Sleepaway Camp

This isn't exactly what comes to mind when I think about camp movies How this escaped my attention for such a long is beyond me Based on my only experience with summer camp Camp Arawak certainly feels like a real campground Speaking from my own experience they certainly got the mean spirited bullying kids part right and the kids feel like actual teen's and not 20 somethings Also I liked the gore effects I think most people know by now about the notorious ending But because It slipped under my radar for so long and I try to to avoid spoilers when watching something for the first time As usual I never saw the ending coming.

Slightly disturbed and painfully shy Angela Baker (Felissa Rose) is sent away to summer camp with her foul-mouthed cousin Ricky Thomas (Jonathan Tiersten). Not long after Angela's arrival, things start to go horribly wrong for anyone with sinister or less than honorable intentions.

This film is either loved or hated, and with good reason, but it has been embraced more and more as the years go on by fans of the horror genre. The acting is excessively cheesy, especially from Desiree Gould, but purposely so. The kills are grisly and nasty, even if not always shown on screen. When that curling iron strikes, you know the situation. And the pedophile cook? Oh man... that is pushing boundaries that even horror films dare not cross (Freddy Krueger can be a child killer, but not a child molester).

One cannot vouch for the next two sequels, which have little connection to this film, but the original stands as a true modern classic, and if you have not seen it, you are really missing out on an important piece of horror history. What could have been a ripoff of other horror slashers that take place at camp (notably "Friday the 13th") turns out to be far different from any other title out there. And keep in mind the whole crew, more or less, had just come from "Creepshow", so these were folks who knew what they were doing.

Writer-director Robert Hiltzik (who graduated NYU with Ang Lee) mysteriously went decades without directing again. Many of the actors also never acted again, at least for a long time. And then you have Christopher Collet, going on to make such things as "Prayer of the Rollerboys"... does that make him the biggest success from this film?

Not only does the film get better with repeated viewings (which make the humor and camp more fun), but there are actually some clever subplots that will likely be missed on the first time or two. Mel Kostic (portrayed wonderfully by the late Mike Kellin) not only is one of the best characters, but has his own story and relationship with the campers and counselors that may not be immediately evident.

The Scream Factory Blu-ray is ridiculously good and worth owning. Beyond the excellent presentation, it has three different audio commentaries, where you learn odd trivia like Felissa Rose's husband Deron Miller meeting her as a fan, and much more. There is even a short film showing whatever happened to Judy (although it is not very good).

After some VERY dramatic, ominous music during a panning shot of the titular camp Arawak, SLEEPAWAY CAMP begins.

Right off the bat, tragedy strikes on the lake. We know this mostly because of the water-skier who won't stop screeching like a pint-sized tornado siren.

Several years later, the scene switches to the soon-to-be camper, Ricky (Jonathan Tiersten). He and his shy cousin, Angela (Felissa Rose) are getting ready to leave. Angela survived the aforementioned tragedy, and was taken in by her Aunt, Ricky's -extremely odd- mum. Next stop, the camp.

It's probably not a good sign, when one of the first adults to be introduced, obviously likes kids a bit TOO much! He's Artie (Owen Hughes) the cook, and he's one of the most vile characters since the gargantuan neighbor in ALICE SWEET ALICE! Yecch! Don't worry though, he quickly becomes... overheated.

As it turns out, there's no shortage of creeps and jerks at Camp Arawak, which means there are lots of victims for whoever starts bumping them off in grisly ways. Most are vindictive idiots like Judy (Karen Fields) and Meg (Katherine Kamhi), who simply must torment Angela as LOUDLY! AS! POSSIBLE! This could be a long summer, if anyone lives through it!

Though everyone remembers this movie's "shock" finale, the rest of it is interesting in that it contains so many hateful, unbalanced characters. EXHIBIT A): Mel (Mike Kellin), who's unwarranted paranoia verges on the maniacal! This is especially disturbing, since he runs the camp!

EXTRA POINTS FOR: #1- The fake mustache on the cop at the end! #2- The cheap, cheeezey, yet somehow creepy song during the end credits!...

"Sleepaway Camp" had been talked up to me by friends and associates as a unique entry into the slasher film sweepstakes, and they're right. Never before do I remember slasherfilmvictims being so mean, foul-mouthed, and spiteful. Not a single character in this film exists above redemption. And most of them get killed off.

There's an uneasy sexual undercurrent plodding about this film, from the camp chef (who calls the kids "baldies") to the treatment of homosexuality to the shot of a dozen bare-assed guys going for a night swim ... to a teenage counselor going on a "date" with the old, crusty camp owner. Perversions run high here, and not on a level that most will enjoy. The killing scenes are inventive, plentiful, and happen on a regular basis throughout the movie, and the reaction shots to these killings seem to go on forever, which make them all the more difficult to endure.

This was part of a Cheesy Horror night and most of the time my friends and I were just amused by the funny 80s hair and clothes but the ending freaked us out, it is really creepy! And, they freeze it on a freaky image for nearly(if not all) the whole credits. Ick. Nobody expected the ending to be what it was. Most of the film is your standard summer camp horror movie - though the body count is rather high - kids getting it on, pranks etc.

I recommend this film for its 80s value AND shock ending, though now everybody has told you the ending is shocking then you will probably spend the whole movie trying to figure out what it is.