Camp Beaverlake (Arrow) Review

Distributor: Arrow Edition Details: Collector's Edition DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic, Feature Film, Barely Legal Also known as: Camp Beaverlake, Camp Beaver Lake: The Movie, Camp Beaver Lake Run Time: 87 minutes Rated: XXX Release Year: 1984 Director: Bobby Hollander Written by: Bobby Hollander Cast: Crystal Breeze, Tracy Duzit, Heather Thomas, Fawn Paris, Mindy Rae, Paul Thomas, Billy Dee, Kathlyn Moore (as Sher De Knight), April Grant, Gypsy Marr, Jeff Scott, Jessica Hunter, Beverly Bliss, Steve Powers, Renee Tiffany (as Renee' Tiffany), Severa Lee, Jay Serling (as Jay Sterling), Mike Michael, Kelly Stewart (as Brandi Alexander), Kelly Wild Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

In 1984 the adult industry was still producing adult films made with film and adult movies made on video. Camp Beaverlake: The Movie is of the latter. Sadly, Camp Beaverlake: The Movie is a casualty of the video era in all possible ways. The movie opens with a montage of random south California footage mixed with some footage from the movie with an annoying as hell, grating on your inner soul, life sucking theme song. From this opening it is clear that Camp Beaverlake: The Movie is a cheaply done adult movie and that it is a major departure from what the adult material had been producing on film recently.

There is no real plot to Camp Beaverlake: The Movie at all. Basically, a bunch of sexual encounters, at a summer camp are visually shown with some filler footage that has no real plot to it. While there is dialog for the movie, much of it appears to have been improvised while shooting. What is written is lazy. All of the camp counselors are called uncle. Despite showing off some wet t-shirt footage, the non-sex footage quickly becomes fast forward fodder.

The technical aspects to the movie are poor. The movie was poorly shot. Gone are the thought out and well framed shots. Quite often the framing is so bad you want to move the camera yourself to fix what you are seeing. The camp is someone's pool and backyard. At no time do you actually get the feeling that you are seeing the activities at a summer camp.

Since Hollander has basically reduced Camp Beaverlake: The Movie to an all sex movie with some filler footage, at least the sex should be good. Hollander is a veteran of the adult industry, going back to when he was an actor in loops before taking over directing films, yes actual adult films, himself. Even the sex scenes come across as lazy and uninspired as well as being as poorly shot as the rest of the movie.

The end result is a movie that looks like it was a feature movie, that had all of the feature ripped out, and the outtakes left intact within the movie. The sex is okay, but not amazing and most of the filler material gets old fast. And the theme song is really, really, horrible. There is no real point in trying to see, or own, this movie.

Arrow's release of Camp Beaverlake: The Movie is as disappointing as the movie itself. Camp Beaverlake: The Movie is presented in the full screen aspect ratio. Since Camp Beaverlake: The Movie was shot on video tape it has been mastered from a video tape master. However, the video tape master used is in horrific shape. There is a lack of definition to the picture. In some places the colors are over saturated and in other places the colors are under saturated. Some scenes are so murky you can barely make out any detail at all. There are frequent glitches in the video. The bit rate is too low in places. There is also purple and green colored bands across the top of the screen in some places. The video presentation is sure to disappoint everyone.

Camp Beaverlake: The Movie is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural track. The audio is in better shape than the video but it is not stellar either. The audio track contains a hiss throughout but is listenable. The dialog is clear and can be easily understood.

Arrow hasn't included any extras on this release at all.

Camp Beaverlake: The Movie is a great example of everything that went wrong in the video tape era. Camp Beaverlake: The Movie is an early shot on video movie that has already tossed away everything from when adult films were shot on film. There is no real plot and much of what of present appears to be improvised. The movie is poorly shot and, despite Bobby Hollander coming from when adult films were shot on film, comes across as looking very amateur. Arrow has done a poor job with this release utilizing a horrible video master and including no extras.

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