Movie Talk: Slay Away Camp (2025)

"I just saw the sheriff making out with the psycho pumpkin!"

I knew it would only be a matter of time before Men.com showed up on the blog. When I saw the cover for Slay Away Camp I had to check it out. I actually have a couple of spicy slashers in my cue, and I thought this seemed like as good a place as any to start. 

So, having seen a couple XXX slashers in my day, I can tell you that they have to play a very odd balancing act when it comes to blending the erotic elements with the more... stabby elements. Violence in adult films, even when separate from the sexual activity, can be a touchy subject. Some, like Wicked's Lovers Lane play it straight and aim to replicate on actual slasher movie. Others, like Slay Away Camp, lean into the camp nature of the films and aim for humor over horror. Vivid Men took the same approach for their Scream parody Moan. The humor allows the filmmakers to downplay the expected violence, and play it a little safer. 

The humor here works. There is not enough of a story here to really try and build any kind of actual tension, so going the tongue in cheek (among other places) makes it easier to slip in and out of the story as the sex scenes require. None of the acting is ground breaking, or even all that good, but I was honestly surprised by how many of the guys gave it a real go in their performances. I don't know if this one was scripted or if they just had everyone improvise, but everyone here is actually trying which is more than I can say for a lot of adult films. I mean, outside of the dialogue, these guys all know what they are doing during the adult scenes, so I don't need to comment too much there. If you are a fan of any of the guys in this one, they all do a solid job during the naughty bits. 

Story wise this one is pretty thin, but the scenes/episodes are structured closer to an actual feature. Each episode has about three or four minutes of story that bookends the sex scenes. The general plot is that camp is closed, and the councilors are going to enjoy some dree time before the bus comes to pick them up at the end of the weekend. While they are waiting they are warned that a psychopath is loose in the woods, and of course that psychopath shows up and starts offing the horny 20 somethings. There is a clear through line, and characters pop up in more than just one episode, so it does feel cohesive. That actually surprised me. Do the character motivations make any sense? No. Do they in mainstream slashers? No. So Slay Away Camp holds to true slasher tradition. This one does have on screen death scenes. They aren't particularly bloody or anything, but they do add to the fun of it all. This one really gives me the camp that I have been looking for when it comes to gay adult films, and it does it well. It isn't super story heavy, but it gives enough to be really enjoyable. 

This is something produced by one of the top gay adult studios, and it looks it. The technical side of things are top notch. The movie looks great, is really well filmed, and sounds solid. I would normally list the director somewhere in this rundown, but I noticed that Men doesn't actually credit the director (or directors) anywhere. Kind of disappointed, be interested to see what else this person has done, as I think Slay Away Camp is a pretty solid effort. I honestly hope they give it another go and give us a Slay Away Camp 2.

If you buy this as a feature it also includes an extra scene called Boo!! where a ghost runs around flashing people. This is a self contained scene that leans hard into the humor. Like, it actually made me chuckle, and they lean really hard into the comedy before getting to the steamy stuff. Again, like Slay Away Camp this one looks really good, and there are some shockingly really pretty shots. It was a nice way to cap off the DVD, while staying on theme. 

Slay Away Camp and Boo!! were solid. I was pleasantly surprised to see them really push to make this one feel like a feature, even if it was done as an episodic. Solid production values and a good sense of humor and camp make this an enjoyable piece of gay erotica. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Movie Talk: Agent Aika (1997)

  Agent Aika is the anime equivalent of an Andy Sidaris movie. A lot of beautiful people in very little clothing trapped in an overly convoluted action plot. This one also throws in a heavy dose of science fiction, as the story eventually moves into outer space. No other anime series, at least as far as I have seen, manages to balance action, sleaze, camp and plot as well as Agent Aika  does. There are a couple of different series following the character, but the original run is still my favorite.  If you mention this show to any anime fan of a certain age there are two words that will come to mind. Panty shots. Almost every single frame of this show is animated in a way to make sure that we are getting a birds eye view up the skirts of the largely female cast. There is plenty of nudity as well, but the name of the game here is ladies underwear, so be ready. Otherwise, this show doesn't push too hard outside of being a cheeky. There is some implied naughtiness, but genera...
Read more

Movie Talk: Lovers Lane (Wicked Pictures, 2005)

Not to be confused with the mainstream slasher of the same name, Brad Armstrong's Lovers Lane  is a pretty straight forward take on an adults only slasher film. Starring Wicked star Devinn Lane, this often forgotten film is usually overshadowed by Wicked's other slasher, the comedy  Camp Cuddly Pines Power Tool Massacre. Unlike Cuddly Pines, this one plays it as serious as possible, which makes for an interesting struggle as the film tries to balance the adult material with the more serious and violent subject matter.  Now, Brad Armstrong was Wicked's answer to Paul Thomas. He was their big name director, who handled their larger budgeted features. Lovers Lane  actually feels oddly small for him, even though this film has insane production design and value. Outside of the adult scenes this film feels like a mainstream film. The scope of the film is just smaller than what you would expect from Armstrong. He did features like Space Nuts and Fallen.  Still, he brin...
Read more