A surprisingly original summer camp movie tells the tale of Hardly Basset, a grouch that has taken over ‘Camp Bottomout” because of winning a poker game, and he gets help my his daughter Jennifer in order to run is properly. Sadly when the kids arrive they’re seperated from the females, but that doesn’t stop the boys. They head across river to spy on them when we find out that the girl’s camp owner J. Frothingham Skinner plans to buy out the boys camp and turn it into a shopping mall. Will Hardly’s grinchy heart grow three sizes, or will he sell of the camp for $300,000?
This is one of the most intellectually-devoid movies I have ever seen. The cover mentions that this movie was made in an attempt to ride the “Meatballs” fad of the ’80s. The “characters” include an incoherent drunk “grandpa” camp owner, three horny adolescents who look everywhere for sex (especially for the owner’s blond granddaughter, who reminds me of “Blondie”), a homosexual aerobics instructor who has a heart attack after sniffing two poppers and exercising to death, some white guy with an afro and a huge lizard on his shirt (i.e. making fun of the “izod” shirts of the ’80s), and too many more to list. This movie is so ridiculous I can’t even begin to delineate the absurdities that happen throughout the movie. Not to say that it is bad; I laughed at several scenes because they were so absurd. In one nonsensical scene, after the kids learn that grandpa sold the camp to the evil antagonist, the camera zooms in on a plate of breakfast arranged to make a stupid face (e.g. eggs for eyes, sausage lips, etc.) twice, with cartoon sound effects. It made no sense whatsoever. If you like nonsense, then “Oddballs” is a surefire winner.
