Top 10 Summer Camp Movies

#10: “Camp Nowhere” (1994)

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Sometimes, all a kid wants is time away from their parents, and their teachers, and apparently, even their camp counselors. In this mid-‘90s pre-teen comedy, a bunch of kids decide to take their summers into their own hands. While their parents may’ve decided to send them to fat camp or computer camp or military camp, these suburban rebels devise a plan to have the best summer of their lives - without adults - on a campground they pay for themselves. Christopher Lloyd plays the adult they hire to fool their parents into believing they’ve done a good job researching the place. Because who wouldn’t want to send their kid to a random summer camp with a borderline creepy camp director that makes house visits?

Looking to capitalize on the success of horror movies about cute teenagers being slaughtered while at summer camp, this slasher movie delivers on the theme but with a doozy of a twist. The story centers on a shy and reserved girl named Angela who is attending camp with her cousin Ricky. The other campers bully her relentlessly, but they also wind up dead, which is probably the ultimate lesson against bullying. It’s not until the end of the film that we learn who the murderer is, and the full frontal reveal is not at all what we were expecting.

#8: “Addams Family Values” (1993)

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This sequel to the 1991 “Addams Family” hit finds Wednesday and Pugsley at the summer camp from hell, at least, according to Addams standards. They’ve been sent to Camp Chippewa at the urging of their duplicitous nanny and the camp is a far cry from the delightfully dark and wonderfully macabre surroundings they’re accustomed to. In fact, it’s a little too cheerful. Painfully so. While Wednesday and Pugsley bump heads with the exceedingly chipper camp directors as well as the other campers, they do manage to instigate a revolution during a Thanksgiving reenactment. Plus, Wednesday finds a quirky love interest, so it’s not a total loss.

#7: “The Parent Trap” (1998)

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Back before Lindsay Lohan was seeing two of herself for other reasons, we got to see her play twins in this charming remake of the 1961 original. In this romantic comedy, Lohan plays Hallie Parker and Annie James, twin girls who are separated after their parents’ divorce, with each parent retaining custody of one child and with neither girl being told about the other. As it turns out, they both wind up enrolled at the same summer camp where they eventually come face to face. They spend their time at the camp feuding, and then bonding, and then devising a plan to get their parents back together. Which is really a productive use of their vacation time.

#6: “Wet Hot American Summer” (2001)

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Starring the likes of Paul Rudd, Michael Ian Black, and Joe Lo Truglio, this outlandish satire takes a jab at the summer camp movie genre. The events of the film occur over the course of the last day of camp, and include a heroin bender, a gay wedding, a Skylab crash, and an impressive final talent show. As eventful as this singular day is, one has to wonder how the rest of the summer went. The only thing that’s missing is the horrific murders of sexually active teenagers, but you can’t fit everything into one movie.

Goofy but affable, Ernest P. Worrell is a man of simple means and simple aspirations. In this installment in the “Ernest” franchise, he’s working as a maintenance man at a summer camp named Kamp Kikakee, but what he really wants is to be a camp counselor. He finally gets his wish when he’s put in charge of a group of teenage dissidents. While he’s not exactly role model material at first glance, he eventually gets the group to warm up to him, especially as they join forces to stop a greedy developer from leveling the camp.

Summer lovin’ can make you do some crazy things. And when you’re a 12-year old in a Wes Anderson film, it can make you attempt to run away with your true love into the wilderness. This story centers on two kids who meet in summer camp, become pen pals, and then decide to live amongst nature together. They make a good start of it initially; with their camping equipment and pet cat, they’re pretty much set as they journey through the woods. But two 12-year olds running away together isn’t exactly the best of ideas, as they find out after they are pursued by a group of Khaki scouts, Social Services, and a police captain.

Back before Ben Stiller was playing a fitness-obsessed gym weirdo in 2004’s “Dodgeball”, he was playing a fitness-obsessed camp owner who buys a fat camp for kids. The film follows a group of young boys who’ve been sent to said fat camp by their parents, but actually end up having a good time. That is, until the new camp owner shows up. The boys struggle against the insane whims of the camp’s new fitness guru, as all they’re trying to do is eat some snacks and hang out with their newfound friends. But since being fat and happy aren’t enough, they ultimately learn the value of taking care of themselves and their health.

#2: “Friday the 13th” franchise (1980-)

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While some campers spend their summers navigating complicated romantic entanglements or overbearing campcounselors, the kids in this particular camp-themed series don’t fare as well. The franchise jumps off with its first installment about a serial killer who targets camp counselors who are fornicating when they should be camp counseling. Each subsequent film seems to stray a little further away from the camp itself, but one thing seems certain: if you go to Camp Crystal Lake under any circumstances, you will most likely be murdered. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: - “Camp” (2003) - “American Pie Presents: Band Camp” (2005) - “Little Darlings” (1980) - “Happy Campers” (2001)

This classic summer camp movie has all the things a summer camp movie should have: summer love, kids discovering their confident selves, and a final battle extravaganza against a rival camp full of jerks. The film stars Bill Murray as Tripper Harrison, the head counselor at a summer camp teeming with underachievers and shy kids. Almost all of the counselors, including Tripper, are trying to sort out their romantic lives while also playing pranks on the camp’s director. On top of that, they’ve got a group of kids that they have to motivate to do stuff and achieve things. It’s all very summery and inane and we wish we could spend all of our summers there until the end of time. Do you agree with our list? What do you think is the best summer camp movie? For more entertaining Top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.