On the one hand, it is a pity that this movie has the make-up of a teen movie. Because it is at times, cleverly written, and well acted, with un-mainstream kind of takes. And the teen-flic make-up sets it up for thrashing by the peeps who don't take the time to watch this one a tat more closely. But F- them. This one should have had the following of a Rushmore Academy. One of the nice things about it, is that whenever it threatens to become a cliché, i.e. whenever one of the characters uses one of those cliché lines, it is immediately followed by an cliché exposing line! This is kinda refreshing. For example Swain says something that would be sold to us as a "Deep-And-Meaningful-Possibly-Oscar-Winning-Moment"- in ANY other teen-flic, and follows that up with a heartfelt 'I can't believe I just said that!' I apologize for not giving a better example of this. I'd have to watch it again to do so.More interestingly, I think it is the first time that I saw a 12 year old gay character in an American movie? Okay, so it wasn't explored very much, and was made explicit only at the end, but give the man credit for bringing it up in the first place. I'm sure the actor was 16, okay maybe 14, but he looked 12 at least. And the whole lesbian thing, it was nice to look at but not exploitive and left pleasantly unsolved. As were the romance(s). No clear-cut happy-ever-afters for these guys. It's like Coupling in that it tries to make interesting observations about the bizarre nature of female and male behaviour, in groups and opposite each other. And the seven voice-overs, yeah, maybe a bit annoying and the Indie-Powers-That-Be have declared that it is Foul and Trite to use voice-over, (but not Oscar nominated Danish top director Lars von Trier [ uk.imdb.com/name/nm0001885/ ] for example), BUT it is new, and it really tries to paint the story from different angles. Not Rashomon by a long shot of course, but still, it's way better than genre flics like 'She's all that' and '10 things I hate about you.'Actually, there's no comparison, the only thing they have in common with _Happy Campers_ is that the character are young teens. Period. Ultimately, this is about loss and coming of age, and the fact that some of us do have a great time at camp. And some us ... don't, not at all, no way José.There are some profound lines and insights. And also some nice quotes: On the first menstruation of a girl: "That was not a period, but an exclamation mark!" ...... New to me, anyways.

Happy Campers has to be in my top ten and probably right at the top! I don't know what it is, but it really is one of life's good movies. To me anyway, to everyone else its utter nonsense! It has even inspired me to fly to America when I'm old enough and be a camp counselor!! I love the soundtrack, and if anyone knows how I can get hold of the song titles on the movie, (so far I've failed!) please email me a website or song titles and artists; anything would help!!! Wichita & Wendy: their flourishing romance, Pixel's floopiness and hot fashion, all the counsellors and their completely opposite personalities and backgrounds...and of course all the happy campers. Each scene brings out a new idea, a new perspective that leads to the end result. And listen to what they say - its so true. Their philosophy and story telling is blissfully blunt and simple. I Anyway, 10/10!!! See it!!! And if you have, watch it again!!! God knows I have!!!

Daniel Waters guaranteed himself a place in cinema history with his debut screenplay "Heathers", one of the sharpest, blackest and downright original films of the second half of the eighties. Yet in the meantime he has seemingly enjoyed his well-paid limbo in hackville, churning out scripts ranging from the what-was-he-thinking (yes "Hudson Hawk", we mean you) to the sublime (the second and best installment in the Batman franchise). Thus the phrase "Daniel Waters' directorial debut" immediately raises expectations, will it be a twisted and perverted return to his "Heathers" world view? The answer is yes.The premise is as warped as one would expect - a black, and I mean black, satire on the banal summer camp genre, using it as a metaphor for the point in our lives when, as teenagers, our childhood innocence gives way to the disappointments and tribulation of adulthood. If this sounds pretentious that's because it is, wildly so, but one has to give Waters some credit for not simply churning out a "Heathers" clone ("Jawbreaker" did us that favor). And while the characters are nowhere near as nihilistic as in that film (more so they are skewered stereotypes), the film does, particularly in the second half, move into bleak territory. The film's primary saving grace, besides a typically biting screenplay from Waters, is his outstanding casting, notably Stormare, Swain, Renfro and, particularly, the underused Bergl, all of whom deliver fine performances but struggle with the main flaw in Waters' script, none of the characters are very likable. It's not a great film, in fact it is a very flawed one, but it is never anything but ambitious and frequently very funny. It also makes an interesting double bill with "Wet Hot American Summer", another off-the-wall satire on the genre released the same year. Let's just hope we don't have to wait so long for his next film.

This was not the most original movie I've ever seen. I found there to be few laughs. There were several times when I simply stopped the tape, did something else and came back to it because it couldn't hold my interest. If you're interested in seeing a summer camp movie, check out Wet Hot American Summer.