''Body Count'' ( it, Camping del terrore) is a 1986 Italian

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...

directed by

Ruggero Deodato Ruggero Deodato (born 7 May 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and sometime actor. His career has spanned a wide-range of genres including peplum, comedy, drama, poliziottesco and science fiction, yet he is perhaps best known fo ...

. The film is about a group of vacationing teenagers who enter an abandoned camp site that was formerly an Indian burial ground. One by one, the kids begin to be killed off. The film was initially to be made by Alessandro Capone, but directing was taken over by Deodato during production. The film's script was changed on set by screenwriter

Dardano Sacchetti Dardano Sacchetti (born 1944 ) is an Italian screenwriter who often worked with Italian directors Lamberto Bava and Lucio Fulci. Screenwriting Sacchetti was born in 1944,in Italy. His first screen credit was for Dario Argento's film ''The Cat o' Ni ...

while production was troubled by weather in the

Abruzzi Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

region. Retrospective reviews of the film have commented that it was derivative of American slasher films of the era.

Plot

A gang of vacationing teenagers drive out to an abandoned campsite that was shut down years before, due to the murder of a young couple that occurred there. The area was formerly an old Indian burial ground and is believed to be haunted by the spirit of an Indian

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

. One by one, the kids are killed off in gruesome ways, whom they believe to be the Indian shaman returned to life.

Cast

Production

The film was shot in the Italian

region for four weeks. Director

entered the films production to take over for Alessandro Capone who had written the films script.

also entered to do re-writes for the film during production. The film was plagued by a bad production, due to bad weather in the Abruzzo region

Release

''Body Count'' was first released in 1986 and then released in Italy on May 15, 1987. Film critic and historian Roberto Curti stated that the Italian theatrical release was very brief. The film was released on home video in Australia, Holland and the United Kingdom as ''Body Count''. In Denmark, it was released on home video as ''Shamen''.

Critical reception

From retrospective reviews, Adrian Luther Smith in his book on Italian ''giallo'' found that the film had a "great cast of Italian exploitation regulars to go waste in a cynical production which should never have been made." Luther Smith stated that the film score by

Claudio Simonetti Claudio Simonetti (born 19 February 1952) is an Italian musician and film composer. He moved with his family from Brazil to Italy at the age of 11. The keyboardist of the progressive rock band Goblin, Simonetti has specialized in the scores for ...

was "the one feature of the film everyone seems to applaud." A review from the online film database

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

called it a "derivative slasher entry" and "one of Deodato's least interesting films." Deodato later spoke about the film, stating that "It's not bad. But perhaps it was more suited for a director like ambertoBava or Fulci."

References

Sources

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External links

* * {{Ruggero Deodato English-language Italian films 1986 horror films 1986 films Italian slasher films Films directed by Ruggero Deodato Films scored by Claudio Simonetti Films set in the United States Native American cemeteries in popular culture Shamanism in popular culture 1980s slasher films 1980s Italian films