Wet Hot American Summer came out in 2001 but the titular hot summer occurs in 1981. It’s the last day of camp and hijinks ensue among the teenage camp counselors. The film is rated R for adult humor, language, and sexual content. It was a commercial flop and did not receive favorable reviews. Most notably, film critic Roger Ebert gave the film one star. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 31% based on 65 reviews and Metacritic gives the film a rating of 42% based on 24 reviews from critics.

However, this film did receive a significant cult following after its release and served as a stepping stone for the then mostly unknown cast to become big name stars in comedy and other film genres. Some of these stars include, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Bradley Cooper, and Amy Poehler. This film breaks through the typical bubble of financial failure and finds success in its own way through the appeal of nostalgia and sketch comedy, and the power of word-of-mouth. It is hilarious. It’s one of those films that you’re not sure why it’s funny, but it is.

WHAS was directed by David Wain who co-wrote and co-produced it with Michael Showalter. This original screenplay was based off of the experiences Wain had while attending a Jewish summer camp in Maine, and Showalter had while attending a summer camp in Massachusetts. The film is also a spoof of, and homage to other films in the 70s and 80s summer camp genre such as Meatballs and Little Darlings, as well as John Hughes movies like Sixteen Candles, and big ensemble films like Animal House.

The film takes place over 1 day in Waterville, Maine, but the shooting lasted for 28 days in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. They had an indie budget of $1.8 million, so the camp facilities had to be used as set pieces as well as accommodations for the cast and crew. Many of the cast members agreed that the entire experience really felt like being at a summer camp with the main difference being that they were adults and indulged in adult behaviors. There was a lot of smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. Wain had a lot of work to do to keep everyone happy, but his biggest issue during production was the heavy rain.

It rained for 25 out of the 28 shooting days. The rain and low temperatures become a logistical nightmare for Wain and crew. Luckily rain doesn’t show up on camera unless the crew specifically lights for it, so they had no choice but to shoot in the rain. In the film it looks sunny and warm but it was actually cold, and the cast had to wear many layers of clothing unless they were on screen. If they were in a shot then they had to be wearing summer clothes, like shorts or bikinis. Some scenes were changed entirely because it was just raining too hard.

When reality hit that it would be raining every day, the shot list was cut down. They added even more absurdist humor to an already absurd film so when things happened that didn’t make sense, it looked purposeful. Examples of this include making one cast member walk off the edge of a pier because they needed him to disappear before the next scene. In another scene, a character hands a trophy he is holding off camera and it just disappears. There was a complete disregard for trying to figure out logical solutions because the crew was just trying to get their film made. In one scene, some of the characters go into town, but the filmmakers didn’t have permits or crowd control. Wain just told everyone they had to run around to different places and get the shots as quickly as possible before they were kicked out.

The kids in Wet Hot American Summer are a mix of professional child actors, Camp Towanda attendees, and local extras. The number of local kids started to dwindle after their parents realized how filthy the film was. It could be argued that the cast and crew for this film were just a bunch of kids themselves. Despite the rain, mud, bugs, and freezing temperatures, everyone took advantage of the camp-like experience and just had fun with their friends. The extreme bonding and inside jokes that formed gave the cast and crew hope that audiences would love watching their film as much as they loved making it.

The film had little to no promotion, having premiered at Sundance only days after completion. The film was promoted with a budget of $5 million in order to attract more distributers. The film was panned by critics for its loose, almost non-existent structure, its curious obsession with a specific sub-genre of comedies, and for just not being funny.

When the film was released on DVD on January 15 2002, things started looking up for WHAS despite its box office and critical failure. Wain mentions on his own website that midnight screenings began in New York and other cities in August 2003 with more increasing every summer. Focus Features’ DVD and movie right revenues were boosted as WHAS gained a significant cult following.

Looking back at WHAS’ fight against money, rain, and time, it could be deemed successful just for getting finished. Success could be also argued for the cast and crew who achieved their goal of sticking with their vision. They made the movie that they wanted to make. They wrote what they found funny and didn’t try to cater to an audience demanding a certain type of comedy. As for the loose structure of the film, it is revealed to the viewer from the very beginning, thus clueing the viewer in on how they should be watching the film. A lack of narrative structure is a post-modern idea and it is used in literature all the time and helps readers understand how they should be reading the language. When a unique narrative structure is used in film, in this case WHAS, it lets the audience know that it’s purposeful and adds to the comedic effect. Unfortunately, originality isn’t always welcomed in the film industry.

Wet Hot American Summer is proof that a film can jump through all the hoops of the industry that try to keep it from getting made or distributed, and still be successful in the eyes of the people who fought to make it and the people who love to watch it.