Anita's Notebook

People in strange costumes throwing packets of bird seed at each other while rapidly shouting out spells and hit points. That’s what I remember the most about the movie Monster Camp.

Monster Camp

I came across this documentary a while back when looking for something to watch while winding down for the night. The trailer showed a bunch of eccentric people dodging what they felt were dull day to day lives by immersing themselves in a live action role playing game.

I sat in bed snacking on popcorn (I know right, popcorn in the bed not the greatest idea but I do it anyway) as it loaded up on the computer and wondered what kind of movie it would turn out to be. Had the producers made it into some sort of lame freakshow or would it reveal something more interesting than that?

Transformations

The movie turned out to be really good. It did well in showing how the role playing game worked and the huge transformations that the players made changing from their everyday selves into fantastical alter egos.

The game itself is quite a huge operation that involves not only keeping track of all the characters involved (monsters, elves, wizards, etc) as they are running loose in a state park but also making sure that things follow the plot line written for that weekend and that nobody is cheating. As the movie progresses the stress of running everything takes a major toll on the people in charge of it and the future of the game starts to come into question.

Meanwhile the players struggle with their own challenges of questing and battling (weapons include padded swords, potions, and birdseed) while at the same time avoiding death (the characters they play can die forever). The game runs continuously for 48 hours so many people try to stay awake for as long as they can to get in as much gaming as possible.

The Human Element

What I thought was the most interesting aspect of the movie though was getting to know the actual people were like. Thinking back on it now this is the main reason I wanted to watch the movie in the first place. To me a live action role playing game seemed like such an unusual thing to get involved with that it made me really curious to see what those who were drawn to play the game were like.

The movie follows the participants not only through the game but also into their homes and workplaces. Each one tells the story of their lives, how they first got involved with the game, and the reasons they love it so much.

I’m glad that the producers of this documentary decided to showcase the human element of this story instead of taking the Jerry Springer route. It made for a really memorable movie that was interesting all the way through (even the credits were awesome).

And if you’re ever walking on a park trail and come across a bunch of birdseed …you never know… it could have been the scene of an epic battle ;).

(Seen on Netflix instant streaming but Amazon also has the DVD.)