Back home

Campfire Tales

105 votes

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

Status: Released

Released Date: 1997-02-28

Runtime: 88 mins

Director: Matt Cooper, Martin Kunert, David Semel

Spoken language: English

Genres: Horror

Original title: Campfire Tales

Production Companies: Campfire LLC

Production Countries: United States of America

Cast

Eddie (segment "The Hook")

James Marsden

Cliff (segment "The Campfire")

Jay R. Ferguson

Lauren (segment "The Campfire")

Christine Taylor

Eric (segment "The Campfire")

Christopher Masterson

Alex (segment "The Campfire")

Kim Murphy

Rick (segment "The Honeymoon") / RV Driver (segment "The Campfire")

Ron Livingston

Valerie (segment "The Honeymoon") / RV Passenger (segment "The Campfire")

Jennifer MacDonald

Cole (segment "The Honeymoon")

Hawthorne James

Amanda (segment "People Can Lick Too")

Alex McKenna

Katherine (segment "People Can Lick Too")

Devon Odessa

'Jessica' / Internet Man (segment "People Can Lick Too")

Jonathan Fuller

Scott Anderson (segment "The Locket") / Paramedic #1 (segment "The Campfire")

Glenn Quinn

Heather Wallace (segment "The Locket")

Jacinda Barrett

Jenny (segment "The Hook")

Amy Smart

Reviews

John Chard

Anthological Urban Legend Blast! 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

2015-10-31

Recommendations

3.2

Dead Silence

2007-03-16

Jamie returns to his hometown in search of answers to his wife's murder, which occurred after receiv

2.2

Soul Survivors

2001-09-06

A college freshman involved in a fatal car crash discovers she may not have survived after all when

2.4

Grindsploitation 4: Meltsploitation

2018-05-01

Grindsploitation 4 is going to be nastier than ever, more shocking, more gore, more blood. Killer fa

The Hitcher

2007-01-19

While driving through the New Mexico Desert during a rainy night, college students Jim Halsey and hi

Blinder Himmel

2020-08-23

Teri Meri Kahaniyaan

2023-06-29

An amazing and never-before-seen on-screen cast. And, the people's favorite husband-wife duo, Hira a

1.8

Twisted Tales

1994-01-04

Horror anthology that takes on three stories. The first one entitled "Nothing But The Truth" deals w

Scorned

2010-06-15

BETH, hitchhiking cross country on a lonely highway, is offered a much needed ride from SAM. Along t

3.1

Gothika

2003-11-21

After a car crash, criminal psychologist Dr. Miranda Grey regains consciousness only to find that sh

Broadcast Dekinai Forbidden Spirit Video

2014-05-03

A collection of psychic videos that collects broadcast-prohibited levels. "Housewife who couldn't pr

2.9

The Prophecy 3: The Ascent

2000-03-14

The conclusion to The Prophecy Trilogy. Once again, Christopher Walken returns as the Arch-Angel Gab

Trash Arts Killers

2018-01-26

An independent horror anthology with segments by some of the most twisted minds in the U.K.'s indepe

2.4

The Sleep Experiment

2022-11-01

Two detectives begin an investigation into a disastrous secret military experiment where five prison

2.3

Tales of Poe

2014-01-01

Based on the classic works of Edgar Allan Poe, directors Bart Mastronardi & Alan Rowe Kelly have

3.2

Final Destination 2

2003-01-31

When Kimberly has a violent premonition of a highway pileup she blocks the freeway, keeping a few ot

Trash Arts Killers: Volume Two

2019-05-17

A sequel to "Trash Arts Killers", containing more twisted genre shorts from independent U.K. creativ

Trash Arts Killers: Volume Three

2022-10-19

The third instalment in the "Trash Arts Killers" series, once again delivering more short bursts of

V.P.

2023-08-05

A podcaster investigates the urban legend of an amateur porn video that drives its viewers to madnes

2.5

Scarecrow

2013-10-05

For generations, it was an urban legend that lived in the nightmares of children. Now, the season to

2.6

The Boneyard Collection

2008-01-01

A quirky anthology, consisting of four separate short films connected by host segments. The first on