I won’t beat around the bush here; I absolutely loved “Teenape Goes To Camp”.  Ranking alongside "Project: Snake" and "Wolfster Part 1" Curse of the Emo-Vamp", as one of the funniest shot-on-video productions I’ve ever watched, this film left me wanting more. Seeing this flick sitting on the shelf of at a friend’s house, I didn’t expect much from it. I mean, seriously, the film is titled “Teen Ape Goes To Camp”, so when I reluctantly asked to borrow it, I did so with genuine trepidation. Thankfully, the absurdity of the title only hints at the manic madness to be found within. Chris Seaver and crew surely have their finger on the pulse of fratboy frivolity and I can only hope they keep making them for years to come.

With her back up against a wall, Heather Boccliadocci (Meredith Host), a character made famous in several other Chris Seaver comedies, reluctantly calls in a favour from her former friend and secret agent ally, Teen Ape (Casey Bowker), someone that she had apparently risked her life for in the past and feels she’s owed. Her single request; that Teenape help her prepare a group of ragtag counsellor-wannabes at Camp Arawak for a weekend; ends with old smoothy Teen Ape offering up an expected, “Abso-fucking-no!” However, his attitude changes pretty quickly once Heather reminds him of all the “barely legal trim” that he’ll have access to if he agrees to help out. Teen Ape, never one to turn down “barely legal trim” is soon packing into his Neon and heading off towards his natural habitat. Upon arriving, he quickly realizes that he’s in over his primate head, as the assemblage of trainees leaves much to be desired, including two nerdy live-action role-playing gamers (Jesse Ames and Katherine Indovina), a demonic mumble-mouthed stoner (Kurt Indovina), an overweight Mexican samurai/jedi knight (Juan Acosta), a horny ‘squirting’ lass (Kristen Callahan) and a crazy-eyed momma’s boy desperate to get laid (Josh Suire). Just when he thinks the situation can’t get any worse, Teen Ape suddenly finds himself competing with his arch-nemesis, Hollywood playboy, Choach (A.J. Stabone), who has arrived fashionably late, of course, for the affections of the huge-breasted but brainless nymphomaniac -- the only piece of tail Teen Ape deems worthwhile. Some minor fence mending between the two rivals during a watered-down three-way session quickly erupts into something else entirely as Choach reveals his true intentions. Could it be that unseen forces have conspired to kill Teen Ape? You betcha. As it turns out, the entire training camp exercise was actually a complicated ruse, formulated to lure Teen Ape out into the woods where he will be hunted for money and sport. The third act, unexpectedly, devolves into a cat and mouse game through the surrounding forest as the still reeling teenybopper primate attempts to outwit his pursuers. Later, after receiving some sage advice from an 80’s headband toting Father Mushroom (Kurt Indovina, in a dual role), the hunters quickly become the hunted as Teen Ape, with a renewed vigour and desire for revenge, goes on a hack and slash campaign so rancorous that even Wile E. Coyote would sit up and take notice.

For those who like their humour gross, politically incorrect and laced with frat boy vulgarity, “Teen Ape Goes To Camp” will be a godsend. The jokes here are about as tasteless and crass as one will find in any production, and Chris Seaver, the mastermind behind this bedlam, is not about making any apologies. The story here is pretty simplistic and to the point, and it borrows from plenty of other films including “The World’s Most Dangerous Game”, “Meatballs”, “Jack Frost”, “Surviving the Game” and numerous spy flicks, but it’s all really just an excuse to get Seaver’s most beloved, iconic and offensive character, Teen Ape, out and about and doing what he does best – pissing everybody off. And like Teen Ape, the production as a whole, has a very unpredictable feel to it, as if anything could happen at any moment. It's hardly a shock to think that a film of this nature would ever receive studio backing, which is why independent filmmaking, in my opinion, is where it's at because it essentially gives filmmakers like Chris Seaver the freedom to explore all creative avneues in order to arrive at something original, something they can call their own. The whole film is really just an exercise in absurd surrealism, an exercise in pushing stylistic boundaries while remaining true to the plot regardless of how minute it might be. It eventually comes full circle when a character named Bag Head appears from out of nowhere to save Teen Ape. As a homage to other films, this scene works, as does the decision to actually have the actors break the fourth wall and acknowledge the sheer absurdity of it all. Perfect!

About the moment in the film when you see that Teen Ape’s shoddy dollar store gorilla mask is barely covering his face, and you’ve acknowledged that the filmmaker’s aren’t even trying, at the same time acknowledging that everybody in the film is playing it straight, you’ll realize what kind of movie this is. Yes, it’s one of those films that rarely makes any logical sense but is content to exist and operate within its own pre-fabricated reality. It’s the kind of film that is made specifically for those folks out there that ‘get it’ and can totally groove to its surrealistic, non-PC vibe. At a paltry sixty-one minute running time, this flick is surprisingly energetic, charging along at breakneck speed thanks to his frenetic pacing, tight editing and clever one-liners. Almost catch phrase worthy, the dialogue, often sexually driven, is as sharp and crude as it gets, and it’ll have you snickering in shame while simultaneously trying to remember it for later use in your own social excursions. Not even Jesus Christ or the Holocaust is safe from Seaver and his raucous clan here. There are also plenty of pop cultural references, so much so, in fact, that it would literally take a notepad to keep track. The references include everything from early 80's boybands to recent Hollywood blockbusters like "Training Day" and "King Kong" to obsessive role-playing game fans to trashy straight to video concepts. Each is unapologetically given their due. The specific sequence where Choach lectures the group about guarding his safety and how a Choachless world is not a world he wants to live in, is hilarious.

Playing a character that is essentially nothing more than misogynistic, egocentric bully, one that constantly dons a gorilla mask (that purposely doesn’t fit), has long greasy hair, permanently affixed gloves, and spits out swear words like a drunken sailor at a strip bar, Casey Bowker (2001's "Scrotal Vengeance") has his work cut out for him, but, strangely enough, he delivers. Bowker is an energetic and sarcastic young man and it translates well into his character. Even though he's a mean-spirited asshole of the highest order, when Teen Ape isn’t around, you find yourself missing his presence. That says a lot, considering. AJ Stabone (2006's "Carnage The Destroyer"), as the smug and self-obsessed Choach, is possibly the film’s most natural comic, and his timing here is spot on hilarious. From the moment where he arrives, gliding into the camp as a song by The Highgears plays in the background, you’ll find yourself smirking at his chauvanstic smarm, something of which he wears proudly on his sleeve. Also memorable is Meredith Host (2005's "Heather and Puggly Drop a Deuce") as Heather, the little-too-tightly-wound, under-sexed, lead counsellor and evil mastermind of the whole thing. Aside from the fact that she’s rather beautiful, Meredith is also quite talented, and with a little more training, could probably carve out quite a successful career as a legitimate big-screen actress. Yes, she is really that good. Shawn Green (2005's "Ghoulish Chronicles from Bonejack High"), as the tantric-spewing, Ronnie James Dio loving, guitar-strumming Indian Proudfoot, is also quite good, and is indicative of all the actors in the film in that he, like the rest, seem willing to throw themselves wholeheartedly into the material, regardless of how ridiculous or unbecoming it makes them look. It is this affection for the material and the energy that they bring to the proceedings, that makes this whole thing work. The entire cast here, in fact, should be quite proud of what they have achieved.

Something I discovered after watching the film is that the Teen Ape character has actually appeared in a half dozen films for Seaver, as has Meredith Host, always reprising her Heather character. I couldn't wait to beat a path on over to their website and start doing some research, reading up on the history of Seaver and his Low Budget Pictures company. These guys are definitely offering something out of the ordinary, and I can't help but appreciate what they are doing. I mean where else can I see a guy having sex with a decapitated head while a man in an gorilla mask cackles with glee, but in a Teen Ape film? Go pick this up!