1983 Directed by Robert Hiltzik
Slightly disturbed and painfully shy Angela Baker is sent away to summer camp with her cousin. Not long after Angela's arrival, things start to go horribly wrong for anyone with sinister or less than honorable intentions.
Felissa Rose Jonathan Tiersten Karen Fields Christopher Collet Mike Kellin Katherine Kamhi Paul DeAngelo Thomas E. van Dell Loris Sallahian John E. Dunn Willy Kuskin Desiree Gould Owen Hughes Robert Earl Jones Susan Glaze Frank Trent Saladino Rick Edrich Fred Greene Allen Breton Michael C. Mahon John Churchill Dan Tursi James Paradise Paul Poland Alyson Mord Carol Robinson Alexander Bram Hand Brad Frankel Dee Dee Friedman Show All…
Kamp za prespavati, Summercamp Inferno, Acampamento Sangrento, Nightmare Vacation, A halál angyala, Uspiony obóz, Campamento de verano, Kesäleiri, Blutiger Sommer, Campamento Sangriento, Sleepaway Camp - Das Camp des Grauens
I tear up every time Angela speaks for the first time. I love this movie. For all the reasons I love my favorite slashers. I love that it's half summer camp movie. I love the camper melodrama. I love the baseball game and that kid's Asia shirt. As a former "quiet kid," I find myself empathizing with Angela as she's constantly harassed. If only I had a killer stare like that as a kid.
More stuff I love:
1. When characters hang out and do 'not plot stuff' like play baseball for a solid 5+ minutes. I don't why, but I find this vaguely rebellious. It makes me giddy.
2. Vague, deeply problematic, but potentially subversive and radical…
As a transwoman, I feel expected to be offended by this film by its reputation in the community. Fortunately, I am not bound by my sisters' tendency of rote dismissal towards bigoted art or especially imperfectly phrased art, as this merely is.
It's rather surprising to me this isn't more widely celebrated in trans circles. Of all the slashers I've seen, This is the only one I think I have actually rooted for death in. The film is so removed from any semblance of emotional reality that death doesn't mean the same thing as it would in a film with even a modicum of realism. The baddies are so cartoonishly irredeemable, picking on Angela just because she's an easy target.…
The most disturbing image in this movie isn't that final shot, it's the fact that Meg seems genuinely into the idea of shagging that rancid old camp owner.
I recently watched Final Exam and mentioned how very gay all of the subtext was, but damn I had forgotten about this camp slasher that is dripping with homoeroticismness, right? Not many horror movies feature guys wearing less clothing than girls, male nudity with no female nudity, and unambiguously gay characters that aren’t caricatures, but here we were in 1983 and Robert Hiltzik couldn’t give a f*ck about your genre expectations and I say well done to that.
The kills are also pretty fantastic and even though some are only implied, they are still brutal af. I’ll never not be a tiny bit afraid of a hot curling iron again. Felissa Rose and Jonathan Tiersten are great as the main campers and…
So much wrong with this film. I wonder if there was subversion going on or if Robert Hiltzik was working through some personal issues while writing/directing this oddity. Sometimes, it seems John Waters influenced and other times, just awkward and unintentionally funny.
The Scream Factory Blu-ray has a great restoration.
Special features
• New 2K scan of the original camera negative
• New Commentary with actors Felissa Rose (“Angela”) and Jonathan Tiersten (“Ricky”)
• New Commentary with writer/director Robert Hiltzik, moderated by SleepawayCampMovies.com webmaster Jeff Hayes
• Original Audio Commentary with writer/director Robert Hiltzik and star Felissa Rose
• At the Waterfront After the Social: The Legacy of Sleepaway Camp – new interviews with Robert Hiltzik, Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten,…
This review was written in 2011, I believe:
How many times is a rip-off able to surpass the thing it owes its' existence to? Only two films come to mind (Piranha is the other). Friday the 13th had great pieces but really didn't come together to be the best it could be (though it's still a personal favorite and always will be). Sleepaway Camp aims lower but nonetheless passes with Sleaze Honors. In the arena of so-bad-it's-good horror movies - bad acting, character stereotypes or costumes that garner a reputation of their own, expository lines of dialogue that inspire riotous laughter ("Meet me at the waterfront after the social" has become this movie's "Nilbog! It's Goblin spelled backwards!") - this…
Jesus H-Bomb Christ.
First time watch.
And I even knew the ending. Still blew me away.
And not in a Shyamalan way! More in a ‘sit down, your mother and I are getting a divorce’ way.
Good lord. Good Christ. Sweet Jesus.
Still though, solid score.
Holy shit...I did not see this one coming at all.
I've heard that Sleepaway Camp had an interesting ending so for years now I've been waiting to get my hands on the box set and making sure I never read anything about the series. It definitely paid off.
Friday the 13th and The Burning this is not...You won't find the same quality but that doesn't mean this movie suffers. As far as I'm concerned I just watched a trashy slasher classic.
I would list the kills here but I don't want to ruin them for anyone. Some are better than others but the really cool ones are fantastic.
The last thing I wanted to point out is that apparently the 80's was filled to the brim with bulges. They're everywhere.
too real...........
impossible to begrudge anyone who says this movie is transphobic, of course. but god. i feel it, you know? shrinking away from people's touch and freezing at confrontation and feeling monstrous, just like a shrieking hissing nightmarish creature whose gaping mouth can swallow anyone whole. i dunno folks. even knowing the "twist" i was deeply shaken by the ending. this is all time stuff for me i think.
Hey you! Yeah, you! Avid horror fan and lover of every nook and cranny of the genre. Tell me, why have you not watched this yet? A mere 800 people have logged this film as watched on Letterboxd which is a crime as it is a cult and genre classic that should get more attention.
Sleepaway Camp is the epitome of 'so bad it's good'. This has a lot to do with the fact that I cannot get rid of the feeling it was all done intentionally. Many performances, especially from the adult cast, are so unbelievably camp and bad they have a feel to them as if they have been told to act badly in stead of them being…
