Overrated

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

The horror anthology movie has been a popular source of enjoyment for horror fans for a number of decades. As is pretty much always the case, the quality of each segment of the films varies - and this always will be the case. Case in point Campfire Tales.Something of a little treat for those inclined, this offers up four main stories and a wraparound device which involves four teenagers telling the tales around a campfire after their car has crashed. In my own anthology experiences, the main stories have tended to improve in quality as each story plays out, Campfire Tales is different, it opens weakly - has two great stories in the middle - and then closes on a damp boring squib. leading into the big - if unsurprising - reveal at films end.The poster for the film puts Amy Smart and James Marsden up at the front, which is a bum steer given that their screen time is not massive. Their story, "The Hook", opens the film and it's poor, devoid of scares and tension, and it obviously gears itself up for a chilling reveal but it ends up more funny (even baffling) than creepy."The Honeymoon" is up next and things significantly improve. Based on one of the most famous of urban legends, this finds a young couple of honeymooners stranded out in the woods when their camper van runs out of petrol. Choices are made, menacing terror begins, which all leads to a genuinely shocking finale.Next up is "People Can Lick Too", which finds a young girl home alone and stalked by a paedophile she met on line. The whole episode has a sinister eeriness to it, with some reveals sending chills down the spine. The ending is heart stopping and blood curdling.The last segment is "The Locket", which is well acted but ultimately more wistful and ethereal than anything scary or unnerving. Though the denouement is sure to appeal to many. Nice musical score here as well. And on to the reveal, straight out of The Twilight Zone and from any number of films of the same ilk. Great fun even if not all the stories knock it out of the park. 7.5/10

Returning home from an Iron Maiden concert, four teenagers are involved in a car accident that leaves them stranded in the middle of nowhere; while they wait for help to arrive, the group huddle around a campfire to keep warm and tell each other scary stories...I don't know if this collection of spine tinglers is a sequel to or a remake of the 1991 low-budget horror anthology of the same name, or whether it is totally unconnected (although the inclusion of a hook-handed killer in both films' wraparound tale does suggest a link); whatever the case, it's a vastly superior movie boasting higher production values, better acting, and much tighter storytelling.Whilst only those completely ignorant of popular urban legends will find the stories particularly unpredictable, the skillful manner in which the material is handled results in loads of edge-of-the-seat tension and plenty of well executed scares before each inevitable conclusion. A smattering of light gore and a spot of gratuitous sex enlivens proceedings along the way, the result being a frightfully fun time, just right for the Halloween season.

I expected absolutely nothing from this fairly unknown and low-budgeted 90's horror anthology when they aired it on TV. Let's face it…it looks bad, it sounds bad and it's pretty obvious right away that it hasn't got anything to offer that you haven't seen a thousand times before already. And yet, despite all these negative omens, "Campfire Tales" is a surprisingly effective and competently made movie that I'm sure will satisfy young horror fanatics as well as more experienced genre admirers. The formula is so incredibly simply but it feels refreshing and undoubtedly more efficient than the majority of late 90's horror garbage like, say, "Scream" or "I know what you did last Summer". It's also a lot better than the contemporary movie it resembles, namely "Urban Legends". Like the title implies, "Campfire Tales" features three (four, actually…or maybe five) little stories that we all know already since people have been using them to scare other people since decades. The cool black & white intro revolves on a young couple hanging out on lover's lane while the news bulletin repeatedly warns for an escaped lunatic with a hook for a hand. This story is just a little teaser, but it's atmospheric and it stars the ravishingly beautiful Amy Smart! After this, there's more time and effort put into the so-called wraparound story, as it features four youngsters as they crash their car on their way back from an Iron Maiden concert! Whist waiting for help, they attempt to spook each other out by telling urban legends around the campfire. The first segment is the weakest, but still enjoyable thanks to a fair amount of suspense and good acting. A couple of newlyweds traveling through the States in a motor home have a nightly encounter with monsters. Too bad we never get to know what kind of monsters because the story goes straight for the famous climax. The second segment features an old given, too, but it's shockingly up-to-date! An anonymous pervert stalks a little girl through Internet chat rooms and then goes to her house at night! The title is "People can lick too", so I guess you know already which urban legend this is. The final chapter is arguable the best and really bathes in an uncanny atmosphere. A young man meets the girl of his dreams; only he doesn't realize she's the mute spirit of a girl that got killed centuries ago. The wraparound story keeps an unexpected end-twist in store as well! And a pretty great one, I may add. Certainly worth a look!

Sporting surprisingly high production values and a cast full of familiar faces, the horror anthology "Campfire Tales" will keep genre fans mildly amused.Why only mildly amused? Well, the cast isn't the only familiar thing about this movie. Most eek freaks have already heard variations of the film's stories around campfires of their own. To wit, the opening segment (starring James Marsden and Amy Smart) is a quick retread of "The Hook" urban legend. The three main tales, told by a group of teenagers (including Christine Taylor and Christopher Masterson) get progressively better. Ron Livingston turns up in an acceptable bit about terrorized honeymooners, followed by a rather creepy cautionary tale of an Internet predator. Finally, the always effectual Glenn Quinn plays a stranded biker who falls for a mute, mysterious girl (Jacinda Barrett) in the film's best segment.Of course, it's those storytelling kids who suffer the nastiest twist of all.The film's end title music, a slightly retooled version of "The Monster Mash" is weirdly fitting. Though entertaining, "Campfire Tales" is nothing new.