slayrrr666 "Body Count" is a remarkably fun and enjoyable slasher.**SPOILERS**Years after a horrible tragedy, teens Tony, (Stefano Media) Sidney, (Andrew J. Lederer) Cissy, (Cynthia Thompson) Tracy, (Nancy Brilli) and Carol, (Luisa Maneri) decide to head for an abandoned campground where Sharon, (Elena Pompei) Scott, (Sven Kruegar) Dave Kelloway, (Bruce Penhall) have already arrived. Trying to have some fun together, they begin to hike through the woods and generally have a great time being together. When they start to disappear mysteriously, they initially take it as going off on their own accord. As more and more of the group wander off, they realize that something is wrong and blame a local legend about an ancient Indian Shaman that has cursed the land. Finally learning the truth about the killings around the camp, they band together to survive the night against the demented killer.The Good News: This was a surprisingly good slasher film. While not in any way original, this one manages to do several things right. One of the main ones is that it gets the slashing down quite expertly. The stalking scenes in here are just this side of brilliant and are very well-done. The stalking through the woods from the outhouse through the trees is a classic suspense angle, as the frantic search to get away from the killer, who is only glimpsed in such brief flashes that it's almost impossible to tell, and that leads to a great tension-filled scene that is quite fun. Anytime in the outhouse is quite brilliant, as the main double-murder is loads of fun. The absolutely chilling atmosphere through the entire scene, the pacing is completely tense, and the jump comes brilliantly to the end, all culminating in a great scene. There's also plenty of scenes spread throughout the film, all of them at the very least containing a few suspenseful ideas. The final confrontation with the killer is a really standout sequence as well, using the established rules for how they're supposed to play out well in hand and offering up only a nice surprise in the revelation of the killer. This is perhaps given all the better treatment when it's revealed who the killer is after they're dealt with rather than before everything happens, and it's such a nice change of pace. There's also a really high body count in here to provide plenty of deaths, including a knife through the neck, one through the back of the head to come out through the mouth, a meat hook through the face, some scratching with a razor, a spear through the stomach, an ax in the head and some body mutilation with an ax along with a lot more in here as well. This here gets in some pretty high totals with the kills, and they're all quite brutal. As is usual with these kinds of films, the usual attitude of sleaze in here is handled with the usual amount of comfort that most of these films usually have. The last real big positive is the film's incredible pacing, which is just about perfect. The murders start happening very early on, the majority of the time is spent on the stalking and slashing and subplots are at the minimum, leaving this to thankfully never become boring at all. Overall, it's a really enjoyable affair.The Bad News: There wasn't all that much wrong with this one. One of it's problems is that it's simply way too familiar for it's own good. There's a sense of this just playing by the rule-book simply without change for the duration, hitting all the notes along the way there. While this is nice, it doesn't really offer much for those looking at films for a different feel that others. This one isn't all that different from practically any others out there, and can get lost in the shuffle if not in the particular mood to enjoy it. There's also a problem where the deaths in here aren't as graphic as they could've been. With all the brutal sounding ones described above, this one should've been a bloodbath and a gore-hounds' dream yet this one doesn't really let loose as well as it should've. These, though, are the only real problems and can easily become non-factors.The Final Verdict: With only minor, minor flaws that can be overlooked quite easily, this is a really nice addition to the slasher genre. It's not a revelation in the genre that will alter it, but for those that enjoy these kinds or even die-hard European horror fans should give this one a healthy look.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Full Male and Female Nudity and Language

Milo-Jeeder Let's be honest here: the movie is not a masterpiece and that should never be argued. But I will say this: if "Body Count" got all this negative reviews, is mostly because people were expecting something brutal, merciless and shocking like "Cannibal Holocaust" and instead, they got an Americanized Ruggero Deodato, who was probably trying to approach a different audience. Can we blame him for trying? Yes!... but I, for one, enjoyed this film, even though I understand that it is less than perfect and obviously not even remotely memorable.In "Il Camping del Terrore", a group of moronic friends go on a vacation trip with no specific destination. In the middle of the road, they pick up a hitchhiker (of course) named Ben, who invites them to his parents' campsite. Ben's father, who is not a very friendly guy to begin with, starts setting some deadly traps all over the woods, with the purpose of catching the ghost of an old Indian shaman who wanders around the place (yes, he actually wants to catch a ghost with bear traps). According to an infamous legend, many years ago, a witch doctor put a curse on his tribe and captured their spirits in the woods. Every once in a while, this old Indian shaman leaves his mysterious lair to take new victims. Ben chooses not to tell anyone about the whole "ghost of an old Indian shaman" story with his new friends. However, when one of the guys appears viciously attacked and ends up in a coma, Ben breaks down and tells the truth. Of course, nobody believes him, and everyone stays at the campsite, because... seriously, who would actually believe that there's a ghost wandering around the woods? As a result of their skepticism, one by one, they all start to disappear. Meanwhile, Ben's parents, who are far from being a perfect couple, are in the middle of a major marital crisis that will bring terrible consequences for everyone... because if you thought that the old Indian shaman was as bad as it could get, you were dead wrong!Like I said before, this film is another example of the "slasher fever". It contains all the elements: a campsite, stupid characters who are about 30 years old and behave like teenagers and a mysterious killer. Rip-off or not, I think what makes this movie appealing to slasher fans, are the silly flaws that probably embarrass most of the crew members who were involved in this project back then. I for one, find it impossible not to like this film regardless of these flaws, or maybe precisely because of them My favorite tacky special effect would be the part in which the shaman hits one of the characters with a axe in the middle of her face... but the face is actually a motionless wax figure. Was Rugero trying to copy Tom Savini's axe-in-the-face from "Friday the 13th"? Of course, this flick also provided some good things. For instance, the outlandish nightmare sequence (that I will not spoil), or the scenes in which the shaman subtly appears from the trees, threatening his victims. Those are the scenes that make full contrast with the harsh comments and prove in a way, that regardless of the evident faults, Mr. Deodato is after all a talented director who can develop good moments of plain horror.So, yes, "Il Camping del Terrore" is clearly not an example of subtle and refined horror for "serious" movie lovers. However, the film doesn't fail when it comes to entertainment and it provides some really great scenes of butchery, with good music composed by Claudio Simonetti from Goblin (also in charge of the music in "Suspiria", if that works as a gentle reference). So, despite the technical atrocities, this little slasher is highly entertaining to me and anyone who can appreciate silly slashers for what they are will probably agree.

stephenjohnmcdonnell I rated this film highly because I knew what I was getting myself in for and I was drunk when I first watched it. I like a good old fashioned slasher that makes very little sense and is laughably bad.The Dialog sounds as if it was added at a later date and the situations that people put themselves in (while some of the friends are currently missing) are just plain stupid, but the film doesn't take itself too seriously and so I don't either.The fact that somebody is actually credited for 'continuity' is quite comical given the amount of mistakes in the movie.These may sound like bad points but they all add up to a funny (if unintentionally so) film.I recently bought this film and watched it sober. I was not disappointed

Woodyanders Ruggero Deodato's rather belated entry in the then trendy "Friday the 13th"-inspired 80's summercamp slasher horror sub-genre is a much more solid, enjoyable and even fairly scary fright feature than it's usually given credit for being. The dead simple story can be summed up in a single sentence: a hairy, homely, horrible homicidal Indian shaman viciously bumps off an affable bunch of fun-loving teens vacationing in a lovely, remote campsite that's located on a cursed area of land that was once owned by Native Americans. Yep, that's about it as far as a complex narrative is concerned. And that's about all you need, if you ask me. I mean, in a body count pic like this the plot really doesn't matter, now does it? The toothpick-lean plot aside, the film delivers the goods overall: spaghetti splatter specialist Deodato (the sweet, subtle, sophisticated gent who blessed us with the infamous "Cannibal Holocaust") provides adroit direction, the slick, sinuous, expansive cinematography is real easy on the eyes (the shots where a fluid Steadicam goes snaking hither and tither amongst the trees are real nice), Goblin's Claudio Simonetti hits a righteously spooky, shimmering groove with his throbbing rock score, the kill scenes pack a gruesome, lingering wallop (throat gashings, a girl gets dragged through broken glass, the ol' axe in the noggin bit, that sort of grisly stuff), the characters are appealing, well-developed and attractive, there's a hefty amount of gratuitous nudity (mostly female, but there's a naked fat guy, too), the rapid pace never falters, and the picturesque forest locations evoke a harrowingly palpable sense of ambient menace. The choice trash movie supporting cast qualifies as another significant asset: the ever-intense David ("The Last House on the Left") Hess as the grouchy, unfriendly camp caretaker, the always winsome Mimsy ("Riot on Sunset Strip") Farmer as Hess' sweet, neglected, unfaithful wife and the great Charles ("Beyond the Valley of the Dolls") Napier as the bluff, helpful sheriff Mimsy's having an adulterous fling with, plus brief appearances by John ("Deported Women of the SS Special Section") Steiner and Ivan ("Jungle Holocaust") Rassimov. Sure, this movie sure ain't no classic, but it's still a superior sylvan slaughterfest just the same.