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 | hiked skirt | bare breasts | cheerleader | 

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Taglines:

Competition was murder at Cheerleader Camp

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many of the extras were cheerleaders from Bakersfield High School.

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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

Alison Wentworth: DO IT HARDER! DO IT HARDER!

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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

Spoofed in Scary Movie (2000)

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Soundtracks

Cheerleading
Lyrics by Craig Piligian and Lucinda Dickey

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.

Details

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 October 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