Editor’s Note: This review is the fifth in our series on folklore adapted to film. Past reviews are posted on our ‘Reviews’ page.

Directed by:
Matt Cooper (segment The Honeymoon)
Martin Kunert (segments The Hook and People Can Lick Too)
David Semel (segments The Campfire and The Locket)

“This young couple is out parked on a country road. The girl is real nervous and uneasy. It seems that there had been a report about an escaped criminal in the area. He was supposed to be dangerous, a mad killer. They called him “The Hook” because one of his hands was missing and he wore a hook in place of it. He was supposed to have used it on all of his victims. Anyway, the girl was real uneasy for some reason. Supposedly, they were not aware of the escaped killer. She kept saying she had an uneasy feeling but she did not know why. The guy finally got mad at her. He thought she was just making up excuses because she didn’t want to park. Finally he lost his temper and stepped on the gas. He really tore out of there fast. He didn’t say a word on the way home. When they get to the girl’s house, he just got out and went around to open her door. When he got to the door, there was a hook hanging on the handle.”

The Hook (1972)
from the Urban Legends Reference Pages

I first heard the story of the homicidal maniac with the hook hand in the first grade. It made a deep impression as a story, and I’m certain my parents found it annoying that I repeated it at every opportunity for the next several years.

I’m sure it’s no accident that the makers of Campfire Tales, an anthology film released on video in 1997, chose to open with this story. The story itself is so familiar to most people that it is no longer necessary to tell it. Simply mentioning the man with the ‘hook hand’ is enough to conjure up the plot in the mind of the audience, and over time the story has morphed from a cautionary tale to a parody of the urban legend genre. The opening sequence, filmed in black and white and set in the 1950s, sets up the framing story of four stranded teens telling scary stories around a campfire.

In addition to The Hook, Campfire Tales also adapts two of my favorite stories ‘The Boyfriends Death,’ here featuring a married couple on their honeymoon, and the creepiest legend of all time ‘People Can Lick Hands Too.’ The latter sequence updates the traditional tale of a killer lurking under the bed and impersonating the family dog by licking his intended victim’s hand with the modern conceit of the internet stalker.

Despite their familiarity, the stories manage surprising levels of suspense. Both The Honeymoon and People Can Lick Too feature a few good scares, but the most effective segment of the film is an original tale with no urban legend antecedent. The Locket, starring the late Glenn Quinn of Angel, is an original ghost story with strong atmosphere and performances.

If you can’t find time to tell your own stories around the fire, then check out Campfire Tales, a reasonable facsimile of the original.