Top 10 Best Summer Camp Horror Movies

WatchMojo

Gather 'round the campfire...but beware! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most memorable and popular horror movies set in youth camps, particularly summer camp.

Transcript

00:00Jason was my son, and today is his birthday.

00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most memorable and

00:10popular horror movies set in youth camps, particularly Summer Camp.

00:14I know what's going to go down at this camp, and it's not pretty.

00:20Number 10.

00:21Fear Street Part II, 1978 Possession, Serial Killers, Summer Camp?

00:27Oh my.

00:28This movie has it all.

00:35In 1978, Ziggy and her friends accidentally set in motion events hundreds of years in

00:41the making.

00:50With dynamic performances by Sadie Sink and Emily Rudd, this movie is a standout in the

00:55Fear Street trilogy.

00:56There's truly something for everyone.

00:58If you're a boomer, you'll get nostalgic for the 70s setting.

01:01If you're a millennial, you'll get nostalgic for the R.L.

01:04Stein of it.

01:05It also pays homage to classic slashers, making it an instant classic itself.

01:19Number 9.

01:20Summer Camp.

01:27This one is kind of a cross between Cabin Fever and a zombie flick.

01:30At Summer Camp, rather than your usual slasher, the counselors at this camp are afflicted

01:34with a deadly virus that turns its victims into zombie-like creatures.

01:43While putting a new spin on the Summer Camp horror flick, it also calls back to some classic

01:47horror movie tropes.

01:49How about no phone service?

01:51The line is sketchy and calls aren't going to save anybody.

01:54Then there's the no way out.

01:55They are all trapped in the setting.

01:57And of course, there's the bad thing that ends up inciting the entire plot.

02:01A character getting bitten by a seemingly rabid dog, and then acts like it's no biggie.

02:05Yeah, that bodes well.

02:13Number 8.

02:14Cheerleader Camp

02:15Like many mystery whodunit flicks, but unlike quite a few slasher flicks, in this one you

02:30don't know who the killer is from the get-go.

02:33If you're watching a movie in the very famous slasher franchises, you are, well, usually

02:38– more on that later – in the know that the killer is, say, Michael, Freddy, or Jason.

02:43Here, at Cheerleader Camp, the suspense comes at the audience fast and furious.

02:53It's kind of an Agatha Christie meets Scream vibe.

02:56A slasher murder mystery complete with nightmares, double crosses, and lots of sexy time.

03:01So the fear not only comes from the deaths themselves, but from the uncertainty of who

03:04the bad guy is.

03:06The suspense will kill you.

03:08Are we right?

03:15Number 7.

03:16Mad Man This one essentially combines several big horror

03:19movie themes.

03:20It's a summer camp movie, an urban legend film, and a slasher flick all in one.

03:32While gathered around the campfire, a group of campers and counselors are telling scary

03:42stories.

03:43Max tells the story of Mad Man Mars, an urban legend who supposedly killed his family with

03:48an axe.

03:49Unbeknownst to Max, by telling the story, he summons, you guessed it, the Mad Man.

03:56Interestingly, though scarily enough, even though the tale of the Mad Man is a fictional

04:03urban legend for the movie, it is based on the New York legend of the Cropsey, who turned

04:08out to be a terrible and terrifying real-life killer.

04:21Number 6.

04:22They Them This isn't a typical summer camp film at

04:24all and deals with very contemporary themes.

04:28It takes place at an LGBTQIA plus conversion camp.

04:44As monstrously scary as the killer roaming around in the woods, of course there's a

04:48killer in the woods, are the tactics used by the camp in their conversion efforts.

04:53This includes subjecting campers to a variety of terrible, torturous treatments.

04:57And then, in addition to all that, is that aforementioned lurking masked killer, who

05:02is slowly killing off camp counselors and workers.

05:05That's a lot of horror all around.

05:19Number 5.

05:20The Burning

05:21We previously mentioned the Cropsey legend.

05:23This is another film loosely based on that legend that came out around the same time

05:27as our earlier selection, Mad Man.

05:29However, in this movie, the only connection to the original urban legend is the borrowed

05:33name of the villain and the fact that it takes place in New York.

05:50In this film, the caretaker of Camp Blackfoot is the victim of a vicious prank by the campers

05:55that leaves him horribly burned.

05:57He then takes out his revenge on future campers by going after them with pruning shears.

06:08The film is pretty brutal and also has some seriously impressive visual effects work for

06:13the time.

06:20Number 4.

06:21Stage Fright

06:33This movie is really interesting.

06:34It combines various genres to create a musical-slash-comedy-slash-horror extravaganza.

06:40emphasis on the slash.

06:56The campers at a theater camp are hunted by the Opera Ghost, a not-so-thinly-veiled reference

07:01to the Phantom of the Opera.

07:03As opening day approaches, the bodies pile up, and the show itself is an absolute bloodbath.

07:09But the audience thinks it's all part of the show.

07:16The songs are funny and well-written, and the over-the-top premise expertly rides the

07:20line between believable absurdity and unbelievable ridiculousness.

07:37Number 3.

07:38The Final Girls

07:39You want more tropey than pretty much any other homage film?

07:42Or even more meta than Scream?

07:44Well, then you might want to grab some popcorn and enjoy a viewing of The Final Girls.

07:57The title itself basically lets you know that the film isn't just leaning into the horror

08:01movie tropes, it's turning them up to eleven.

08:11Max and her group of friends find themselves trapped in the slasher film that her mother

08:15starred in back in the 80s, Camp Bloodbath.

08:18To survive the film, the group will have to use their knowledge of horror movie rules

08:22and tropes to outsmart the masked baddie.

08:30Number 2.

08:32Sleepaway Camp

08:42This one was commercially unsuccessful when it was first released, but it was definitely

08:46underrated.

08:47People seem to think it ripped off Friday the 13th, but hey, how can you not pay homage

08:51to the classic?

08:52But even though this movie didn't do well originally, it's grown a significant cult

08:57following over the years.

09:04Admittedly it is fairly similar in premise to Friday the 13th, but the deaths in this

09:09one are really creative, if equally brutal.

09:12And the mystery goes further than who the killer is.

09:15At first, the characters think they are just the victims of some crazy accidents.

09:19When they finally realize they are at the mercy of a killer, well, it's scary.

09:33Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified

09:37about our latest videos.

09:39You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.

09:42If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.

09:491.

09:50Friday the 13th

09:51Oh, did we mention Friday the 13th?

09:53You just can't beat the classics.

10:04This is the film that basically jumpstarted the overall summer camp slasher craze.

10:08While all the sequels focus on Jason Voorhees exacting his revenge on the residents of Camp

10:13Crystal Lake, this first one is essentially also a murder mystery.

10:17As the counselors take advantage of some alone time on the lake before the campers

10:21arrive, they are slowly taken out by an unknown killer.

10:34The mystery part of this first installment adds an extra element to the scare factor

10:38of this one.

10:39You try to figure out who the killer could be as the suspects get added to the body count.

10:43Hey, maybe they should make some sequels.

10:55What's your favorite summer camp horror movie?

10:58Let us know in the comments.

11:09Did you enjoy this video?

11:11Check out these other clips from WatchMojo, and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell

11:14to be notified about our latest videos.

Category

Transcript

Recommended