"Monster Camp" DVD Review -- Written by Anthony Thurber

Monster Camp
Year: 2008
Director: Cullan Hoback
Studio: Lifesize Entertainment
MP AA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 81 Mins
Official Website: http://www.monstercampmovie.com/





“Monster Camp” is one of those documentary film that tore up the festival scene, as it played in over thirty festivals and winning awards in such festivals as Cinequest (San Jose) where it won the “Audience Award for Best Documentary”, “Best Feature” at the Moviesauce Film Festival and a pair of “Best Documentary Awards” at the Rome International Film Festival and the Miami Underground Film Festival.

The film focuses on a group of people, who play their own role-playing game called “Nero”. It’s like “World of Warcraft” and “The Lord of the Rings” that are role-playing games. It examines the Seattle chapter, one of fifty Nero chapters worldwide. For 48 hours, the people take the game’s world seriously. The players rage from software engineers, store managers and students, who are in high school. For that one weekend in each month they can be array of things in world. From the way they dress to having any power that they can imagine.

In a way, this film reminded me about “The King of Kong” where on paper, it looked like a total waste of time, but one I saw the film, I was very interested in the subjects that were documented. This is the same case, here.

“Monster Camp” is a very interesting look at the world of role-playing games. Director Cullen Hoback does a good job documenting everything that went on during the 48-hour event. What makes this film interesting was that Hoback doesn’t focus on the game completely or the event itself. Instead of focusing on the event, he manages to put the main focus of the film on his subjects. This provided some very interest people that I meet thought the course of the film. I liked how Hoback gave insight to each of his subjects, as there were interesting things about each of them. The director lets the viewer see each of their lives, in and out of the game, which led to some very interesting relationships, like the father and son and the slacker and his friend. It makes the film interesting to someone who has no clue about Nero or its mythic rules, as it becomes more about human relationships and interaction. He also spends some time on the concept of the game and the painstaking work that takes place behind the scenes, which gives you the idea of the hard work that takes places for one of these events. Another thing that Hoback does is focus on the overall human aspects of his subjects, like the head the Nero chapter, who is burned out after years of hard work or the fact that some of the players are in love relationships, outside of the game. That’s what made me interested in the subjects.

Monster Camp is a very good documentary about people who get together for the purpose of fun and social interaction.

Review Rating 4 Stars

DVD Extras:

Director’s Commentary
Two Short Films
Freedom State Trailer