A new exploration of humanity's dark side has proven Netflix is still capable of shocking us with its real-life stories. But why are viewers finding "Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare" particularly "sickening"?
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00:00 Sometimes Netflix serves up a true crime documentary so salacious, we can't help but park ourselves
00:06 on the couch, glue our eyes to the screen, and binge the whole thing from beginning to
00:10 end.
00:11 Such was the case recently with Murdoch Murders, a Southern scandal, which had viewers around
00:16 the world tuning in.
00:17 It does say in the Old Testament, an eye for an eye.
00:22 In fact, Netflix has consistently offered up a stream of quality true crime docs that
00:26 delve into all manner of sordid affairs.
00:29 From making a murderer to the staircase, Other People's Trauma has proven a reliably popular
00:33 genre for the streamer, which has capitalized as much as anyone on our ongoing love affair
00:38 with true crime.
00:40 Now a new exploration of humanity's dark side has proven Netflix is still capable of shocking
00:44 us with its real-life stories.
00:47 Hell Camp Teen Nightmare chronicles the experiences of a group of kids sent to a wilderness therapy
00:52 camp that was basically just an abuse and torture operation disguised as a way of setting
00:57 troubled teens straight.
00:58 While Hell Camp hasn't yet become a cultural phenomenon on the level of some of Netflix's
01:02 prior docs, judging by audience reactions, it could very well catch up to the likes of
01:07 Making a Murderer and Murdoch Murders.
01:10 Hell Camp Teen Nightmare dives deep into the story of the Challenger Foundation, a two-month
01:15 wilderness therapy camp that was supposed to course-correct at-risk teens.
01:19 "It claims to transform bad kids through ordeal."
01:22 Back in the '80s, the program took teens away from their parents, often by way of staged
01:27 kidnappings, and dumped them in the wilderness to endure months of so-called "discipline"
01:31 that was meant to curb the troubled teens' bad behavior.
01:34 "When we were on the flight, he's like, 'Do you want to know where you're going?'
01:37 And I'm like, 'Nope,' because I didn't want them to know that I was afraid."
01:42 Overseen by former military special forces officer Steve Cardassano, the Challenger Foundation
01:47 forced its "attendees," if you can call them that, to hike hundreds of miles across the
01:52 Utah desert and punish them in humiliating ways if they complained.
01:56 Aside from suffering numerous indignities, one teenager tragically died while at the
02:01 camp.
02:02 "It's just, you know, you think it's gonna help."
02:06 It's no surprise, then, that people are finding Hell Camp a little too much to take, with
02:11 viewers warning others of the harrowing events depicted in the film.
02:14 The Daily Mail rounded up a few quotes from ex-users shocked by the whole affair, with
02:18 one tweeting,
02:19 "Highly recommend to everyone to never watch Hell Camp Teen Nightmare.
02:24 This is disgusting on too many levels."
02:26 Meanwhile, Unilad quotes another social media post, declaring Hell Camp to be, quote, "the
02:31 most f---ed up documentary I have ever watched."
02:34 "When is it survival and discipline and when is it abuse?"
02:37 Elsewhere, the reactions continue to come in, with yet another ex-user registering her
02:42 disgust by posting,
02:43 "Hell Camp on Netflix is making me feel sick the amount of abuse those kids went through.
02:48 Oh my god, how is this allowed?"
02:50 And those are just a few of the negative reactions.
02:53 Plenty of others are so disgusted by the events in Hell Camp that they're taking to social
02:57 media to warn viewers away from the sickening documentary.
03:00 "We're talking about kids for the most part that are going to seduce your children, give
03:05 them drugs and steal your car and your jewelry if they can."
03:08 Thus far, Hell Camp hasn't hit the Netflix Top 10, but a quick look at Flixpatrol shows
03:13 it slowly gaining steam in several countries.
03:16 Once the word is out about its controversial subject matter, it will surely move up the
03:20 charts.
03:21 But there has also been criticism of the documentary for taking a sensationalist approach to a
03:25 very serious topic that remains as pertinent today as it did when Steve Cardassano was
03:30 running his horror show back in the 1980s.
03:32 "It's a force to labor, Cap."
03:34 Wilderness therapy camps are still very much a thing, and the controversy surrounding them
03:39 remains.
03:40 If nothing else, hopefully Hell Camp will generate more discussion about what looks
03:45 to be an important contemporary issue.
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