Bloody Pom Poms (1988)

"A bunch of kids out humping in the woods." - Sheriff

aka: Cheerleader Camp
Antics and murder foul up a cheerleader competition.
Starring: Betsy Russell, Lucinda Dickey, Leif Garrett, Teri Weigel, Travis McKenna

Link to IMDB

Alison

A group of teenagers are arriving at summer camp for a big cheerleading competition. The main girls are Alison, Cory and Pamela, along with two guys on the team, Brent and Timmy. The camp attendants are a bunch of eccentric characters; there's the creepy Pop, the nasty cook, and cranky Miss Tipton. While the girls are busy worrying about their rivals, the few guys present are just interested in sex. It's not long before the perverted antics begin, as most of the cheerleaders walk around topless while the guys are peeping on them.
One of the few characters that seems normal is Alison, although she's currently dealing with terrible nightmares and daydreams that have her permanently spooked. She's even more disturbed when she finds one of her friends dead from a tragic suicide.


A lot of characters are introduced, but none of them do much of anything besides pull shenanigans. That makes perfect sense though, because no one bothered to invite the plot to camp! Alison's nightmares create some creepy vibes, but the mood feels irrelevant alongside all the other characters that are content with enjoying the cheesy jokes and the fact that they exist purely to be red herrings for a mystery that doesn't exist. The movie was marketed as a slasher, but so far I have no idea why.

Brent & Timmy

Forty long-ass minutes into the movie, and someone finally gets killed! And it's actually bloody! My mind is enraptured by a crimson revelation, giving me hope and inspiration to keep watching. Guess what happens next... *crickets chirping* ... Nothing!
No one at camp knows about the murder, so it's basically like it never happened. Besides, everyone is busy with the mascot dance competition. By this point I am convinced that Alison is on LSD because all she does is walk around in a daze, tripping-balls about her nightmares.

"You damn kids are cutting into my drinking time!" - Pop

Creepy Pop

Even slasher movies with no plot have more plot than this! Not to mention that they all have much more actual slashing. I'll admit that the final 15 minutes do get more interesting, as people start getting killed and the girls actually decide to do something about it. There's also a bit of a twist at the end, even though the killer's identity isn't too hard to deduce from the clues.
The excitement of the finale just feels like too little, too late. The previous 70 minutes were largely wasted potential that only created confusion and a few laughs, but without any cohesive narrative or scares.
The slasher-movie concept is pretty hard to screw-up this badly, but that's what they did. Unless, of course, they wanted to make the most tedious one ever, because there it succeeds wonderfully.

Be sure not to miss:
- The worst (and whitest) rapping ever.
- A full six-pack on a beer drinking hat. That is impressive.
- "Honey on her muffin? Honey on her muffin!?"
- Pop is played by George Buck Flower. He's appeared in many movies, but this might be one of his biggest roles.

Internet review:
"It's lumpy." - Le Sink

Should I watch it?
I'm glad I finally saw it, but I can't really recommend it.

Where can I find it?
Here on YouTube.

Bloody Pom Poms gets...