Sleepaway Camp
A young girl, mute from a terrible accident that took her fathers life when she was a child, attends a summer camp with her cousin. But people begin mysteriously getting injured around the camp- some, even murdered. But who is behind the killings, and more importantly why?
Everybody remembers their best friend from summer camp. My best camp friend was this guy named Timothy and he was a huge fan of Disney Channel and was from Canada.
As a broke kid from California who couldn’t afford cable, ALL of these aspects of Tim were foreign to me. But he was super friendly and I still smile when I see his posts on Instagram.
None of those summer camp vibes are present in Sleepaway Camp. There was no Tim vibe. There was no Disney Channel vibes. It was all around a strange vibe: a thrilling ‘whodunnit,’ calloused teenagers interacting with shifty adults, and a downright disappointing (and dated) ending. I had heard about the movie for a couple years, often noted as a great slasher from the early days. I finally got around to watching it within the last year, and I don’t even know where to start with it.
The premise of the movie is Angela, a girl who no longer speaks after seeing her family killed in a boating accident, attends a summer camp with her cousin. As the camp adventures begin, things quickly start going wrong- in the most foulest of manners. People begin dying in the typical slasher-camp manner, with us as viewers never privy to who is behind it all. At least, not until the big reveal.
What I enjoyed about the movie (besides it being a slasher made during the golden-age of slashers) was the ‘whodunnit’ aspect of the movie. It wasn’t ground-breaking or unheard of for the time (Friday the 13th did something very similar in 1980). But it was very enjoyable. The movie had the tropes that were common for slashers- cheesy lines, plenty of blood, promiscuous teens, and unreasonable adults. So those are always fun to see play out.
But there were several things I was not a fan of in the movie. The ending of the movie is a real WTF moment that is dated AF. When you see the end, you will clearly understand how dated this movie was. There were plenty of other scenes that made me wonder what the hell was going on. For example, the man running the camp seems to be a couple holes short of a Jason mask, if you get my drift. To me, it didn’t really seem to add anything to the plot, so I was unsure of why that was necessary. And also, the acting was beyond terrible in a couple scenes, even for a slasher during that time.
Rating: I give this movie 6 dead camp counselors out of 10. There are some redeeming factors to the movie, such as the back story of the main character and the well-executed point of view angle. But it’s not enough to cover up the corny acting and the terrible reveal.
If you are looking for a movie in the same vein, start with the king of camp slashers- Friday the 13th. It’s a classic for a reason. And there's literally a whole franchise of movies to check out- one of them has to be your forte (I love both Jason X and Freddy vs. Jason, regardless of what people say). You can also check out Hatchet, which is a modern movie with very classic slasher vibes. During a tour of a haunted swamp, a group of tourists awaken a vengeful killer, looking to kill all who disturb his swamp.
For things on the literary side, Grady Hendrix’s My Best Friend’s Exorcism is a great read. A girl finds out her best friend has been possessed during a group trip to drop acid. As she attempts to save her friend from what is happening to her, she wonders if it is even worth it as her life falls apart. But best friends are forever, right? You can also check out novel versions of Friday the 13th- six of the 12 movies have been adapted into novels.
Next time you are debating about going to a sleepaway camp, consider your options… and maybe just stay home and watch a classic instead.
Until next time…
-M