Cheerleader Camp (1988)

A group of cheerleaders become the targets of an unknown killer at a remote summer camp.

Director:

John Quinn

Writers:

David Lee Fein, R.L. O'Keefe

Stars:

Betsy Russell, Leif Garrett, Lucinda Dickey

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Betsy Russell	...	Alison Wentworth
Leif Garrett	...	Brent Hoover
Lucinda Dickey	...	Cory Foster
Lorie Griffin	...	Bonnie Reed
George 'Buck' Flower	...	Pop (as Buck Flower)
Travis McKenna	...	Timmy Moser
Teri Weigel	...	Pamela Bently
Rebecca Ferratti	...	Theresa Salazar
Vickie Benson	...	Miss Tipton
Jeff Prettyman	...	Sheriff Poucher
Krista Pflanzer	...	Suzy
Craig Piligian	...	Detective
William Johnson	...	Chief Ronnie
Kathryn Litton	...	Timmy's Girlfriend
Tommy Habeeb	...	Assistant Detective (as Tom Habeeb)

Storyline

Alison follows her friends to a summer camp for cheerleaders. But she is having bad nightmares. Her boyfriend has followed her to the camp but he seems to be more interested in the other girls, girls who sooner or later are found brutally murdered. Alison starts to believe that she has a split-personality who kills them.

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Plot Keywords:

teenage girl | nudity | summer | cheerleader | summer camp | 

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Taglines:

Give me a K - Give me an I - Give me an L - Give me an L

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 June 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cheerleader Camp

Filming Locations:

Bakersfield, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daiei Studios,Prism Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Leif Garrett played one of the mascots during the scenes in which they are all in costume.

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Goofs

When Timmy records himself on the tape recorder he says, "A monster is stirring, it needs to get out, it needs relief." But when the rest of the gang watch the tape later, what he says and how he says it is different. It changes to "I hear something stirring. I think it's gonna need relief."

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Quotes

Pop: That judge in the orange skirt... Make yer pee pee harder than a ten pound bag a' nickel jawbreakers, you know what I mean?

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Alternate Versions

Despite the Anchor Bay DVD box claiming the film is uncut and uncensored, the DVD release is actually the censored "R" rated version. According to the director's commentary, the following scenes were cut to achieve an "R" rating:

• The "dream" sex scenes were trimmed.
• The shears killing was trimmed so that we only briefly see the shears getting rammed into the back of the girl's head.
• Due to time restrictions, a scene near the beginning of the van breaking down was deleted.
• Also, the ambulance attendant tells Alison to "calm down" at the end. This line was cut because according to the director, it sounded bad.

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Connections

Referenced in Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)

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Soundtracks

Life of Crime
Performed by Sounds of Suksexx

User Reviews

Blood sprayed cheerleader spirit.

Give me a F, give me a U, give me a N. Yes… FUN. Nothing more. Nothing less. Senseless, over-the-top, but fun. Probably too much fun? In its investment for energy, it really did play up the textbook gags and fooling around for the majority of the time. Teenagers will always be teenagers --- well what else would you do at Camp Hurrah. Anyhow the straight-to-video "Cheerleader Camp" is a low-budget b-grade late 80s slasher / sex comedy item opting for numerous semi-nude shots (especially when you got the likes of Teri Weigel and Krista Pflanzer in the cast), tacky blood splatter and a very tongue-cheek-approach to its traditional material. In which case much needed, because some of the cheesy dialogues can be eye-rolling and it stars a former teen idol Leif Garrett. The style is similar to other such campy slashers within the same period; "Return to Horror High" (1987) and "Cutting Class" (1989). The plot enters in a protagonist with a traumatically stressful mind, throws around typical red herrings (memorably enjoyable character turns by George 'Buck' Flowers and Vickie Benson), suspiciously telegraphed activities, absurd occurrences (like those odd dream sequences) and a silly revelation going on to a twisted ending. Everything feels purposely blatant. Director John Quinn's execution might be lumpy, but it's breezily paced and enthusiastically captured. Also the camera-work achieves some inventive angles, especially early on. The always enviable Besty Russell heads the cult cast with Lucinda Dickey (spending a bit time in a costume), Rebecca Ferratti, Travis McKenna and a delightful Lorie Griffin.