Campfire Tales (1997)

Directors:

Matt Cooper
Martin Kunert

Writers (WGA):

Martin Kunert (story) &
Eric Manes (story) ...

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Deep in the woods, no one can hear you scream.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Car Accident | Ghost | Teen | Anthology | Legend

Cast

Jay R. Ferguson	...	Cliff (segment "The Campfire")
Christine Taylor	...	Lauren (segment "The Campfire")
Christopher Masterson	...	Eric (segment "The Campfire") (as Christopher Kennedy Masterson)
Kim Murphy	...	Alex (segment "The Campfire")
Ron Livingston	...	Rick (segment "The Honeymoon") / RV Driver (segment "The Campfire")
Jennifer MacDonald	...	Valerie (segment "The Honeymoon") / RV Passenger (segment "The Campfire")
Hawthorne James	...	Cole (segment "The Honeymoon")
Alex McKenna	...	Amanda (segment "People Can Lick Too")
Devon Odessa	...	Katherine (segment "People Can Lick Too")
Jonathan Fuller	...	'Jessica' / Internet Man (segment "People Can Lick Too")
Glenn Quinn	...	Scott Anderson (segment "The Locket") / Paramedic #1 (segment "The Campfire")
Jacinda Barrett	...	Heather Wallace (segment "The Locket")
James Marsden	...	Eddie (segment "The Hook")
Amy Smart	...	Jenny (segment "The Hook")
Rick Lawrence	...	Rockin' Rob (segment "The Hook")

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/terror, language and sexuality.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Germany:16 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Hong Kong:IIB | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | UK:18 (video premiere) | USA:R (certificate #35095) | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Campfire LLC

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the "People Can Lick Too" segment, there is a scene near the beginning where the older sister hands the younger sister some money and says "I'm going out tonight, don't tell anybody". At the point where she begins to say "Don't tell anybody", the audio\visual becomes mismatched, as her mouth is clearly saying something else.

Quotes:

Scott Anderson: [about Heather's father] Is he around?
[Heather gestures]
Scott Anderson: He's dancing? Okay, he's not dancing, he's uh, rowing? No, he's, he's boxing, he's boxing? Your dad's not a boxer is he? Okay... he's horseback riding! He's a horseback rider.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dead Teenager Movie (2006) (V)

Surprisingly Good Horror Tales

While driving in a dangerous zigzag manner on a lonely road in the night, the teenager Cliff (Jay R. Ferguson) has a car accident with his friends Lauren (Christine Taylor), Alex (Kim Murphy) and Eric (Christopher Masterson). While spending the cold night stranded in the woods around a campfire, they kill time telling ghost stories. In "The Honeymoon", the couple Rick (Ron Livingston) and Valerie (Jennifer MacDonald) travels in their RV to Las Vegas in their honeymoon. Rick takes a shortcut to visit the Clayton Caverns in the night, but the stranger Cole (Hawthorne James) advises them to leave the spot since dangerous creatures attack people in the full moon. In "People Can Lick Too", on the eve of her twelfth birthday, Amanda (Alex McKenna) tells her Internet friend Jessica that she is alone at home. However, Jessica is actually a psychopath. In "The Locket", the biker Scott (Glenn Quinn) is crossing the country on his motorcycle. When he has a problem with his bike, he finds an isolated house where the gorgeous dumb Heather Wallace (Jacinda Barrett) lives with her father. When the man returns from his herd, Scott finds the truth about Heather.

"Campfire Tales" presents three good horror tales, with monsters, psychopaths and ghosts and a surprising twist in the end. The weakest segment is "The Hook", with Eddie and Jenny, but the other stories a great. The plot point is totally unexpected and gives a great conclusion to this above average horror movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazul): "Contos da Meia-Noite" ("Midnight Tales")