The Best Movies About Summer Camp
by kjtenorman | created - 02 Jun 2017 | updated - 08 Dec 2019 | PublicA chronological, wide-reaching list for summer camp enthusiasts.
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1. The Parent Trap (1961)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
Teenage twin sisters swap places and scheme to reunite their divorced parents.
Director: David Swift | Stars: Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Charles Ruggles
Votes: 23,997
2. Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)
G | 76 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
The Peanuts gang goes to summer camp, and they participate in a river-raft race against some cheating bullies.
Directors: Bill Melendez, Phil Roman | Stars: Duncan Watson, Greg Felton, Stuart Brotman, Gail Davis
Votes: 3,945 | Gross: $3.22M
3. Meatballs (1979)
PG | 94 min | Comedy
Wacky hijinks of counselors and campers at a less-than-average summer camp.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Bill Murray, Harvey Atkin, Kate Lynch, Russ Banham
Votes: 23,883 | Gross: $43.05M
4. Little Darlings (1980)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama
Two fifteen year-old girls from different sides of the tracks compete to see who will be the first to lose their virginity while at a summer camp.
Director: Ron Maxwell | Stars: Tatum O'Neal, Kristy McNichol, Armand Assante, Matt Dillon
Votes: 6,580 | Gross: $34.33M
5. Friday the 13th (1980)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A group of teenage camp counselors attempt to re-open an abandoned summer camp with a tragic past, but they are stalked by a mysterious, relentless killer.
Director: Sean S. Cunningham | Stars: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan
Votes: 157,530 | Gross: $39.75M
6. Gorp (1980)
R | 90 min | Comedy
A slapstick comedy about the wacky antics of a group of waiters at a Jewish summer camp in upstate New York.
Director: Joseph Ruben | Stars: Michael Lembeck, Dennis Quaid, Philip Casnoff, Fran Drescher
Votes: 754
7. Oddballs (1984)
PG | 91 min | Comedy
A Canadian sex comedy about saving a summer camp from becoming a shopping mall.
Director: Miklós Lente | Stars: Foster Brooks, Mike MacDonald, Konnie Krome, Milan Cheylov
Votes: 365
8. Poison Ivy (1985 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 97 min | Comedy, Romance
Two teenage summer camp counselors struggle with their younger campers, providing a variety of humorous situations and romantic encounters.
Director: Larry Elikann | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Nancy McKeon, Caren Kaye, Adam Baldwin
Votes: 1,528
9. SpaceCamp (1986)
PG | 107 min | Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi
The young attendees of a space camp find themselves in space for real when their shuttle is accidentally launched into orbit.
Director: Harry Winer | Stars: Kate Capshaw, Lea Thompson, Kelly Preston, Larry B. Scott
Votes: 15,860 | Gross: $9.70M
10. Ernest Goes to Camp (1987)
PG | 92 min | Comedy, Family
Ernest, a lovable loser who works as a summer camp handyman and dreams of becoming a guidance councilor, must find a way to inspire a group of juvenile delinquents as well as stop a shady strip mining company from closing the camp.
Director: John R. Cherry III | Stars: Jim Varney, Victoria Racimo, John Vernon, Iron Eyes Cody
Votes: 12,465 | Gross: $23.51M
11. Party Camp (1987)
R | 96 min | Comedy
A teenage boy takes a job as a counselor at a summer camp. He finds that the camp is run like a military training camp, and he resolves to turn it into Party Central.
Director: Gary Graver | Stars: Andrew Ross, Kerry Wall, Dean R. Miller, Billy Jayne
Votes: 379
12. Dirty Dancing (I) (1987)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle.
Director: Emile Ardolino | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes
Votes: 256,584 | Gross: $0.62M
13. Troop Beverly Hills (1989)
PG | 105 min | Adventure, Comedy
A soon to be divorced Beverly Hills socialite is determined to prove to her husband and herself that she can finish what she starts out to do, by becoming a den mother to a troop of Beverly Hills Girl Scouts.
Director: Jeff Kanew | Stars: Shelley Long, Craig T. Nelson, Betty Thomas, Mary Gross
Votes: 11,435 | Gross: $8.51M
14. Camp Cucamonga (1990 TV Movie)
93 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Standard camp shenanigans and romance amongst the counselors and the campers at a lake front summer camp.
Director: Roger Duchowny | Stars: John Ratzenberger, Chad Allen, Jennifer Aniston, Candace Cameron Bure
Votes: 1,152
15. Indian Summer (1993)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Seven friends reunite for a week-long reunion at a summer camp in Ontario they used to attend as children which is now threatened with being closed down.
Director: Mike Binder | Stars: Alan Arkin, Matt Craven, Diane Lane, Bill Paxton
Votes: 6,025 | Gross: $14.90M
16. Addams Family Values (1993)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Fantasy
The Addams Family try to rescue their beloved Uncle Fester from his gold-digging new love, a black widow named Debbie.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack
Votes: 109,676 | Gross: $48.92M
17. Camp Nowhere (1994)
PG | 96 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A group of junior high kids don't want to go to summer camps chosen by their parents. They make their own adult-free camp and "hire" an ex drama teacher to help.
Director: Jonathan Prince | Stars: Jonathan Jackson, Christopher Lloyd, John Putch, Peter Scolari
Votes: 10,677 | Gross: $10.47M
18. A Pig's Tale (1994 Video)
PG | 94 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Kids' comedy with all the clichés. Six boys (hero, pudgy, dumb, romeo, etc), reluctantly sent to summer camp, are grouped together in a ramshackle hut, and instantly identified as losers ... See full summary »
Director: Paul Tassie | Stars: Joe Flaherty, Sean Babb, Mike Damus, Jonathan Hilario
Votes: 588
19. Summertime Switch (1994 TV Movie)
85 min | Comedy, Family
Young punk Freddie Egan is in a juvenile detention center for the summer. Spoiled rich-kid Frederick Egan III is going to a luxurious summer camp. However, a name mix-up at the bus terminal... See full summary »
Director: Alan Metter | Stars: Jason Weaver, Rider Strong, Richard Moll, Teresa Ganzel
Votes: 535
20. Heavyweights (1995)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Plump kids are lured into joining a posh fat camp with the promise of quick weight loss and good times, only to find that it is a woodland hellhole run by a psycho ex-fitness instructor.
Director: Steven Brill | Stars: Tom McGowan, Aaron Schwartz, Ben Stiller, David Goldman
Votes: 30,678 | Gross: $17.69M
21. The Baby-Sitters Club (1995)
PG | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Seven junior-high-school girls organize a daycare camp for children while at the same time experiencing classic adolescent growing pains.
Director: Melanie Mayron | Stars: Schuyler Fisk, Bre Blair, Rachael Leigh Cook, Larisa Oleynik
Votes: 6,212 | Gross: $9.69M
22. It Takes Two (1995)
PG | 101 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
Alyssa and Amanda are two little girls who are identical, but complete strangers, that accidentally meet one day.
Director: Andy Tennant | Stars: Kirstie Alley, Steve Guttenberg, Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen
Votes: 24,890 | Gross: $19.47M
23. Camp Stories (1996)
PG | 100 min | Comedy
A man named David Katz remembers the formative summer he spent as a kid in an Orthodox Jewish summer camp.
Director: Herbert Beigel | Stars: Elliott Gould, Jerry Stiller, Paul Sand, Zachary Taylor
Votes: 101
24. Family Plan (1997)
PG | 95 min | Family, Comedy
After the death of the elderly owner of a summer camp for kids, his son-in-law plans to close it and build a luxury adult summer resort. However, the manager's friend, Harry "Rent a Kid" Haber, has an idea about how to save it.
Director: Fred Gerber | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Judge Reinhold, Eddie Bowz, Emily Procter
Votes: 1,189
25. The Parent Trap (1998)
PG | 128 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Identical twins Annie and Hallie, separated at birth and each raised by one of their biological parents, discover each other for the first time at summer camp and make a plan to bring their wayward parents back together.
Director: Nancy Meyers | Stars: Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson, Elaine Hendrix
Votes: 154,947 | Gross: $66.31M
26. But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A naive teenager is sent to rehab camp when her straitlaced parents and friends suspect her of being a lesbian.
Director: Jamie Babbit | Stars: Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Michelle Williams, Brandt Wille
Votes: 41,279 | Gross: $2.21M
27. Camp (2003)
PG-13 | 114 min | Comedy, Musical, Drama
After a series of Broadway flops, songwriter Bert Hanley (Dixon) goes to work at a musical camp for young performers. Inspired by the kids, he finds an opportunity to regain success by staging an altogether new production.
Director: Todd Graff | Stars: Don Dixon, Daniel Letterle, Joanna Chilcoat, Robin de Jesus
Votes: 6,171 | Gross: $1.63M
28. American Pie Presents: Band Camp (2005 Video)
R | 87 min | Comedy
Matt Stifler wants to be just like his big bro, making porn movies and having a good time in college. After sabotaging the school band, he gets sent to band camp where he really doesn't like it at first but then learns how to deal with the bandeez.
Director: Steve Rash | Stars: Eugene Levy, Tad Hilgenbrink, Arielle Kebbel, Jason Earles
Votes: 75,642
29. Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Romance
Set on the last day of camp, in the hot summer of 1981, a group of counselors try to complete their unfinished business before the day ends.
Director: David Wain | Stars: Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Showalter, Marguerite Moreau
Votes: 60,540 | Gross: $0.29M
30. Happy Campers (2001)
R | 94 min | Comedy
When a summer camp director gets injured, the diverse group of college freshmen counselors take charge and spice up the everyday routine of the camp.
Director: Daniel Waters | Stars: Brad Renfro, Dominique Swain, Keram Malicki-Sánchez, Emily Bergl
Votes: 2,846
31. Holes (2003)
PG | 117 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A wrongfully convicted boy is sent to a brutal desert detention camp where he joins the job of digging holes for some mysterious reason.
Director: Andrew Davis | Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Tim Blake Nelson
Votes: 100,299 | Gross: $67.41M
32. Stagedoor (2006)
79 min | Documentary
Stagedoor is a documentary about the Stagedoor Manor summer camp, a theatrical program in the Catskills where all kinds of kids go to participate in productions. The documentary focused on ... See full summary »
Director: Alexandra Shiva | Stars: Taylor Rabow, Robert Wright, Nicole Doring, Randi Kleiner
Votes: 128
33. Summercamp! (2006)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary
"Summercamp!" follows the day-to-day drama of 90 kids let loose in the woods at Swift Nature Camp. Featuring music by The Flaming Lips.
Directors: Bradley Beesley, Sarah Price | Stars: Patrick Lemmon, Mary Nass, Cameron Schmitt, Holly Stephenson
Votes: 152
34. Summerhood (2008)
Not Rated | 88 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A summer camp comedy...about the horrors of being ten.
Directors: Jacob Medjuck, Tony Dean Smith | Stars: Lucian Maisel, Scott Beaudin, Jesse Camacho, David Gibson McLean
Votes: 676
35. Camp Rock (2008 TV Movie)
TV-G | 94 min | Comedy, Family, Music
At a music camp for gifted teens, a popular teen idol overhears a girl singing and sets out to find who the talented voice belongs to. What he doesn't know is that the girl is actually a camp kitchen worker with a fear of being heard.
Director: Matthew Diamond | Stars: Demi Lovato, Joe Jonas, Meaghan Martin, Maria Canals-Barrera
Votes: 37,261
36. Fired Up! (2009)
PG-13 | 90 min | Comedy, Sport
The two most popular guys in high school decide to ditch football camp for cheerleader camp. For the girls and for the glory.
Director: Will Gluck | Stars: Eric Christian Olsen, Nicholas D'Agosto, Sarah Roemer, Molly Sims
Votes: 46,051 | Gross: $17.23M
37. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
PG-13 | 94 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Two 12-year-olds, who live on an island, fall in love with each other and elope into the wilderness. While people set out on a search mission, a violent storm approaching them catches their attention.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray
Votes: 366,841 | Gross: $45.51M
38. Camp Takota (2014)
Not Rated | 95 min | Comedy
A story that follows Elise, who after finding her life in shambles is forced to work at her old summer camp, where she reunites with two estranged friends.
Directors: Chris Riedell, Nick Riedell | Stars: Grace Helbig, Mamrie Hart, Chester See, Hannah Hart
Votes: 4,607
39. The Final Girls (2015)
PG-13 | 91 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A young woman grieving the loss of her mother, a famous scream queen from the 1980s, finds herself pulled into the world of her mom's most famous movie. Reunited, the women must fight off the film's maniacal killer.
Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson | Stars: Taissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman, Adam Devine, Thomas Middleditch
Votes: 51,774
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