First and foremost, let me say that the LARP portrayed in Monster Camp had very little in common with LARPing in Southern California.

Our local LARPs are much more character, costume and plot heavy and a lot less nerdy.  We don’t have mind sucking moths portrayed by chubby men in silly suits.  In fact, at one LARP we had a very realistic looking dragon that was constructed by a good friend Nick Bauman, a professional prop designer and avid LARPer.  You can see some of his work here:

http://www.salacioushydes.com/Welcome.html
http://www.steampunkghostbusters.com/Salutations.html

Not to mention the castle and pavilions that Pam and I own.  Which can be seen here:

http://thewyvernmanor.com/castle.html

Now keep in mind that the LARP (if I remember correctly it was NERO West) in the film may be a perfectly acceptable organization, but it was presented as most LARPs are, as being populated by a bunch of people who don’t have a life outside LARPing.  Unfortunately, portrayals like this are the reason that most people look at LARPers as one step above Furries on the crazy scale.

There are people like that in Dying Kingdoms, Meridian, LARP Alliance, Campaign, Live Effects and the other local fantasy LARPs (I can’t speak for the Vampire LARPs because I’ve never been to one), but they are definitely an very, very small minority and for the most part exist only on the fringes of LARP organizations.  Some of the most creative, intelligent people that I have met are LARPers. The LARPers that I know, unlike some of those shown in the film do NOT use roleplaying to escape their real lives.  They have real lives.  LARPing to most of us is, like D&D, gaming in general or (in my case volleyball) is just another form of recreation.

I personally felt a bit insulted by Monster Camp.  Do you really think that Pam, Frank, Nick and I would spend time with the people that are shown in Monster Camp?  I think not!

There was one redeeming moment at about mid movie.  A man in costume said something like, “When we are children we are told to use our imagination, but sadly, when we become adults we are told not to any more.  LARPing is all about using your imagination.”

Why the producers of this movie couldn’t have shown more people like him I don’t know.  Perhaps, like most movies about D&D, LARPing, Faire and gaming in general, it’s much easier to mock and/or make fun of people who choose to be different, to focus on the lower rung of LARP society, to ridicule those who would rather use their imagination than sit in front of a TV set drinking beer watching football.

The bottom line?  As a LARPer who does not like being made fun of or painted with the same brush as a many of the obvious loosers that this film focuses on, I found Monster Camp embarrassing. This movie is right down there with Gamers (which I review here: http://thewyvernmanor.com/gamersrev.html). It doesn’t give a true picture of LARPing.  Most LARPers are not over weight pasty skinned white men with no social skills or girlfriends, who live in the parent’s basement and spend their life playing World of Warcraft when they aren’t LARPing.

Because I’m in a good mood today, I’m going to very grudgingly going to give Monster Camp Wyveries.