Going into 'Camp Blood 8: Revelations' I was cautiously optimistic. The 'Camp Blood' franchise is not exactly a bastion of quality, BUT! the last film 'It Kills: Camp Blood 7' while overly basic and a little mundane, was the first film in the series to just…make a killer clown movie that was technically proficient, didnt meander (too much) and felt like a legitimate attempt at a horror movie, and not just Sterling Entertainment kidnapping a freelance director, dropping him in the woods and telling him they wont pick him back up until he gives them a film thats AT LEAST 60 minutes long, has a killer clown in it, and at least one set of boobs…

So, going into this one, part of me was hopeful that they would take the sturdiness of the last film and build on it in a creative and productive way…But part of me was also fully anticipating (given the scattershot nature of this series) that it was just a flash in the pan, and that we'd be back to incoherent adventures in the woods AT BEST…

Well! Colour me pleasantly surprised, because 'Camp Blood 8: Revelations' is quite possibly the best film the franchise has managed to produce to date!…kind of.

The plot this time follows a Volleyball team, on the road to a big tournament when their car breaks down just inside the entrance of the fabled 'Camp Blood!' At first they try to call for help, but theres no signal, so the girls do what they think is best and split into 3 parties. two of the girls go one way, two girls go in another direction, and one stays behind with the car, just on the off chance that someone else passes by who might be able to help.

Little do they know that deep within the woods, a killer clown and his mother are expectantly waiting for their next victims…But this time, it's different, as the films twists and turns reveal that some of the girls now stuck in the woods MAY have ties to Camp Blood going back decades…and that the killer clown may have let himself in for more than he bargained for…

The absolute saving grace for this movie, the thing that fundamentally elevates it above the other films, is in and of itself its most contentious aspect. The director and writer Dennis Devine made the conscious decision to pivot the series away from being a straight 'Horror/Slasher' entry this time around, instead taking the film into 'Horror/Comedy' territory.

What this means in real terms is that, after 7 entries of mediocre and…frankly just downright awful (in my opinion) slasher movies. This entry is specifically written and directed from the perspective of highlighting just how crumbulent those entries were, while also taking pot shots at the slasher genre AND the kind of horror fans who make a point of trying to outsmart the writer. And, this is probably the most exciting development this series has had since its inception.

It means that, from a script perspective; we have an 80 (ish) minute long feature that feels self aware, is self referential in its humour, calls out elements of previous Camp Blood movies that were bad and emphasizes WHY they were bad. is a little ditzy and air headed at times, feels a little John Waters-esq in places but feels as if the writer is directly talking to folks like me, the kind of people who HAVE sat through all of these movies, and just…needed these films to develop a pulse.

Thats not to say this is a perfect script by any means, quite a few of the gags do fall a bit flat, for some reason they've decided to pull a couple of youtubers in to play roles in the film and they just…really dont land well with me. The dialogue dances a VERY fine line between 'self aware and witty' and 'cringy, badly delivered' or just plain poor. And, I feel the ending could be taken either as a solid subversion of what these films ALWAYS do. Or it could be seen as a bit of a lazy 'cop out' to not have to wrap the film up properly (Though I am still on the fence about exactly how I personally feel about it.)

The pacing is fairly consistent, though it does feel like its starting to run out of steam a little bit towards the end of the 2nd act, as things slow down and we get a LOT of scenes of the multiple splinters of our cast just…chatting about any old nonsense inanely (presumably to pad the runtime) Tonally; I cant really complain, I do wish they'd maybe leant just a *little* more into the drier self aware comedy side of things to help shore the comedy element up and more firmly plant it in 'Horror/Comedy' terratory. But as a parody attempt? I think its pretty solid.

The characters are all stereotypes of the genre, and to go one further, the script essentially acknowledges that, and trusts the audience to know thats the case, and in doing so it gives the film makers more of a chance to subvert the expectations of the genre…quite successfully I feel. Our core cast are a little thin on character development. they dont really get a whole lot to work with, but again, it feels almost like the films intentionally doing that as a play on these kinds of movies. I dont know if I fully trust that that was the directors intentions. But given what he does through the rest of this movie, I am willing to take it in good faith.

Which leads me to the biggest contention I have with this movie. Theres no doubt to me that this is very likely the best 'Camp Blood' script the franchise has seen to date. its solid as a rock, has a personality, and while it drags a little bit…in a franchise that gave us 'Camp Blood 4 and 5' the bar for this series was frankly in the toilet. But is it *really* a 'Camp Blood' script? can this be considered the best script of the franchise, if it is in fact a pseudo lampooning of the franchise? it would be like saying 'Friday the 13th' or 'unmasked Part 25' is the best film in the Friday the 13th franchise. like…yes, technically and irrefutably it IS a 'Camp Blood' film. but because it isnt in the 'spirit' of the 'Camp Blood' films, it isnt of this franchises 'Ilk' I dont feel entirely comfortable holding it up as an example of the best this franchise has to offer.

Its not seriously trying to be of the same genre the other films are. And because of that, I dont really know whether to overlook my feelings on it and consider this 'The Best Camp Blood' film, or whether to hold it in joint first with 'Within the woods' as the best subversion of a 'Camp Blood' film…I think my feelings on it will mature over time. But at this point, the juries out. I'll be honest, Im just happy its 99% competent.

To that end, theres no disputing the techncal aspects of this production, on a technical level, this is the best 'Camp Blood' film i've seen to date. The direction blends old school slasher tropes with elements of John Waters early filmography and more modern inspirations such as 'Happy Death Day'. Every shot feels carefully crafted to be the best it can possibly be, theres even some nice subtext hidden within the direction to help characters get a better understanding of the characters WELL before the script gives you the answers.

Its a visually pleasing piece with only a handful of missteps across the entire runtime, that shows a real care and attention to what Devine wanted to achieve with this. With my only gripe personally being those one or two missteps where an attempt to jazz up a scene was made and didnt quite land. and, in a situation that was kind of out of the productions control. The camera used to film this isnt exactly 'top of the line' its fine enough, but even with some half decent post work processing on the shots, theres a cheapness to the quality of the image that gives it a bit of a 'direct to Tubi' vibe…its 'Camp Blood 8' so I wasnt expecting 'The Odyssey' but it is a shame non the less.

The cine is the best the franchise has had to date. 'It Kills' was the best the franchise had to date up to that point because the shots were all largely focussed, there was attempts at more solid colour grading and sequences felt planned. This entry takes that and MASSIVELY ups the ante. It feels like this was meticulously planned from start to finish, with a clean and clear storyboard designed to show, not tell for the most part, composition is mixed to great, with the 'studio' footage looking especially wonderful as they utilized coloured gels, shadow work and decent chiaroscuro lighting to really help give the production a massive boost in quality.

Sequences feel largely carfully crafted, and while the title and credits sequences feel almost like an afterthought for how basic and 'default' they feel. the rest of the film practically pops to life with some decent day for night work, and the kind of shots that would convince anyone this was a series worth checking out. I genuinely loved the look of this film (for the most part)

Performance wise, we have probably this films biggest problem. The clear winner for me is Sally Mullins as the killer clowns mother 'Sheila'. Their relationship is an incestuous twist on Jason and Pamela Voorhees by way of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2'. Looking into Sallys IMDB, I see she does standup, and I feel like that really comes into its own here, her performance is flippant, deranged and the perfect balance of crazy to scary to help sell it. The rest of the cast really struggle to keep up with the kind of manic terror she brings to the film.

Pheobe Dollar as 'Dolly' is also pretty solid, bringing a dry and acidic performance to the film, as the plot develops she gets probably the most developmental piece of character work out of the rest of the cast. and she rises to meet the challenge well! I was quite dissapointed when she exited, as I felt her story could have been interesting. Though, I do appreciate the 'gag' they parted her with.

But from here things go down hill a bit. Rhei Liu as Ashley is our lead for most of this film, and shes fine. gives a relatively good performance, but doesnt really get much in the way of range to work with. She seems to struggle a bit with the more deadpan moments, and her physical acting is a bit lacklustre…But compared to the actors who've come before in this franchise? she's solid. the other girls range from 'fine' to 'not so fine' to just…kind of unmemorable, which is a shame. I feel like the script really needed 4 people rather than 5. But there were just a couple of moments where a 5th person was needed to make the plot make sense. So they had to cram a 5th person in exclusively for those 1-2 moments…and the end result is that theres always one girl in this who just…ends up with a gulf of about 10 minutes or more where nothing really happens with them. it feels like padding.

the rest of the supporting cast are just kind of poor. I think they got wind that this was more of a comedy production and then lent into 'hyuck hyuck' comedy, rather than the drier stuff that I feel this production needed. and its just awkward. It didnt feel good and did dampen my feelings on this film a bit.

And the scoring is…a little ostentatious…but actually pretty fitting. its a stocky sounding (barring the original compositions which have a punky edge that was VERY welcome honestly) but it fits the tone of the production and sounds totally unlike anything we've had up to this point. It was great. and barring one or two moments where the ADR track slipped a little bit causing a mismatch between the actors mouth movement and the audio. I had no issue with this. its probably the best sounding 'Camp Blood' movie made up to this point.

All in all? I actually really quite enjoyed 'Camp Blood 8: Revelations' and I feel a bit weird saying that. But I did! the scripts largely solid, the direction and cine is the best the franchise has seen to date, and the scoring is pretty solid too! in fact barring some slightly mixed performances, a few missed jokes and a bit of sagging in the back end (Which, even the best of us are guilty of that) its a very solid offering, which is surprising from Sterling.

This is probably the first 'Camp Blood' film I can see myself definitely revisiting again in future. and probably the only one to date that I can firmly recommend, as it helpfully is out of the existing continuity and can be viewed anytime.

But the sticking point with me still lingers. I cant honestly say this is a good reflection of what the 'Camp Blood' movies represent…so can I call it THE best Camp Blood Movie?!…I dont know. had it been a bit more straight cut horror, it absolutely would have. as it stands, its the best entry in the franchise. even if it isnt necessarily the best example of a Camp Blood movie…and I think thats a hell of an accolade.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/camp-blood-8-revelations/