SUMMER CAMP (1979) **

Chuck Vincent went back and forth between directing porn and “legitimate” releases like this one.  Most times, he worked on thrillers like Deranged that had a decent amount of skin and featured porn performers in major acting roles.  This is a cheap, crude summer camp movie in the vein of Animal House and Meatballs, but with a lot more nudity.  It’s not very funny and looks pretty cruddy, which makes me think he was better off working in porn.

The owner of a failing summer camp convinces members of the camping alumni back for a weekend of fun and games.  This of course begs the question:  Does a summer camp have alumni?  If you start asking yourself questions like that, you won’t make it ten minutes into this movie. 

Animal House was the obvious inspiration as there is a resident slob in the bunch who chants “Orgy!” like Bluto chanted “Toga!”  There are also Close Encounters-inspired gags and MASH-style public announcements.  The jokes are mostly desperate or unfunny, but the various set-ups (guys sell tickets to watch girls shower, panty raids, etc.) lend themselves to showcasing the female form every ten minutes or so.

Most of the cast are unknowns and not very funny.  The biggest star is a young Linnea Quigley, who’s basically a glorified extra.  However, she does get naked a bunch, which instantly makes it watchable.

Summer Camp is basically like Vincent’s porn films, but all the sex is softcore.  It’s dumb as a bag of hammers and I don’t think I cracked a smile let alone laughed even once.  Still, there’s enough nudity here to make it tolerable.