Six friends travel from Detroit to the remote northern woods of Michigan for a weekend at Deer Camp. They stop for drinks at a bar, and our hero, Wes, becomes smitten with the bartender, a Native American woman named Star. A fight breaks out between our protagonists and a group of local rednecks, and Star breaks it up. Later, she steps out back and is murdered by an unseen assailant. Our clueless group heads out, Wes leaving Star a note saying where they are going. Camping, drinking, hunting, bickering and guys just being gross ensues. The sheriff arrives and tells them about Star and warns them every time a Native American woman is murdered in the area, more bodies follow. The guys ignore the warning and continue to party until something comes out of the woods and begins hunting them. Who or what is responsible for the killings and will anyone survive to return to the relative safety of Detroit?

Deer Camp ’86 is a low-budget throwback horror film steeped in nostalgia for the 1980s. The picture captures the vibe with a variety of pop culture references and one surprising appearance of Billy Squier on the soundtrack. There is a fun scene of a character named Simon playing the Simon video game that may go over the heads of younger viewers. I’m not sure the dedication stretches to include age-appropriate vehicles or labels, but the filmmakers’ hearts are in the right place. The archetypes that make up the cast include the sensitive guy, the overweight redneck, the Black guy, the Hispanic veteran, the good-old-boy with a truck, and the bumbling nerd. Comradery is stronger with some, but others I shake my head and wonder how these guys are hunting buddies, much less friends.

Director L. VanDyke Siboutszen makes a promising debut, working from a script by fellow first timers Bo Hansen and Riley Taurus. With an abundance of similar-themed films, it is growing more and more difficult to tell a compelling story about people going camping in the woods and not coming home. Deer Camp ’86 has its moments, but for the most part it is just more of the same. My favorite line setting up possible future car trouble is: “The doe knocked the battery cable loose, give me a push.” There are some good ideas and surprises along the way, but the writers commit the cardinal sin of having the characters occasionally do really dumb things because the script needs the plot to advance in a particular direction. Another detested fallback is the lazy concept of constant bickering among friends. You’re on vacation with your buddies – act like you want to be here!

The cast of relative newcomers is generally solid, led by Noah LaLonde (Asbury Park) as Wes. He is likeable and reasonable and keeps his head in a crisis. Jay J. Bidwell (Return of the Dead) plays Buck, who along with Brian Michael Raetz (Quicksand) as J.B., fills the good old boy quota, and Josh Dominguez (Echoes of Violence) plays the intense veteran Karlos. Filling out the core cast are Arthur Cartwright (Vanishing on 7th Street) as Simon, the most sensible of the bunch, and David Lautman (The Haunted Files) as nerdy Egbert (aka “Ep”). Supporting cast members include Tina Manera (The Secret Children) as Star and Paul Wilson (The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It) as Sheriff Paulson. There are no standout performances to speak of but no stinkers in the bunch either.

Deer Camp ’86 has its share of stumbling blocks, but somehow it entertains more often than not. There are some respectable effects and the villain looks cool with minimal CGI. The script does a fine job balancing horror and comedy, saving the silliest moments for a fun set of closing credits. I give this one a passing recommendation and am curious to see what the filmmakers do next. Catch it streaming if you can before committing to a purchase, but fans of deep woods horror comedies will want to add this one to their collection.