This movie starts off as a campy regular flick, but wow what a twist!

Sleepaway Camp, a well-known cult classic among horror enthusiasts, is what I'd consider to be a "great bad movie". It was director Robert Hiltzik's first film (and, really, he only went on to direct one other distant sequel) and one he should be pretty proud of, really.The film opens with a dad and two kids playing out on a lake. There are some teenagers nearby driving a speedboat rather recklessly, who tragically crash into the family, killing the father and one of the children. We fast forward 8 years to Angela (Felissa Rose), the survivor of the accident, heading off to Camp Arawak with her cousin Ricky (Jonathan Tiersten), who she now lives with. She is understandably traumatized by the events and extremely shy and quiet as a result, which makes for lots of teasing at camp (and lots of punishment for those who tease…).** SPOILERS! **Overall, this is your typical campy (literally and figuratively) teen slasher. It was riding the waves of Friday the 13th (released in 1980) and the similarities are unmistakable — gruesome killings played out in an act of vengeance on camp kids and their counselors. Sounds a bit familiar. But really, who doesn't like a campy teen slasher film?Ricky's mom (Desiree Gould) keeps the weirdness factor up right away with her WILDLY over-the-top acting and just plain bizarre persona.Despite the acting not being the greatest (is it ever?) and the sheer number of short shorts and crop tops (mostly on the muscular male counselors), some of the kills are surprisingly awesome. The counselor getting drowned under the canoe was nothing wild until you see his corpse the next morning with a water snake slithering out of his mouth. The disgusting pervert of a head chef got DRENCHED in boiling water and the length of time he is allowed to go on screaming in agony is, well, satisfying in context. Or Judy (Karen Fields) getting killed with a hair curler, where it's more about what we don't see than what we do.This movie is also now responsible for one of my favorite moments ever: when one of the other kids says "Eat sh*t and die, Ricky!" and Ricky responds, in all seriousness, "eat sh*t and live, Bill". Brilliant.But the real reason we will all remember this movie forever: THE ENDING, HOLY GODDAMN. Honestly, Angela being the killer didn't surprise me for a second. I thought that was obvious from the very beginning. But the twist of her actually being Paul and raised as Angela because crazy Aunt Martha "always wanted a daughter" was a doozy, and the visual of his surprisingly-muscular-for-a-pre-teen's naked body drenched in blood as he hisses maniacally was just… wow. Wow. Wow.On top of it being a WILD leap into left field, it made the motivation behind the killings a bit deeper… surprisingly deep for an early 80s slasher film, really. I wish it had been explored more and given the attention it deserved, but it introduced these sort of half- baked ideas of sexual repression, trauma from sexual molestation, and being forced to live in a body that isn't your own into the film, which was interesting even if not fully fleshed out.Ultimately, worth a watch JUST for the ending alone. For real.

Sleepaway Camp was released in the early heyday of 80's slasher films, sandwiched between Friday the 13th (1980) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Sleepaway Camp clung to the summer camp motif that began three years prior, as well as a particular camera angle that was first effectively used more than two decades earlier. Clinging even harder to the franchise that first began making teens afraid to attend any summer overnights, the movie opens years before its initial time setting, demonstrating a borrowed need to establish a rhyme and reason for the inevitable blood shedding.After a tragic incident while swimming in a lake (sound familiar yet?), Angela (Felissa Rose) attends a summer camp along side her protective cousin Ricky (Jonathan Tiersten), who despite his small frame is willing to stand up to anyone for his introverted cousin. After being introduced to the crusty ex-gym teacher looking camp owner Mel (Mike Kellin), whose attempts to cover up each murder as accidents, we are quickly thrown into the cruel world that befalls Angela. As the body count rises, so does the bullying, allowing for multiple suspects to open up within the realm of psychopaths; could it be Angela, the one being bullied, or Ricky, the aggressive protector, or possibly Paul (Christopher Collet), Angela's new admirer?Throughout the film we are continually guessing, as director Robert Hiltzik admiringly utilizes the first person camera established back in 1960 with the then controversial film Peeping Tom. After being re-established in John Carpenter's Halloween, and again two years later in Friday the 13th, its use is still as effective as ever, allowing us to bare witness to the slaughter head on, while keeping us guessing until that final shot.What kept the slasher genre running strong in theaters back in the day was its innovative, gory, and clever means of killing off hapless bystanders, attempting to give audiences its moneys worth. While Sleepaway Camp certainly doesn't bore the average gore seeker, it doesn't bring anything new to the table, with the most exciting kill feeling like a tribute to Lucio Fulci's The Beyond. Where the film truly excels is its perverse nature and promiscuity, wrapped around a well structured murder mystery. Even after the final shot is revealed and we're given a twist ending not seen since Norman Bates donned his Grandmother's wig, the suggestive perversion sits with us, seeping into our skin well past the credits.While Sleepaway Camp handles material that had been utilized before in a much sleeker and effective manner, all that doesn't stop it from becoming one of the defining slasher films of its time. It doesn't quiet sit up on the throne with the likes of Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Friday the 13th, but with it use of the first person camera and a twist ending sure to make you tweet everyone you know, Sleepaway Camp has taken its post amongst cult- horror, and it isn't going anywhere.

I've just watched Sleepaway Camp for the first time, so maybe i'm still in shock and should wait a little before writing a review, but I might as well immortalize my initial emotions. I'll try to make it short. Sleepaway camp is a classic for its ending, otherwise it would be a terrible knock-off of Friday the 13th. It has an original script with elements of surprise that makes this low budget film very unique. I got to admit; at first, I wasn't expecting much. People were saying lots of things about the finale and how DISTURBING it is and I was just thinking to myself: Yes people, like I've never heard that song before... I'm not scared of horror films, period. The ratio of horror films I watch and horror films that scare me basically tells me that I'm not scared easily. I grew up with this stuff. Horror, gore and creepy things are what I like and I feel comfortable in it. I can count on ONE hand all the films that legitimately scared me, and this one is now on the list. It literally made me think twice about my desperate search for a good scare and why I should just stop (I won't though..) I'm not kidding people, the finale is something. I was watching the movie and thought to myself: There's NO WAY this cheesy film can have such a good ending, just how ?? Well I got my answer pretty quickly and I will NEVER forget this movie EVER... Now excuse me, but I'll try to go to sleep now... If that haunting conclusion could just leave me alone..