Top 10 Summer Camp Movies

Greetings, reader!

This week's topic has been requested several times by my aunt Donna, and draws inspiration from my own summer job - I just got finished with my second summer as a camp instructor. Therefore it is very fun to look at movies taking place on various summer camps through that lens. These are, in my opinion, the greatest summer camp movies!

10. Daddy Day Camp (2007)

"Okay, this is it. Time to give 'em a summer they'll never forget"

Overall cinematic analysis: The sequel to the already cruddy Daddy Day Care (2003) is guilty of many things, including shamelessly re-casting Eddie Murphy's role with Cuba Gooding Junior. In Daddy Day Camp, the protagonist Charlie Hinton tries to force his own childhood dream of an idyllic summer camp experience onto his reluctant son, and this leads to all sorts of shenanigans largely relying on lazy humor and over-used tropes. There are a few decent laughs in the mix, making this an okay film to watch once on a Sunday night or an airplane.

Real-life camp counselor's perspective: This movie presents running a summer camp as a chaotic job, where plans fall apart and one must constantly be winging it and coming up with off-the-cuff plans in order to keep things running. So, for all its faults, at least Daddy Day Camp is a fairly accurate depiction of a camp instructor's reality.

9. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

"Our daughter's been abducted by one of these beige lunatics!"

Overall cinematic analysis: This aesthetically pleasing coming-of-age film would be higher on my list if these movies were ranked based on how good they are as overall cinema - however, the topic is the top 10 summer camp movies, so I have to take into account the fact that Moonrise Kingdom isn't a summer camp movie first and foremost - the scouts of Camp Ivanhoe are merely an important subplot to the main narrative. Still, this plotline plays an important part, and Edward Norton delivers the film's greatest performance in his role of Scout Master Ward.

Real-life camp counselor's perspective: Moonrise Kingdom presents summer camp as a resourceful, well-run organization, where everyone is on the top of their game and everyone knows what they're doing, from the well-behaving kids to the wise and handsome counselors. Needless to say, this is just how it goes in real life as well, and I'm happy to see our work so positively represented and realistically depicted in the media.

8. Dirty Dancing (1987)

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner"

Overall cinematic analysis: Okay, so technically this 80's classic isn't a summer camp movie per se, as it takes place in a summer vacation resort and not a camp. But the film's whole atmosphere, with young people staying in a neat new place for the summer while growing as individuals and learning cool new skills, just makes for a very summer-camp vibe, which is why I decided to include Dirty Dancing on this list despite its setting not being a literal camp. In any case, it's an awesome film with great dance sequences, a banging soundtrack and a heart-melting love story at its center.

Real-life camp counselor's perspective: "I've had the time of my life / I've never felt like this before / Yes I swear it's the truth / And I owe it all to you" is quite the fitting testament to my personal summer job experiences at camp. Oh, and the narrative of the staff having secret parties at night that the regular customers are blissfully unaware of? Uh, no comment.

7. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

"I told the others, they didn't believe me. You're all doomed. You're all doomed!"

Overall cinematic analysis: In the sequel to the infamous 80's slasher, a whole new group of camp counselors arrive at Camp Crystal Lake to prepare the opening of a new camp, only to find that Jason Voorhees is on the prowl. Mayhem and bloodshed ensue, as these horny young adults face the ruthless menace of Jason in all his might. It's not as good as the original, but a solid sequel for fans of the genre nonetheless.

Real-life camp counselor's perspective: With its instances of barbed-wire stranglings, double impalements, machete throat-slashings and icepick head-stabbings, I'd argue that this Steve Miner film paints an overall negative picture of life at summer camp. Sure, counselors might occasionally have to face problems and dire situations, but not nearly as dire as the ordeals that the counselors in this over-the-top depiction of camp counseling have to face.

6. Camp Rock (2008)

"Honey, I'm sorry you didn't win"

"But I did. I won the best summer of my life, thanks to you"

Overall cinematic analysis: From the golden age of the Disney channel, this live-action Disney feature stars Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers in an end product that just really, really looks and feels like a live-action Disney feature film starring Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers. It's cheesy to the maximum, but a perfectly fun film to watch (for example with your camp counselor colleagues at night after a long workday), and the music camp setting is quite nostalgic for someone who attended music camp for several years as a child.

Real-life camp counselor's perspective: In all its cheesiness, I'd legitimately argue that there's a level of genius to how well Camp Rock demonstrates how kids see the world. When working with kids, you really notice how certain small-scale interactions or very miniscule instances of drama can seem drastic and larger-than-life to the kid in question, and the ridiculous amount of melodrama in Camp Rock seems to quite accurately portray how kids experience summer romances and friend dramas et cetera, as opposed to an objective look at how we boring adults see those situations.

5. The Parent Trap (1961)

"Welcome to Camp Inch, new arrivals. I am your Supreme Commander here. My name is...Miss Inch"

Overall cinematic analysis: Much like Moonrise Kingdom, this classic most definitely is a better overall movie than some of today's offerings that are ahead of it in my ranking. However, as a summer camp movie, I couldn't put it in quite the top tier as the camp setting is only a part of the film and not the whole story. Still, this delightful mistaken-identity family film makes it into the top five, because the entire first act takes place in an atmospheric summer camp, and many of the camping elements resurface in the film's climax.

Real-life camp counselor's perspective: Assuming that the film's setting is somewhat grounded in reality, I reckon there are some serious differences between American summer camps from the 60's and Finnish summer camps from the 2020's. Perhaps the biggest eyebrow-raiser for me was how the camp in this film seems to go on for months, as the kids spend pretty much their whole summer there! Hard to imagine such a concept - possibly a nice break for the parents, but surely quite the ordeal for the counselors if they're stuck with a difficult group of kids for weeks and weeks on end.

4. Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)

"I've never made a bed in my life. Do I have directions? By the way, it's a little chilly in here. Where's the thermostat?"

"Hey! We're supposed to be roughing it. There's no thermostat in a tent!"

Overall cinematic analysis: This under-the-radar Peanuts film isn't one of the ones I regularly watched as a child - those were limited to the most classic holiday specials (Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and most iconically Halloween). I only saw it in recent years - the Charlie Brown world is quite nostalgic for me, so when I heard about a film where the Peanuts gang goes to summer camp, I just had to see it. It's not as golden as the greatest Charlie Brown flicks, but it has many neat moments and is worth watching for fans of the franchise.

Real-life camp counselor's perspective: The personalities of the Peanuts gang align very much with the real-life kid archetypes you come across as a camp counselor - I've definitely dealt with my share of Linuses, Lucies and Peppermint Patties (I'm guessing I myself was quite a Schroeder as a child). This film's subplot of Snoopy and Woodstock going on side adventures is also quite accurate to real-life camps, as every group is bound to have that one set of rascals who are constantly off on their own side-quests.

3. American Pie Presents: Band Camp (2005)

"We didn't have MTV when I was growing up. So maybe it's the overstimulated times that we live in that causes young men to stick their...instruments in such...odd places. I knew a certain young man once who actually engaged in sexual congress with an apple pie, and he turned out just fine"

Overall cinematic analysis: Yeah, the fourth American Pie flick (which is also the first of the spin-offs that doesn't feature the original gang) isn't a particularly great movie. It is, however, very entertaining in a guilty-pleasure manner, and one of the first films to come to mind from the term 'summer camp movie'. Filled to the brim with the sort of dirty humor and cringeworthy moments you'd expect from an American Pie flick, the film is barely carried by generic protagonist Matt Stifler (played by Tad Hilgenbrink, and written to be the cousin of legendary Steve Stifler! In-universe connections! Yay!) and lifted by the presence of Eugene Levy's iconic Mr. Levenstein.

Real-life camp counselor's perspective: Dear God, I hope none of the stuff that the campers get up to in this film will ever take place in the camps I work at. Except for the slight life-lessons learnt at the film's tail end.

2. Crip Camp (2020)

"There was a romance in the air if you wanted to experience it. I never dated outside of camp. But at Jened..."

Overall cinematic analysis: This Oscar-nominated documentary from two years ago, made with a helping hand by executive producers Barack and Michelle Obama, details the inspiring true story behind Camp Jened in the 1970's. What started as a bunch of hippies deciding that disabled people deserve a summer camp experience just like the rest of us, turned to a massive phenomenon that had a hand in the civil rights movement and legislation looking out for disabled people's rights. It's so heartwarming to witness Camp Jened's rise to popularity, as the documentary features many of the campers from the time detailing their experiences with nostalgic joy.

Real-life camp counselor's perspective: The camp I work at actually offers special slots for developmentally disabled children, with a team of counselors working specifically with those kids to help them with their needs and give them an ideal camp experience. I've done a few weeks as a counselor for developmentally disabled kids, and that has been some of the most rewarding and powerful work I've been a part of. Giving special needs children the resources they need for a positive camp experience, one that their folks at home can happily send them to knowing they'll be safe and looked after with care, is a truly special thing to be a part of.

1. Friday the 13th (1980)

"The boy. Is he dead too?"

"Who?"

"The boy. Jason"

"Jason?"

"In the lake, the one...the one who attacked me. The one who pulled me underneath the water"

"Ma'am...we didn't find any boy"

"But...then he's still there"

Overall cinematic analysis: In this 80's classic, a group of camp counselors arrive at Camp Crystal Lake to prepare an unforgettable summer camp experience. Summer romances and all sorts of dramas ensue between the group of counselors, while they learn about the place's history and tell each other ghost stories. Things soon take a turn for the chaotic, as one can expect from a summer camp film, with an escalating chain of events taking our wacky group of counselors deep into the woods and into all sorts of shenanigans. The film is so full of potential that it has spawned a total of eleven sequels!

Real-life camp counselor's perspective: The film's first act is all scary stories and immature jokes, while the middle section is devoted to an escalating sense of intensity and chaos as things start to fall apart, leading to a final act where all hell breaks loose and everyone must think on their feet while people just sort of run around screaming. So, all in all, I'd say that the original Friday the 13th is a thoroughly accurate depiction of the life of a camp counselor. It's nice to see your line of work represented in the media.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for a big one - as the beloved Breaking Bad (2008-2013) prequel Better Call Saul (2015-2022) is airing its long-anticipated series finale next Monday, I will celebrate this milestone with two consecutive posts. Next Thursday's post will be my Top 10 Breaking Bad episodes, and the Thursday after that, I'll follow up with the Top 10 Better Call Saul episodes.