Poison Ivy (1985)

Two teenage summer camp counselors struggle with their younger campers, providing a variety of humorous situations and romantic encounters.

Director:

Larry Elikann

Writer:

Bennett Tramer

Stars:

Michael J. Fox, Nancy McKeon, Caren Kaye

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael J. Fox	...	Dennis Baxter
Nancy McKeon	...	Rhonda Malone
Caren Kaye	...	Margo Klopper
Adam Baldwin	...	Ike Dimick
Robert Klein	...	'Big Irv' Klopper
Joe Wright	...	Jerry Disbro
Thomas Nowell	...	Brian Firestone (as Tommy Nowell)
Matthew Shugailo	...	Toby Kaplan
Derek Googe	...	Bobby Novak
Cary Guffey	...	Timmy Mezzy
Cameron Arnett	...	Steve Sawyer
Ryan Langhorne	...	Martin Blair
David Wasman
Shanna Stewart	...	Irene
Carol Chambers	...	Nurse Blanche Zucko

Storyline

It's summer once again and kids flock from everywhere to go to Camp Pinewood in Clifton, Maine (originally filmed in Georgia). Dennis Baxter is the new camp counselor who has the hots for Rhonda, the new nurse. Timmy is the shy kid with no self esteem who takes every chance to run away; Tody is the overweight kid who wants to be a comedian; Brian is the poet; Bobby is the athletically gifted one; and Jerry is the slick talking, high dealing city boy from Philadelphia. The camp is lead by the fearless Big Irv.

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Plot Keywords:

summer | camp counselor | nurse | poet | summer camp | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 February 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das total ausgeflippte Sommercamp

Filming Locations:

Hard Labor Creek State Park - Fairplay Road, Rutledge, Georgia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

NBC Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The name of the main female character (Rhonda Malone) was changed to "Sandra" in the Hungarian version of this film - "Rhonda" means "ugly" in Hungarian.

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Quotes

'Big Irv' Klopper: Tell Walter to fix that thing.
Ike Dimick: Roger.
'Big Irv' Klopper: Walter!

User Reviews

Excellent 80s fun

There are lots of other 80s movies that I enjoy. But this one is something special. I always feel like the "summer camp" genre of movie has been ruined by certain other ones...Meatballs...Party Camp, and so on. Poison Ivy accurately captures the sense of humor a young camper has. From a logical point of view, there's some real nonsense (why exactly does Disbro dress up like that?) but it still provides perfectly clean fun.

There are a few problems. Most of them are technical (sound mixing) and directorial choices, but those problems don't detract from the enjoyabilty of the movie.

This movie is also noteworthy for two other things: 1 - This captures the essence of the 80s Michael J Fox. Those glittering closeups on his face really just say it all and 2 - It's highly quotable. I have two friends who also saw this when they were younger, and it's a ball to exchange quotes with them periodically.