There is a certain type of low-budget comedy that feels almost tailor-made for the lowest possible fidelity. It is the kind of movie that you find at the bottom of a bargain bin at a gas station, or on a shelf in a rental shop closed for fifteen years. Bad Counselors takes its place in that niche, but it is a loud, vulgar mess that somehow manages to be a decent enough time if you just toss it in a night with a drink and lowered expectations.
It stars a motley crew of misfits forced to supervise a summer camp for troubled teens, either by choice or by the court's order. They are a bunch of unqualified, egocentric adults who have nothing better to do with their lives than hang out with a bunch of hormone-fueled teenagers. Naturally, the camp counselor's incompetence is balanced out by the stress of the overworked but perfectly competent administrator running the camp.
If you have seen Meatballs, Wet Hot American Summer, or Bad Teacher, you know what this movie basically is. It is a comedy that follows a group of adult counselors at a summer camp who are terrible at their jobs, but eventually learn to care about the campers, leading to a series of events that usually involve either rescuing the camp from closure or winning an intra-camp competition against a group of privileged rich kids.
What makes Bad Counselors work when so many similar movies fail is the cast's commitment. There is practically no refinement in the humor. It leans very heavily on the crass, improvised, and unpleasant. It is good when it works, but the jokes fall flat as much as they hit when the cast has to ad-libbed their lines.
The protagonist, played by a sweaty actor in the lead role, is a deluded counselor who gives terrible advice to his teen charges with such conviction that it somehow works. He has chemistry with the campers, and the way that he gives them unsanctioned pointers on how to exact vengeance upon those who have wronged them is probably the most genuinely funny part of the movie.
The rest of the counselors are an uneven mix of personalities. There is some classic camp-film tropes, like a hyper-macho survivalist who takes things too seriously, leading to some legitimately funny moments. However, the movie also has some subplots that involve the counselors finding romance with the staff that it tries really hard to make them not work. Each time the movie tries to pivot to the counselors finding love, the movie becomes unbearably slow. No one buys this DVD for the romance, and that's a blessing because it is the movie's weakest component.
The look of the movie is very much a mid-range digital production from the late 00s. Outside of the occasional nicely-lit shot, the colors are washed out, the lighting is dim, and the compositions are basic. However, watching it on DVD almost feels right because the compression artifacts and low-def transfer evoke the feeling of a B-movie from the early 2000s. It almost feels like something I saw on a cable channel in a hotel room at 2:00 AM.
Speaking of the DVD, it is a barebones release, which is fitting for a barebones film. The film presents itself in a standard 1.85:1 transfer, and a 5.1 Dolby Digital mix that has a heavy front emphasis. It is not particularly immersive or detailed, but the dialogue is easy to understand.
The special features section on the main menu is light, but it has a couple of genuine treats for the fan of low-budget filmmaking. There is an eight-minute blooper reel that sometimes feels funnier than the movie itself since you get to see the actors ad-libbing lines and laughing at how bad they are. There is a series of deleted and extended scenes, some of which contain more improvisation that was rightly cut due to the time constraints. A couple of the additional counselor banter scenes would have been nice, but the forced romantic subplots were better left on the cutting room floor.
There is no commentary track by the director, which is a shame. It would have been nice to hear their thoughts about filming on a shoestring budget on a municipal park for three weeks. Instead, you get the theatrical trailer gallery for other low-budget comedies from the same label. It is simple and cheap, but it is entirely appropriate for the movie.
Bad Counselors is not a film that changed the world, nor is it anything I would reflect on days or weeks later after seeing it. It is an ugly, loud movie with few jokes that miss their mark. However, in an era where so many comedies are carefully crafted and vetted for maximum broad appeal, sometimes it is nice to see something that embraces its tackiness and goes full-steam ahead. Bad Counselors knows what it is, and it delivers on style, hitting the right jokes at the right time before wrapping up in ninety minutes. It is messy, mean-spirited, and stupid, but ultimately it gets the job done.
If you are looking for something more satirical or character-driven, this movie is most certainly not for you. However, if you have a fondness for cheap campy comedies this is a DVD worth watching on a weekend afternoon.
Bad Counselors is available to own today!
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