Happy Campers (2001)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Daniel Waters

Writer (WGA):

Daniel Waters (written by)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

When a summer camp director gets injured, the diverse group of college freshmen counselors take charge and spice up the everyday routine of the camp. |

Plot Keywords:

College | Summer | Summer Camp | Pretty Girl | Voyeurism

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Brad Renfro	...	Wichita
Dominique Swain	...	Wendy
Keram Malicki-Sánchez	...	Jasper
Emily Bergl	...	Talia
Jordan Bridges	...	Adam
Jaime King	...	Pixel (as James King)
Justin Long	...	Donald
Peter Stormare	...	Oberon
Graham Frye	...	Charlie The Cook
Ryan Adams	...	Bad Boy Billy
Ashley Banks	...	Nasty Natalie
Monica Bugajski	...	Millie
Trevor Christensen	...	Wichitaesque Wes
Elizabeth Dray	...	Hayley
Xavier Hernandez	...	Upper Income Lawrence

MPAA:

Rated R for nonstop crude sexual content involving minors, and for language and drug use.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Germany:16 | UK:15 | South Korea:15 | USA:R | Portugal:M/12 | Italy:VM14 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Australia:MA (cable rating)

Filming Locations:

Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA

Company:

DiNovi Pictures

Trivia:

Pivotal scenes that take place in the woods are tinted blue, same as the woods scenes in Heathers (1988). In one scene Wichita says, "If you ever find yourself turning into one of those, eat some Drano." In Heathers (1988), Heather Chandler died from drinking Drano.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the movie when Wendy misses the bus, it switches to the inside of the other bus and in the top left corner when they show Witchita on the bus, you can see Wendy standing at the back of the bus before she gets on at it all.

Quotes:

Adam: When you throw a bunch of people together in the forest, they become something more than just a bunch of people together in the forest.
Talia: Personality traits blend into one another: sweet, bitter, moral, immoral, overconfident, overwhelmed.
Wendy: A strange environment is created, one in which anything that happens to anyone, happens to you. Welcome to camp Bleeding Dove.

Movie Connections:

References Friday the 13th (1980)

Soundtrack:

Softer Side

Not your usual camping flick!

Daniel Waters, the writer of Heathers, takes a turn in writing and directing his latest feature: Happy Campers. If Meatballs could be remade with more, younger, and edgier camp counselors, than this would be the film. Some parallels can be made between this film and Heathers, showing that Waters knew which elements worked: both have an overweight child who is picked on, then is later highly respected; both have a song/jingle that is overplayed, which drive a main character crazy; and both try to invent new words and catch phrases. Happy Campers also looks to be inspired from various aspects of Shakespeare. Someone says, "...doth protest too much," straight out of Hamlet; The term "fairies" is thrown around and the head counselor's name is Oberon, who was king of the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream; and they toy with the idea of death by poisoning, which is a common end to many Shakespearean tragedies. I greatly enjoyed this film - It took chances, and fought to stay out of the "cleaned-up summer camping movie" category. There's enough shock value here to leave a mark in your moral judgment!