Sleepaway Camp (1983)

"She's a real carpenter's dream: flat as a board and needs a screw!"

By the time Sleepaway Camp was released, the slasher genre was entering a funk, with major backlash from critics and viewers alike. A lot of it was understandable; the mechanics of Halloween and Friday the 13th had been bastardised and pillaged so much that little seemed fresh in the sub-genre, and the budgets had shrunk so low that every small-time company was getting in on the action. Still, there was life in the bloodied beast even by 1983, and sure A Nightmare on Elm Street was only just around the corner. So just how well does Sleepaway Camp hold up in comparison to its bigger budgeted brothers?

Opening with a freak boating accident that leaves young Angela (Felissa Rose) without a father and brother, she is sent to live with her overbearing aunt and cousin, Ricky (Jonathan Tiersten). Jump to eight years later, and the two are being sent to Summer Camp for the holidays. Angela has developed into an extremely shy teen; a girl who feels out of place with everyone. It doesn't take long for the bitchy, older girls to start picking on her, and the only one who'll defend her is Ricky. As if the bullies weren't bad enough, there is also the sleazy, paedophile cook on the camp who has his eye on Angela. He soon has a terrible accident... or did he? Bodies soon begin to pile up in the camp; many of them are those that have picked on Angela. Though most of them look like accidents, it doesn't take long before sharp, pointed objects are piercing flesh. But just who is the killer? Is it Ricky, trying to defend his cousin? Or perhaps the boy who fancies her? it couldn't be Angela, could it? Surely not, she's just a girl?

On paper, Sleepaway Camp sounds typical of a slasher film from the era. Summer camp? Check. Unknown killer? Check. Gory deaths? Check. Shock ending? Check. But it's how the film uses these genre staples and twists them slightly is what makes Sleepaway Camp so memorable. The summer camp is actually populated by what do look like children and early teens, for a change. There's no empty camp being prepped by 20-year-olds here. Which makes the idea of a killer stalking children or teens that little bit more disturbing, and makes all the odd, sexual comments and sleaziness seem more real, too. Kids swear at each other, and say horrible things about each other. They talk about sex in a way early teens talk about it. But you also get other elements such as the cook. He is probably one of the sleaziest characters in a slasher film (when viewing the kids running from the bus, he exclaims; "Look at all that young fresh chicken! Where I come from, we call em 'baldies'!") and his death is truly justified. This oddness and impurity of the older characters spreads like a disease throughout the film; the truly bizarre aunt with her strange ideas on raising children, through to the camp owner who is only interested in saving his ass and potentially getting laid from one of the teenage girls. Do these kids really stand a chance against a killer with these kind of adults to protect them?

The deaths are quite unusual, too. Most of them don't involve knives or axes, instead we get 'accidents'; the cook is nearly boiled alive when a vat of hot water is tipped over him, a boy seemingly drowns during a late night swim (the shot of the snake moving out his dead mouth is a particularly gruesome moment), and another boy is stung to death by bees when a nest is dropped into the toilet cubicle with him. Sure, by the time the third act is rolling around, girls are being stabbed in showers and another unfortunate lady meets her end via curling tongs, but the film does a fine job with subverting expectations throughout. This of course, leads us to the climax, and the shock ending. It's one of the main reasons the film is so well remembered. I won't spoil it here just in case you haven't seen it, but the first time I saw the film, it completely caught me off guard. It was a disturbing, gruesome ending to a strange film, and it stuck in my head for days.

The film was written and directed by Robert Hiltzik, whose only other directing credit is the belated 4th entry in the series, The Return to Sleepaway Camp in 2008. I think it's a pity, as he does a great job here with creating tension, suspense and horror. He keeps the largely inexperienced cast in check, and manages to get reasonable-to-good performances from them all. The film also looks great in terms of presentation, and the effects are fantastic.

Sadly, many horror fans (or even just casual horror viewers) tend to look at the film as campy trash. any group screenings I've been to for it usually have people cackling along to the oddly-delivered lines, or giving it the general 'MST3K' treatment. In ways, it makes sense - the film is odd and filled with strange performances with dialogue that will likely get laughs from people (other moments, like the beefy camp counsellor with the shorts that are just too tight will leave you scratching your head). But re-watching it recently on my own brought back that first time I happened upon it, when the horror and tension really shone through the rough spots, and the ending still worked a treat. If this is one you've been on the fence about watching, or haven't seen it in decades, give it a chance. Hopefully you'll find that there's a great little horror film buried under the 'campy' reputation.