the no-holds-barred attitude of the campers kills any tension or intrigue in the campers revels.To be perfectly honest, I don't know how this film got made at all. I know the place and I know it could make a great story if someone were to try it from a different angle, but this script didn't seem like it even made it to a second draft.

PeterBBshp This is much more than just a camp movie and great songs and production numbers, although it is all that. It does a great job of dealing with a number of important issues for today. One of these is the challenge of a profession in the arts. I loved the way it dealt with all of the issues it raised. For all of the criticism from the other reviews, I found this movie did a better job of raising all of the issues it raises and getting me to think about them, but more from a personal standpoint, and not from so much of a societal standpoint. We each have a role to play in each issue and we each have the challenge of deciding what we are going to do with each. Part of it is understanding other people. This movie showed a lot of different people and the importance of respecting all of them, even if what they are doing seems to have obvious problems.

xredgarnetx CAMP is a pleasant-enough remake of FAME, only set in a summer camp for musical and theatrical actors. A real place, we might add. Actor Todd Graff assembled a group of high-spirited unknowns and filmed CAMP at the very camp he attended as a youth and later worked at. The songs are from some of Broadway's most famous shows as well as a couple of originals, and they are all great to hear performed by a cadre of youthful innocents with surprisingly big and powerful voices. The film deals with adult themes, uses plenty of bad language, and has a very strong gay sensibility, so viewers beware. This is NOT a Disney film and has a PG-13 rating. It is best viewed by those over 13 years of age, and then only by mature 13 year olds. The movie droops considerably between musical numbers -- the kids clearly are not professional actors, the dialogue is often stilted, and the big finale is a direct swipe from SISTER ACT 2 -- but the musical numbers are plentiful and come fast and furious. Watch for the little girl with big dark hair who sabotages the camp's blonde "princess;" she's a real hoot, and surprises us with a singing voice 10 times bigger than her tiny frame would suggest.

boyinflares "Camp" is a fantastic film with bright characters, beautiful songs and some great dance sequences. Certainly this is a very underrated musical, which will hopefully one day get more recognition. The film focuses on the teens at a Summer Camp where they perform musicals and deal with the usual teenage issues. The singing is great from most of the cast, the acting is a little less so, but the energy of the film makes up for that.Daniel Letterle plays hottie Vlad, Joanna Chilcoat plays the nice girl Ellen, and Robin de Jesus is the main gay boy Michael. The get the bulk of the screen time, and are all very good, but by no means are they the best singers, and the other characters are at times, more interesting to watch. Without a doubt, Sasha Allen (Dee) is the best singer, hopefully she will release an album one day. Tiffany Taylor (Jenna) is also excellent in the singing department. Alana Allen brings a touch of elegance to the film as snobby Jill, and Anna Kendrick is fantastic as the obsessed Fritzi. Vince Rimoldi doesn't get nearly enough screen time as Spitzer, and it's a shame we don't get to hear him sing more. Same goes for Julie Kleiner in her small role as Lisa. Don Dixon does a good job of playing the unlikeable Bert.The songs are funky and interesting, particularly the opening number "How shall I see you through my tears?", "Century Plant", "Here's where I stand", the fabulous "Turkey Lurkey Time" and closing number "For the want of a nail". The only problem I have with the film really is that it should have spent a bit more time on some of the other characters. Other than that, a thoroughly enjoyable film.