Director: Daniel DelPurgatorio
Year: 2025
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Mad Doctor
Plot:
Heading to a children’s summer camp, a teen tries to overcome his shyness and make friends for the summer, which is soon interrupted when a series of incidents around the camp suggest something unnerving is happening, hinting at a deadly presence at the camp.
Review:
This was a pretty solid if somewhat problematic effort. One of the better elements within this one comes from the rather strong setup that places a lot of importance on becoming self-reliant and more outgoing while spending time there. As we get an early glimpse into his life that paints him as the stereotypical shy and meek guy who has little interest in sports or outdoor activities, barely talks to anyone, and has no friends to hang out with who gets sent to the summer camp hoping to break him out of his shell, it sets him up quite early on. The fact that he spends the first few days there slowly changing that, other than the bullying that occurs on the first day at swimming practice, he soon becomes friends with the other girl because they like to read while hanging out with the other, similar guys at the camp who are just as bullied and picked on as a friend group.
That allows him to help develop his voice during the elements on the outer edges of the story where things are happening at the summer camp that just feel off. Starting shortly after the traditional reciting of a summer camp legend about a mad doctor who lived in the area, it soon becomes apparent that something is off with pranks including throwing people into the lake knowing they can’t swim so they almost drown, being repeatedly beaten to the point that it’s beyond defensive tactics, or the constant dreams of the doctor at the heart of the camp legend who may or may not be real all brings about the kind of intriguing setup that comes to pass in the later half. With the killer coming to life and going on a massive rampage across the camp, using his cattle prod on everyone he comes across and chasing the stragglers across everyone, which has some shocking revelations brought about alongside the standout action involved. These are all that really hold it up.
There are some factors here that keep it back. The main drawback to be had here is the whole purpose and concept of the summer camp in place here, which is one of the stupidest and most lackluster purposes behind the camp possible, simply for the excuse of not guessing what’s going on. The whole reason for the camp and why it exists is simply moronic and comes about with a bizarre twist that comes across as incredibly confusing for how it all works, especially with there being so little time with it that it never has time to properly develop. This is all done due to the wholly off-kilter structure, where it takes quite a long time until that point to get to the point of the film that matters, since that’s where all of the action comes from, as everything else is based on the character build-up that goes on, so it doesn’t have the time to properly explore this. These factors are what end up bringing it down the most.
Overview: ***/5
A watchable enough if somewhat problematic effort, there’s a lot to like with this one that holds it up over a series of issues that manage to hold it back from what it could’ve been. Those with an interest in this particular style of genre effort or who are curious about it will have the most to like here, while most others out there might want to heed caution.
Comments
Post a Comment