One of the time-honored tropes of horror movies is the spooky camping trip. This trope perfectly embodies Isaiah Russell’s first feature-length film, Camp Night. This version of the camping trip gone wrong finds Rodney (Lonnie Davis) looking to celebrate a big promotion at work with his boss Josh (Gavin Zybnski) and four of his friends. His posse is Cam (Kareen Noble), Cam’s sister Toy (Heaven Williams), Fats (Lawrence Mead), and Rodney’s fiancée Sabrina (Tyra Renee). Loath though Rodney’s crew is to actually go rough it in the woods, he cajoles them to do so.
A few racist scrapes along the road trip downstate to Southern Illinois, Rodney and his friends start off the camping trip with a most agreeable cookout. Later at the bonfire, Josh’s brother Todd (Eric Tyler Jacobson) tells the ghost story of Annie Mae (Anniah Davis). Annie Mae is the ghost of a witch who was burned in that small town in Southern Illinois. Every year on this date, Todd informs the campers that Annie Mae comes to wreak her vengeance in those particular woods. Since Josh and Todd are ghost enthusiasts, they always pick haunted wilderness for the annual camping trip. In Camp Night, that tradition will prove a deadly decision.
“Every year on this date, Todd informs the campers, Annie Mae comes to wreak her vengeance in that particular woods.”
Camp Night is a solid first film. Isaiah Russell has a clear and clean eye for action. All the movements are deliberate, and it’s clear who’s committing what atrocity to whom. I very much appreciated the static cam on a tripod. This form of cinematography allows action to be easily tracked by the human eye. An invaluable key to determining whether or not the kills were good. By and large, Annie Mae is a stone-cold killer, and her murders of the campers are awesome. Anniah Davis deserves special mention. She’s portraying Annie Mae with special lenses that imbue her eyes with a solid light effect. It cannot be easy to see through those devices. Yet, she nails the slaying. It’s as elegant as stabbing with sharpened sticks and branches allows.
There are next to no visual effects in Camp Night, being a film made for approximately 50 thousand dollars. What effects exist are used to highlight the ethereal nature of Annie Mae. And it is very effective. That is one of the spookiest witches to grace a low-budget horror film these eyes have borne witness to.
Camp Night works on the strength of the acting, and in that regard, the ensemble is solid. The actors who comprise Rodney’s crew of friends are a credible distillation of the personalities you meet in an urban black neighborhood. These are the sorts of people you would find living and working in South Chicago. They are urbane, and they have a real reluctance to leave the comfort of their neighborhood. Anywhere that’s not South Chicago, these five will not function at peak performance. An idea which is conveyed very well once Annie Mae attacks.
If you like camping horror, Camp Night is a solid entry. It’s a great hack-and-slash flick. Seek it out if you enjoy that genre of horror.
For screening information, visit the Camp Night official website.
"…a great hack and slash flick..."
