Sleepaway Camp (1983)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Robert Hiltzik

Writer:

Robert Hiltzik (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

...you won't be coming home!

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Summer Camp | Murder | Identity | Subjective Camera | Shot With Arrow

Cast

Felissa Rose	...	Angela
Jonathan Tiersten	...	Ricky (as Jonathan Tierston)
Karen Fields	...	Judy
Christopher Collet	...	Paul
Mike Kellin	...	Mel
Katherine Kamhi	...	Meg
Paul DeAngelo	...	Ronnie
Tom Van Dell	...	Mike
Loris Sallahian	...	Billy
John E. Dunn	...	Kenny (as John Dunn)
Willy Kuskin	...	Mozart
Desiree Gould	...	Aunt Martha
Owen Hughes	...	Artie
Robert Earl Jones	...	Ben
Susan Glaze	...	Susie

Also Known As:

Nightmare Vacation

Runtime:

88 min | USA:84 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R (DVD rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Finland:K-15 | Australia:M | Norway:18 | UK:15 (re-rating) (2004) (uncut) | UK:18 (original rating) (cut) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Argyle, New York, USA

Company:

American Eagle

Trivia:

Jane Krakowski was originally cast to play Judy.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Jonathan Tiersten's name is spelled "Tierston" in the opening credits.

Quotes:

Judy: How come Angela gets to talk to the boys all day, and WE have to play volleyball?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)

Soundtrack:

You're Just What I've Been Looking For

A ghastly ghoulish go go delight!

It had been years since I saw this movie, but I remembered the key elements. Young girl is harassed at camp, her bullies start dying off, unforgettable ending. I just never realized how big of a classic this really is. For those of you who don't know, the film starts off with a man on a boat in the middle of a lake with his two children. The boat tips over, another boat comes racing towards them and kills all but one.

Flash forward 8 years later, the sole survivor now lives at her aunts house, where she sends the girl, Angela, and her cousin, Ricky, to summer camp. At camp, Angela is brutally teased and taunted by her fellow campers. Her cousin Ricky continuously comes to her defense, but the bullies are all being killed off by a mysterious unknown attacker. All of this leads up to an ending that I believe to be one of the most shocking in cinema history.

Felissa Rose gave an excellent performance as Angela, who makes you sympathize heavily for her, due to her soft mannered and soft spoken personality. She is very much the kid we all were, and some of you might still be. A vulnerable target for those with a superiority complex, very much the outcast.

Writer/Director Robert Hiltzik fills the film to the brim with psychological undertones, masterfully creating a genuine thriller out of this low grade, slasher extraordinare. But you don't care about that, do ya'. You want gore! And while it's not an overtly gory film, there are enough offerings of blood here and there to keep you gorehounds satisfied. Not to mention some nifty death scenes. And the ending, my friends, is what makes Sleepaway Camp worth the watch. That's not to say SC isn't a good film, in my opinion it's great, but for those of you who have no clue as to how it ends... You will not be disappointed. They just don't make horror films like this anymore, folks.