User reviews

Definitely not only for urban legend aficionados, Campfire Tales is an often scary and always fun ride through several popular stories. It is also a film that exceeded the (low) expectations I had. A horror film I had never heard or read about, a straight-to-video release (granted, the latter often presents us with a pleasant surprise, but with horror films nowadays it can be all or nothing), a cast of mostly unknowns... well, I'll leave the math to you.

The film proves to be an entertaining, suspenseful and overall very enjoyable experience. The four stories are well-paced and satisfying. The only one I felt was a little weaker was "The Locket", for the simple reason that it offers almost no explanation for its plot or the characters' actions; however, I still loved the tale, its atmosphere and ending. My favorite one was the third story, "People Can Lick Too" - the suspense in it is not only palpable, but also educational.

I found Campfire Tales to be one of those horror gems one discovers by chance, and then goes on recommending it to everyone.

7/10

Good (not great) little horror film with a high "creep" factor (not to be confused with a 1991 movie by the same name, or the more recent (2001) Campfire STORIES). Central tale of stranded teens telling ghost stories around a campfire in spooky woods nicely leads into, and ties together the different stories that make up the bulk of the movie (Watch for Ron Livingston (Office Space, Band of Brothers) and Jennifer MacDonald in a spirited, sexy segment ("The Honeymoon")). Solid acting and a few truly "scary" moments make this an above-average chiller. Good example of interesting story line, coupled with quality ensemble acting resulting in a whole greater than the sum of its parts. "Surprise" ending of the main story adds nice creepy twist, although some may see it coming. Movie is not available on DVD, but can be found on VHS.

This is a gem of a movie I discovered by accident. It is a nice anthology horror film which contains four stories rolled into one. There is graphic sex which is a little distracting, though. If you like this one you should check out "After Midnight".

The Honeymoon.

The first segment is based on a different version of The Hook. It's somewhat similar to the urban legend, with a couple going to an isolated area with an unknown killer lurking around. One thing they added is a random local man who appears and tells them a creepy short story that gives off an unsettling vibe. The segment does a good job build up the tension to it and is somewhat suspenseful. The scene with the killer is terrorizing. Valerie is creepy, but the noises it makes are pretty stupid. The ending of the segment is similar to the urban legend. Overall, it's a decent one to start off with.

People Can Lick Too.

The second segment is somewhat similar to the urban legend itself. It goes through a decent pace and is built up pretty well. The scene with the chat room is disturbing because it revealed that the girl whom Amanda is talking to is an online predator posing as a young girl. Unfortunately, the two characters in the segment both sisters aren't that likable at all because both of them are bratty characters. The segment has pretty good tension with the predator stalking Amanda in the bushes, entering her house, and the garage scene. The ending is really similar to the urban legend itself. Overall, just like the previous segment, this is a decent one.

The Locket.

I don't know what urban legend this segment is based on, but it's about a young man who enters a farmhouse with a mute woman who lives there. Just like the previous segment, this one is built up nicely, and it is interesting to watch this. I think the character enters a place that is a time loop with an incident that repeats over and over again. It does build tension to it and is chilling on how it's executed. The ending itself is strange but interesting on the twist of it. Overall, another good segment.

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")

I remember seeing this movie late night on Showtime or Cinemax back in the late 90's. I thought it would be one of those low budget late night movies that are usually shown really late at night but I was surprised at how creepy and scary this movie actually was, now it's not the greatest horror movie of all time but it's very entertaining and creepy with a nice twist at the end.

Campfire Tales is a sectioned movie about a crashed vehicle's 4 inhabitants recounting horror tales. These tales are old recycled tales with an attempted new generation twist. This is not a movie that had really any good merits and nothing worth remembering yet is flowed well and was by no means a bad movie. An unknown group of actors did a great job in their individual roles (for the most part). However to say that they are modern day twists on old stories is an over exaggeration. Though none of the re imaginings were bad, the shortened time allowed them and comparison to many great horror remakes in the last decade render these attempts dull and inept. The production value was average but indicative of its time, and the sound was mediocre. I have almost no complements for the movie and no parts were memorable yet it flowed well and kept your attention by switching the story. This prevented deep character development and story intricacy but i don't think that was the goal of this brand of horror movie. I feel bad giving it a 4 because it was not that bad of a movie, but it failed to impress me and if you're not using original material than i set the bar a higher.

The horror anthology movie has been a popular source of enjoyment for horror fans for a number of decades. As is pretty much always the case, the quality of each segment of the films varies - and this always will be the case. Case in point Campfire Tales.

Something of a little treat for those inclined, this offers up four main stories and a wraparound device which involves four teenagers telling the tales around a campfire after their car has crashed. In my own anthology experiences, the main stories have tended to improve in quality as each story plays out, Campfire Tales is different, it opens weakly - has two great stories in the middle - and then closes on a damp boring squib. leading into the big - if unsurprising - reveal at films end.

The poster for the film puts Amy Smart and James Marsden up at the front, which is a bum steer given that their screen time is not massive. Their story, "The Hook", opens the film and it's poor, devoid of scares and tension, and it obviously gears itself up for a chilling reveal but it ends up more funny (even baffling) than creepy.

"The Honeymoon" is up next and things significantly improve. Based on one of the most famous of urban legends, this finds a young couple of honeymooners stranded out in the woods when their camper van runs out of petrol. Choices are made, menacing terror begins, which all leads to a genuinely shocking finale.

Next up is "People Can Lick Too", which finds a young girl home alone and stalked by a paedophile she met on line. The whole episode has a sinister eeriness to it, with some reveals sending chills down the spine. The ending is heart stopping and blood curdling.

The last segment is "The Locket", which is well acted but ultimately more wistful and ethereal than anything scary or unnerving. Though the denouement is sure to appeal to many. Nice musical score here as well. And on to the reveal, straight out of The Twilight Zone and from any number of films of the same ilk. Great fun even if not all the stories knock it out of the park. 7.5/10

Okay, "pretty good" doesn't scream rent me but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Campfire Tales. While by no means a classic the directors involved do have an idea what suspense is. The scares don't just jump out at you but instead the directors build steadily to the climatic moments. The film is based upon popular urban legends and ghost stories. The writers have updated the tales rather well and twisted them just enough that the familiar endings still pack a punch. The best of the shorts are "The Honeymoon" and "People Can Lick Too", I enjoyed both as they have nice suspense throughout each story. "The Locket" was a good ghost story and the wrap around "The Campfire" is pretty good too except they go for one too many twists at the end. The only disappointing segment is "The Hook" which is fine because it's pretty short anyway. Overall I give this a 7 out of 10. It has suspense, which is lacking from most horror movies today, and good acting by the cast. It may not rate up there with Halloween and The Exorcist but it's a good little movie well worth the price of a rental.

Overall I'd call this a disappointing performance. It attempts the old "Horror Anthology" approach, but fails miserably. The acting was bad, and so were the stories. Any skin shown in the movie was obviously random, just to attract the R-rating for sex. Typical, I guess, but bad nonetheless. Take your $5 and rent a REAL movie instead!

Sporting surprisingly high production values and a cast full of familiar faces, the horror anthology "Campfire Tales" will keep genre fans mildly amused.

Why only mildly amused? Well, the cast isn't the only familiar thing about this movie. Most eek freaks have already heard variations of the film's stories around campfires of their own. To wit, the opening segment (starring James Marsden and Amy Smart) is a quick retread of "The Hook" urban legend.

The three main tales, told by a group of teenagers (including Christine Taylor and Christopher Masterson) get progressively better. Ron Livingston turns up in an acceptable bit about terrorized honeymooners, followed by a rather creepy cautionary tale of an Internet predator. Finally, the always effectual Glenn Quinn plays a stranded biker who falls for a mute, mysterious girl (Jacinda Barrett) in the film's best segment.

Of course, it's those storytelling kids who suffer the nastiest twist of all.

The film's end title music, a slightly retooled version of "The Monster Mash" is weirdly fitting. Though entertaining, "Campfire Tales" is nothing new.

I decided to watch this on FearNet on demand for free because I figured well, nothing else looks enjoyable. And it turned out to be quite a good little horror surprise! The film serves as an anthology of four urban legends told from the point of view of four teenagers whose car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. After they decide to build a campfire in the woods, they begin to tell their spooky stories and the movie transitions to the events in the stories.

The Honeymoon- a newlywed couple traveling cross country in an RV to Las Vegas is terrorized when they park in a wooded area by evil beings that hunt by the full moon. (I won't spoil that for you!) The Hook- Amy Smart and James Marsden, (probably the most famous people in the movie besides beautiful Christine Taylor) play the young couple who come face to face with the maniac that has a hook for a hand in this most recognizable short.

People can Lick Too- this is probably the scariest and most dark of the stories. A young girl chats with another girl on the internet, but it turns out that it's actually a man who is obsessed with her and he proceeds to break into the house when she's alone. This was really chilling.

The Locket- This is also a great story with Glen Quinn and Jacinda Barrett, who play a motorcyclist and a beautiful mute girl who are terrorized by ghosts from a previous century in a mysterious farm house. This was good but it was the weakest of the entries.

The group around the campfire slowly develop their own terrifying experience in their segments between stories, and the end of this movie is surprising and really awesome! Overall this is not bone-chillingly scary but it's certainly a great little guilty pleasure that horror fans alike would definitely find worthwhile!

Campfire Tales really gave me the creeps. Even though it wasn't a great movie, it was very scary. I was almost hiding under a cover! This movie is chilling, suprising, and a strange tale of horror. I enjoyed it, but it scared the crap out of me! Not all that great, but pretty scary! You should rent it. It is so scary! I give this movie a B.

Group of yuppie kids crash their car and decide to tell a bunch of stories everyone has already heard. Yeah, I know they are Urban Legends, but it wins no prizes for originality. It has a twist at the end that you didn't see coming, but the twist is boring and in no way adds to the quality of the film. Surprisingly, Urban Legends came out one year later which deals with them far better. If there is one redeeming factor in this movie it is Christine Taylor, who is very attractive, but if you really want to see her, you would be better off with Brady Bunch!

'Campfire Tales' is an enjoyable horror anthology film which features three pretty good stories. It's wraparound story involves four teenagers driving back home after a concert. They get into a car accident, and are forced to huddle in the woods. A campfire is built and that's when the stories are told. The first is about a newly-wed couple driving to Las Vegas, but decide to take the back roads to get there. Their RV is stalled in the middle of the woods and both are eventually attacked by some creature lurking in the dark. Creepy little tale. The next one is way more realistic, it involves an 11 year old girl who chats online with who she thinks is a girl her age. The person is actually a paedophile, and he stalks her one night when she's home alone. Very well done The final story is a ghost tale involving murder and ends with a twist. Another creepy entry!

The wraparound story with the four teens is also well put together and ends on a but of a shocking note. The first time I watched it, I had no clue that would happen. 'Campfire Tales' has an 'Urban Legend' feel to it. All of the stories actually involve well known urban legends, but I can't go further without giving away massive spoilers. The acting was well done from everyone involved, but the goods of this movie are the stories they tell. The first story about the creature in the woods was really scary and you felt for the couple. And that second story with the little girl was very realistic, not to mention there were some tense moments when the guy goes into her house. The third story had an eerie feel to it, but I only wish it was longer. A few question marks left on that one.

Overall, I'd recommend 'Campfire Tales' to everyone! It was a creepy little horror anthology film that tells genuinely scary stories.

7/10

Four teenagers are coming from a concert. They're driving recklessly down a dark winding road. The car crashes and they all stumble out. While waiting for help they start telling ghost stories. The first-- called "RV"-has a newly wed couple confronted by monsters. "People Can Lick Too" has an 11 year old girl being menaced by a pedophile. "The Locket" has a young man meeting a beautiful, mute woman in an old farmhouse. Then it cuts back to the four kids. It seems help has arrived...but not what they expected.

All four of the tales are based on urban legends--in part or in whole. This, unfortunately, makes it kind of a chore to watch if you know all the legends and how they end. Still this isn't a total washout. All the segments are well-directed, it has top production values and the acting is not bad across the board. It's also fun to see James Marsden, Christine Taylor and Amy Smart in small roles before they hit it big. Also Glenn Quinn (who sadly ODd a number of years ago) headlines one segment. So the movie was (for me) ridiculously predictable...but the direction, production and acting kept me interested. Worth a look. Much better than the "Urban Legends" movies. I give it a 6.

Okay, so the movie went straight to video. If I had paid to see this, I would've been disappointed. But, at 2 am in the morning, alone at night, it's a pretty good fright! (hey, that rhymes!)

After the success of Scream, everyone and their mother seemed to want to make some hip slasher movie with a cast of semi-familiar TV faces. In that sense, Campfire Tales fits that formula, but the stories themselves are far from the winking, slash-happy Scream successors.

A car load of teens has an accident and spend their time telling creepy stories to each other as they wait to be rescued. The first story tells the classic urban legend of the couple who park where they shouldn't and a grim surprise awaits them in the morning. The second is a disturbing variation of the "people can lick, too" urban legend about a dog who fails to protect a little girl from danger. The final installment centers on a biker who falls for a mysterious young woman with a dangerous daddy.

Each story is told with a fairly straight face and the second story really brings the chills. The final twist ending is painfully predictable, but all three stories are so solid that you probably won't mind much.

Campfire Tales was unfairly neglected upon release and I hope a wider audience will get to experience it at some point.

People on this website don't know how to comment what are you talking about this movie sucks such stupid stories where did they come up with this crap it's not scary or strange there are better stranger film with stranger stories in them to tell i mean look at this movie it sucks horrible direction and script just bad movie story is a piece of trash this is a bad movie and there's all there is to it you commentators have lost your mind you didn't look at this movie closely bad acting every bad element a movie can have this movie has it anyone wants to look at this movie and find a true bad meaning in it watch this movie the worst movie watching or going experience this movie is the perfect movie i mean what the hell is this