It may not have had the big budgets, celebrities or endorsements of Scream, Urban Legend or I Know What You Did Last Summer, but Campfire Tales had one thing these three movies lacked: true horror.<br /><br />This film tackled the subject of urban legends a year before the aptly titled and less than enthralling Urban Legend did. It was intriguing, masterfully scripted and logical in a way I Know What You Did Last Summer could only dream of. Finally, it held its focus and finished with a flurry while Scream fizzled and died.<br /><br />What's most exciting about the film is the variety of horror that the writers and directors achieved. The overarching story of teenagers around a campfire was classic dread at the unknown (but certainly expected) doom that awaited them in the forest, but the tales themselves are where the movie really shined.<br /><br />The opening sequence is pure, fast-paced urban myth. It's based on a popular legend, and the director plays on this with the style and pace of the action, making it more enthralling because we know what's going to happen.<br /><br />The first campfire tale is a straight-forward thriller. Based on another popular myth, we don't actually realize this until the end, both because it blends so well into the story and because the action keeps our attention. Being the thriller of the trilogy, this one plays off our fear of the unknown and includes several well-done "jump" sequences that don't feel nearly as cheap or contrite as those in movies like Scream or Urban Legend.<br /><br />The second tale is more suspense. This time, though the characters still don't know what's going on, we do, and this provides the horror. No need for cheap thrills here.<br /><br />The final tale contains elements of the supernatural and uses a creepy/trippy atmosphere to scare the viewer. Because we can relate so easily to the characters and their situation, our fear comes from their intensity and what they can't explain. This is the true ghost story of the trio.<br /><br />I didn't expect to enjoy Campfire Tales when I rented it. I figured that if I didn't like its more acclaimed, bigger-budget counterparts, how could I like it?<br /><br />The truth is, though, this film succeeds where the others fell far short of the mark.