Donny Broussard Reviews: “Monster Camp”

When I first saw the trailer for the documentary “Monster Camp” I knew it was a film that I had to see, and now that I’ve actually seen it, I think it’s a flick that every movie fan, fantasy nut, or video game geek should seek out immediately. Director Cullen Hoback paints a pretty funny, yet at times disturbing portrait of live-action role-playing (LARPing) by focusing his camera on the Seattle branch of NERO (New England Role-Playing Organization).

The story isn’t at all difficult to follow. It is centered around a group of NERO players that spend most of their time either playing games like “World of Warcraft, or the old school “Dungeons & Dragons” (don’t hate, I used to play D&D). But on one weekend a month these uber-geeks dress up like their favorite elf, dwarf, wizard, ghoul, and run around in the woods hitting each other with foam swords (boffs). The game itself lasts for an entire weekend and has players casting spells into the wee hours of the morning. Also, the game has a 200 page rule book filled with spells, characters, and the abilities and weaknesses of said characters. There are also players that act as writers that move the plot of the game forward to create a more rich gaming environment.

The gamers themselves were never portrayed negatively, but at times some of the players painted themselves into corners that could be viewed as uncomfortable. Dave, one of the writers of the game’s home life suffered a great deal because of his gaming addiction. When at home he spends most of his time in front of his computer, and when his daughter alerted him to the fact that she was feeling neglected, his solution was to take her to NERO once a month. Come on man, power down the laptop and hang out with your kid. Not all of the players displayed this type of addiction, Shane Macomber, the owner of the Seattle NERO chapter seems pretty grounded for a guy that dresses up like a ghoul one weekend a month. Also, love and relationships are not lost to these gamers. The playing field is ripe with relationships that were formed during gameplay, but over time become sour because of gameplay.

Hoback introduced the world to the complex world of LARPing, and in the process raised a bunch of tough questions. Questions like, how much is to much gaming? With online gaming communities growing in numbers, I’m sure NERO and other LARPing organizations are sure to become more popular as well. And while it can be argued that while LARPing the players are at the very least out of the house and away from the video games, but I’m not so sure that’s one hundred percent true. Sure, they are moving around more than they would be sitting at home in front of the computer, but is it really all that different? Seek out this film and decide for yourself because “Monster Camp” is definitely a killer film.