Campfire Tales main backdrop
Campfire Tales main poster

Campfire Tales

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5.8/10 • 98

1997-02-281h 28m

Horror

Terror spreads by word of mouth.

Anthology of famous, scary urban legends done with a modern twist.

Directors
Matt Cooper, Martin Kunert, David Semel
Editors
Rick Fields

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Jay R. Ferguson

    Jay R. Ferguson

    Cliff (segment "The Campfire")

  2. Christine Taylor

    Christine Taylor

    Lauren (segment "The Campfire")

  3. Christopher Masterson

    Christopher Masterson

    Eric (segment "The Campfire")

  4. Kim Murphy

    Kim Murphy

    Alex (segment "The Campfire")

  5. Ron Livingston

    Ron Livingston

    Rick (segment "The Honeymoon") / RV Driver (segment "The Campfire")

  6. Jennifer MacDonald

    Jennifer MacDonald

    Valerie (segment "The Honeymoon") / RV Passenger (segment "The Campfire")

  7. Hawthorne James

    Hawthorne James

    Cole (segment "The Honeymoon")

  8. Alex McKenna

    Alex McKenna

    Amanda (segment "People Can Lick Too")

  9. Devon Odessa

    Devon Odessa

    Katherine (segment "People Can Lick Too")

Reviews1

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John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Oct 31, 2015

7.5/10

Anthological Urban Legend Blast! 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

Media

  • Campfire Tales poster
  • Campfire Tales poster
  • Campfire Tales poster
  • Campfire Tales poster
  • Campfire Tales poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
car crashanthologyurban legendspiritcampfire story1990sscary stories