Cheerleader Camp

"Competition was murder at…"

1988 1h 29m EN

💀

4.9

SKIP

★4.9TMDB · 94

ComedyHorrorThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A cheerleader named Alison is plagued by nightmares about the upcoming all-state finals and attends a summer training camp with her teammates. When a number of deaths start occurring at the camp, Alison's nightmares turn twisted and brutal, and she begins to believe that she may be responsible for the mayhem.

“Competition was murder at…”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Cast

Betsy Russell
Alison Wentworth
Leif Garrett
Brent Hoover
Lucinda Dickey
Cory Foster
Lorie Griffin
Bonnie Reed
George Buck Flower
Pop
Teri Weigel
Pamela Bently
Rebecca Ferratti
Theresa Salazar
Travis McKenna
Timmy Moser

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Quinn
Writers: David Lee Fein, R.L. O'Keefe
Languages: English
Countries: Japan, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

89 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Japan, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Part of the "Cheerleader Camp Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Quinn, shot by Bryan England. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Murielle Hamilton. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jeffrey Reiner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Betsy Russell and Leif Garrett and Lucinda Dickey carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Quinn directs. Bryan England behind the camera. Murielle Hamilton scores. Jeffrey Reiner cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

189 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
238 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3International production across 2 countries: Japan, United States of America.
4Part of the "Cheerleader Camp Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by John Quinn, shot by Bryan England. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Murielle Hamilton. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Jeffrey Reiner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Betsy Russell and Leif Garrett and Lucinda Dickey carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Competition was murder at…".
10IMDB entry: tt0092744 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Only 94 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
12Classified under 10 themes, including "nightmare", "summer camp", "cheerleader", "mascot".
13Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Bryan England
Original score: Murielle Hamilton
Editing: Jeffrey Reiner
Production design: K.K. Barrett
Costume design: Gini Kramer
Makeup / hair: Valaurie Ventimiglia
Sound: Phillip Seretti
Stunt coordinator: Travis McKenna
Runtime: 89 min · 1h 29m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Cheerleader Camp (1988)

Part of

Cheerleader Camp Collection

Cheerleader Camp collection

Also by

John Quinn

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2023-04-13
★ 5/10
Stale late 80’s slasher starts kinda goofy, but turns serious High school students in SoCal go to cheerleading camp in the remote Sequoia National Forest where they tragically start dying one by one. Who’s the killer? Will any make it back alive? "Cheerleader Camp” (1988) is a whodunnit slasher that mixes cheerleading antics with elements of the “Friday the 13th” flicks and “The Burning” (1981), not to mention “Sleepaway Camp” (1983). “Body Count” (1986) also comes to mind. I had a bad attitude at first because there was some campy humor along the lines of “Friday the 13th Part III” (1982) and “Friday the 13th Part V” (1985), mostly revolving around the overweight character and the female camp director, not to mention the Englund-like Handyman, albeit less so. In other words, I thought the movie was going to be a full-on joke, but the comedic bits only revolve around those characters and the flick takes a dark turn in the second half. Also, it actually deals with some pretty heavy themes despite being an 80’s slasher with a dash of sex humor. For instance, there are reflections on anxiety, competition/rivalry, relationship abuse, alcoholism, deception, manipulation and false testimony. I was halfway through when it occurred to me that one of the male characters was Leif Garrett, the former teenage heartthrob of the late 70s. Here he is at 26 (during shooting) playing a high school student and he’s effective enough. Lorie Griffin stands out on the female front as Bonnie. You might remember her from her memorable role in “Teen Wolf” (1985). The female cast is decent—also including Rebecca Ferratti (Theresa), Betsy Russell (Alison) and Vickie Benson (Miss Tipton)—but the director evidently didn’t know how to shoot women (no pun intended). So, this is worthwhile enough to check out if you like 80’s slashers, but you have to roll with its hackneyed shortcomings. The film runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot in Bakersfield and Sequoia National Forest, California, which is about an hour’s drive northeast of there. GRADE: C+

Production companies