Sleepaway Camp

Plot synopsis:
Over the opening credits, we see a closed-down summer camp in the fall that is called Camp Arawak.The film opens in the summer of 1975, with a family consisting of divorcée John Baker (Dan Tursi) and his two children, Angela and Peter, out on a lake near a summer camp in upstate New York. After their small boat accidentally flips, John and the children begin to head ashore, where John's lover Lenny (James Paradise) is calling to him. As the family swims, a pair of teenagers named Marianne and Craig are pulling a water skier named Dolores in a motorboat. Craig and Marianne switch places to that the girl can drive the boat, but they fail to notice the family in the water in time and hits them, which kills both John and Peter. The survivor, Angela, is sent to live with her eccentric aunt, Dr. Martha Thomas (Desiree Gould), and Martha's son Richard "Ricky" Thomas.Eight years after John and Peter's deaths, Angela, now age 14 (Felissa Rose), and Ricky, now age 15 (Jonathan Tiersten), are sent to Camp Arawak by Martha, who reminds them not to tell anyone how they got the signatures for their physical exams. The buses arrive at the camp, and Artie (Owen Hughes), the creepy head cook, admires the children with no reservations in front of his coworkers calling them "baldies". Ricky introduces Angela to his best friend Paul (Christopher Collet), and he shows Angela around the camp since he was there last summer. Angela goes not respond when Paul talks to her and backs away after he finishes the tour. Ricky tries to talk to Judy (Karen Fields), his former girlfriend from last summer at the camp, but she hardly acknowledges him.Because of her introverted nature and her shyness, Angela is ridiculed and bullied--her main tormentors being Judy and camp counselor Meg (Katherine Kamhi). During lunchtime, Angela, having not eaten for some time, is taken into the kitchen by the sympathetic head counselor Ronnie (Paul DeAngelo) to see if there is anything in there she would like to eat. Left alone with the greasy head cook Artie, Angela is taken into a back room by Artie, who intends to molest Angela. Before any harm can come to Angela, Artie is found in the midst of unfastening his pants by Ricky, who flees from the kitchen with Angela after Artie threatens him. After the incident in the pantry, Artie is seriously injured when he is knocked off a chair by an unseen figure while tending to a large pot of boiling water that spills on most of his body. Artie's injuries are deemed accidental by camp owner Mel Costic (Mike Kellin), who pays off the rest of his kitchen staff, including the assistant cook Ben (Robert Earl Jones), to keep the event quiet and tells the replacement cooks to tell the campers that Artie left for another job.The next day, Ricky, Paul, and the rest of the boys in their cabin, including geek Mozart (Willy Kuskin), are playing baseball with Kenny (John Dunn), Mike (Tom Van Dell), Billy (Loris Sallahian), and the rest of the boys from another cabin. After Ricky wins the game to the older guys, Kenny talks with Mike about how to get back at Ricky.Later that night in the recreation cabin during a dance, Angela is accosted by Kenny and Mike, who begin mocking her for not speaking, which prompts Ricky and his friend Paul to get into a fight with the boys in which several others join in, which fulfills their plan of getting back at Ricky. After the brawl is broken up by counselor Gene (Frank Trent Saladino), Ricky and the rest of the boys involved in the fight leave while Paul stays behind and succeeds in befriending Angela by telling her about misadventures he and Ricky would get into when they were younger. The shy Angela still does not talk, but when Paul begins to leave, she speaks for the first time and tells him "good night".Later that night, Kenny is rowing a boat with his girlfriend Leslie (Lisa Buckler), and he rocks and overturns the boat. Leslie angrily swims away as Kenny, underneath the overturned boat, is attacked and pushed underwater by an unseen person. In the morning, Kenny's dead and decomposing body is found, and his death is also ruled accidental by Mel, despite suspicion from Ronnie and the police, especially a cop named Frank (Allen Breton).Later that day, Angela walks up to Paul and begins to talk to him as he watches the girls play volleyball, much to Judy's irritation. Meg tells Angela that she either must participate or do nothing, which includes talking with boys.That evening, Paul and Angela go to the rec room to watch a movie, and they later leave when the movie is over, hand in hand as Angela slowly starts to become more friendly with him. When they are alone, Paul attempts to kiss Angela, but she gets uptight and walks back to her cabin.The next day at the lake, Paul sits beside Angela, who tells him that she cannot go in the water. Paul gets up and leaves when Meg arrives. Meg then asks Angela if she is going to swim, but Angela stops talking. Meg angrily shakes the silent girl until Ronnie pulls her away and tells her to leave Angela alone.In the girls cabin, Judy approaches Angela and is angry, thinking that she got Meg into trouble. Then Judy begins mocking Angela again and asks her why she will not shower or go swimming, or change clothes with the other girls. Angela continues to be silent, (but it is clear at this point onward that she is hiding something).Later that day, Angela is hit in the face with a water balloon by Billy and his friends, who are on a cabin rooftop throwing water balloons at passersby. Mel reprimands the boys on the roof and then grounds Billy for the rest of the summer. Ricky comes to the aid of Angela and tells her, "I'll kill him!" A little later, while his friends go off to play basketball, Billy stays behind in the cabin and goes into the restroom to take a "wicked dump". An unseen person locks him in the toilet stall. The unseen person then cuts the screen behind Billy and shakes a hive full of live bees into the room. Billy eventually breaks out of the stall but is stung to death, with bees covering his face.When Mel learns about Billy's death, he becomes more unsettled because he thinks that the camp will be shut down. Mel also grows suspicious of Ricky, whom he believes is killing those who bully Angela.The relationship between Angela and Paul grows strained when, that evening, Paul attempts to make out with Angela on the beach, which causes Angela to have a flashback to her youth when she and her brother Peter witnessed their father in bed with Lenny. Angela rejects Paul, who tries to have sex with her, and runs away.The next day, Paul, being confused and angered by Angela's rejection of his advances, is easily seduced by Judy, who lures him away from a game of capture the flag, a game assembled by counselor Jeff (Rick Edrich). In the woods, Angela and Ricky talk about Paul and his intentions where Ricky expresses to Angela that he does not trust him, but Angela reminds Ricky that Paul is just a friend. They both happen by Paul and Judy kissing which prompts Angela to run off. A little later, feeling guilty about what happened between him and Judy, Paul attempts to explain himself to Angela while on the beach at the lake but this time, she does not want to talk to him.Later that day, as Paul tries again to talk to Angela, he is shooed away by Judy and Meg, who pick up Angela and throw her into the water. After being taken out of the lake by lifeguard Hal (Mike Mahon) and having sand flung at her by several small children, a clearly disturbed Angela is comforted by Ricky, who swears vengeance on her aggressors.That evening, Meg, while preparing for a date with Mel, is murdered with a knife while taking a shower, having her back sliced open. Meg's disappearance goes largely unnoticed and camp activities go on as usual with a social being held. While there, Angela is approached by Paul, who again tries to apologize over the incident with Judy. Angela, for some strange reason, tells Paul to meet her later that night at the waterfront after the social.Next, six young children, the ones who threw sand at Angela, are taken camping with counselor Eddie (Fred Greene), and when two of them ask to go back because they feel sick, Eddie takes the two back to his car and drives back to the camp. But when Eddie comes back, he finds the other four children in their sleeping bags, hacked to bits with Eddie's ax, which was used to cut wood, lying on the ground, dripping with blood.Meanwhile, Mike and Judy are kissing, and Mike hides when Mel stops to ask where Meg is. After Mel leaves, Mike decides that he'd better leave. Mel finds Meg's dead body in the shower stall and thinks that Ricky killed her to get back at him.Judy, who had decided to skip the social to be with Mike, goes back to the girls' cabin, and he is killed when the unseen killer enters, and pushes her out. The murderer shoves a pillow on her face and forces a curling iron somewhere unknown (possibly her vagina).After the social, the camp is thrown into a panic when Eddie arrives and tells the counselors about the deaths of the four children. Ricky, who missed the social because he felt sick, overhears this news before being attacked by Mel, and he accuses him of killing Meg and all the others. After beating Ricky seemingly to death, Mel stumbles into the camp archery range, where he is shot in the throat with an arrow by the real killer.Ronnie calls the police and then tells Marie (Dee Dee Friedman) to gather the other counselors to round up the surviving campers to put them into one cabin until they can root out the killer. As the counselors and the police scour the camp, Angela meets Paul on the beach, where she tells him to undress, which Paul enthusiastically agrees to do.Ronnie and Marie find the dead Meg and Mel, while Frank the cop and Gene find Ricky, who is still alive. Gene carries the badly beaten Ricky away to a waiting ambulance as Frank radios for backup.Ronnie and Susie (Susan Glaze) find Angela nude on the beach, softly singing to herself and clutching a large knife and Paul's severed head in her hands. Angela is revealed to be both the killer and a boy--the thought-to-be-dead Peter.Through flashbacks, it is shown that after Martha gained custody of him, she decided to raise Peter as a girl, already having a son and coming to the conclusion that another boy simply would not do. It's also implied that Peter/Angela was mentally affected in a very negative way by seeing his/her father sharing a homosexual embrace with another man. The film suddenly ends with the nude and blood-covered Angela, male genitalia in full view, standing before Susie and Ronnie, letting out an animalistic hissing sound.

Tags: grindhouse film, murder, cult, horror, violence, flashback, insanity

Review:
And the ending, my friends, is what makes Sleepaway Camp worth the watch.
Robert Hiltzik's "Sleepaway Camp" is one of the most memorable slasher movies ever made.Of course the acting and dialogue are terrible,but writer/director Robert Hiltzik manages to create very creepy atmosphere throughout,the killings are original and gruesome and the ending is very shocking and twisted.Felissa Rose is marvelous as Angela,especially with her creepy stare."Sleepaway Camp" is a little bit different than your standard slasher fare-it's filled with strange and deviant characters,disturbing flashbacks and sexual subtexts.There is only a little bit of gore,still we do get an arrow through the neck,severed head,a bloody stabbing and death by hair curler.Overall,"Sleepaway Camp" is a fast-paced slasher flick with a wonderful central character of Angela.Highly recommended..
It was the best damn slasher film with a camp setting of all time.
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 isn't great, but this slasher uses actual teenagers in the roles, instead of 20 somethings playing teenagers, which I feel really enhances the film.
The kills, despite not being that gory are well done.It also has some funky 80's electro-music on the soundtrack, if I remember correctly.If you like old school slashers you'll probably love Sleepaway Camp..
My dad didn't really like us watching it alone because we were so young, so he was watching it with us.Right away, we realized this was a really corny movie, and my dad took off after the curling iron scene...and then came the ending.
If you want to just kick back late at night and enjoy a good movie, then this is worth it.And to answer my own question...those who hate it don't appreciate the genre...and they don't know how to handle such an awkward ending..
In fact, it's probably the scariest movie I've ever seen--just not for the reasons that it intended to be scary.Sure, on paper, it looks to be just your run-of-the-mill cheap slasher flick, but, in actuality, it is so much more.
Everything about "Sleepaway Camp" makes one uncomfortable.If one ignores the much talked about secret ending, there is still plenty in the film to act as nightmare fuel.
"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.
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 ...
Normally, one would be looking forward to the end (just to end the agony of watching such an abomination of movie), but then they had to go and have that horrible horrible ending (did they buy that prosthetic from an adult sex shop)!Words cannot accurately describe how atrocious "Sleepaway Camp" was.
Having watched what I have now discovered to be a cut release of Sleepaway Camp, I wasn't entirely sure that it was fair to write a comment based on an 'incomplete' movie.
However, after checking the exact contents of the cuts (a little nudity, some swearing and a tiny bit of gore) I am pretty sure that my opinion of the film would remain the same: it's undoubtedly a memorable movie, thanks to its its lurid plot and shock ending, but it still failed to impress me as much as I had hoped.Felissa Rose plays Angela, the only survivor of a boating accident, who goes to live with crazy Aunt Martha and cousin Ricky.
But with a homicidal maniac on the loose, does Angela's new relationship really stand a chance?Director and writer, Robert Hiltzik, has the basic ingredients for a good shockeran unusual set of characters, some reasonable effects, and a handful of particularly repellent moments (which include a paedophile trying his luck with Angela, a gay sex scene witnessed by young children, a death scene featuring curling tongs put to use in a very nasty manner, and THAT ending), but with a pretty poor cast spouting some lousy dialogue, and rather lacklustre direction, the movie struggles to maintain momentum between the 'good' bits.Sleepaway Camp is worth watching if you're a horror completist, or if you wish to see one of the most bizarre end scenes of all time, but it really amounts to nothing more than a fairly enjoyable entry in the stalk 'n' slash sub-genre..
Sleepaway Camp, an early 80's slasher set at a Summer Camp where young teens and perverted camp workers are dispatched in an increasingly gruesome fashion is surely just another Sean Cunningham knockoff yeah?No.Not at all.What we have here is Friday the 13th in drag; an offbeat, bizarre journey into the mind of a director with some clear obsessions made in a time where originality, even in an overwrought genre, wasn't subdued by marketing pressures.
I suppose the film starts in a normal enough fashion, featuring promiscuous teens carelessly careening a jet-ski on a picturesque lake, but as soon as they're distracted and fail to notice an overturned boat and our family of a dad and his 2 kids treading water, we're swept away into what on the surface may seem a sub-grade and perhaps even listless B-grade horror, but in reality is one troubling little classic.Angela, the survivor of this incident which leaves her father and brother dead, is raised by her eccentric (I was contemplating writing flaming bonkers, but thought I'd stick with proper grammar) Aunt Martha, who one summer decides to send her and her cousin Ricky to Camp Arawak to partake in various social and team-work orientated activities.
(note: this second question isn't actually answered, and it does appear to just be caused by some terrible screen writing).Of course you can't review Sleepaway Camp without mentioning the ending, often referred to as being that of a far better film and amongst the more disturbing in memory.
The ending caught me off guard like no other horror movie I have ever seen at that time.
The only other movie that caught me off guard that scared me just as bad was the ending of the Ring but, with that said, I think the ending of Sleepaway camp was a lot freakier.
I didn't enjoy this movie at all but, a buddy of mine got me to watch Return to Sleepaway Camp this weekend.
Plus, this film really captures the essence of what the 80's was all about: bad music.Not much can be said about the plot; it's like so many other 'camp' movies of the 80's.
But as I'm sure other reviewers have stated, this one has a nice little twist at the end that will make all the guys in short shorts and girls with bad hair worth it.6 out of 10, kids..
Many years later, Angela along with her cousin, are sent to Camp Arawak where a series of grisly murders take place.Sleepaway Camp is one of the most outrageous slasher movies you'll ever see.
In the lead up you get your usual high body count slasher flick, but it's somewhat unique because of its tone- a mix of schlocky horror and a certain self awareness to subvert the genres conventions.This also features one of the most unexpected plot twists to a movie of all time!
...but who are we kidding: Sleepaway Camp is the best summer-camp slasher movie ever made.I compare this movie (and the original, underrated Friday the 13th) to getting on a sketchy-looking carnival ride.
The ride looks old, it seems to have been carelessly assembled, and the ride operator is drunk; you never feel that your life is in the hands of capable, trustworthy people, and that's half of the fun.The weird appeal of Sleepaway Camp starts pre-credits, with its bizarre dedication, and continues all the way to the closing credits, with its freeze-frame and its magnificently horrible would-be pop hit, "Angela's Theme."I don't know, man.
This is obviously an irresponsible movie, with some very outdated ideas about gender and sexuality, but I think we just have to love it like the weird cousin we see at Thanksgiving.As is true with the best cult genre movies: sometimes Sleepaway Camp is so bad it's good, and other times it's just good.
But with that said the movie is a regular 1980s slasher flick with all the clichés, now that is not a bad thing just It kind of gets old after seeing hundreds of horror films with basically the same premise.
Before I go on about this, the ending of this movie was spoiled for me years ago before I had seen the entire thing...Family tragedy displaces young girl.
After watching movies like Scream, I know what you did last summer, Urban Legend, and many other titles who surround the ending twist, wile watching Sleepaway Camp, I doubt that you can't find out who's the killer!
The image presented on the Special edition from Anchor Bay, makes this old, low budget movie worth to watch.
Yes, a curling iron to the crotch is never a pleasant experience R.I.P Judy, R.I.P. The plot really is secondary, a tragic boating accident leaves a newly orphaned Angela, who looks a lot like Sarah Silverman, with her aunt Martha and cousin Ricky, and off to camp the kids go, where bad things start to happen.
This is from a time when horror was an odd creature, the film is clearly made for 12 year olds, much in the way that Deadly Friend was too, but contains fairly graphic, albeit silly, death scenes and strings of profanity designed to make the young ones giggle.
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..
This movie is shocking, disturbing (kinda perversed), full of horror, and definitely not for the squeamish.Good acting (if it's bad I must've just overlooked it), fits the genre, lots of violence, a "different" kind of plot, plenty of profanity, and this movie was good overall (definitely memorable).
The majority of Sleepaway Camp is just an average slasher movie, as could probably be guessed.
Kids and camp workers get killed off in creative waysyou've seen the plot in every slasher movie ever made.
I'd take Friday the 13th over this any dayit was better done, less cheesy, had more blood, and was less predictable.Though the last few moments reveal one of the weirdest possible endings the movie could have had, it was yet again nothing new or original.
First off, Sleepaway Camp is not a very good movie.
There are some great kills not to mention a couple of truly weird scenes in the film (besides the end).
Sleepaway Camp is a bit of an off-beat edition to the wave of early '80's slasher films.
In fact, at times it seems like it could be a cross between after school special and slasher flick.But the real strangeness of this film is its leading character.
The youthful stars are quite good, even though as a whole the casts performances are uneven.Like the Friday the 13th films, the original Sleepaway Camp is the best of its series.
But i had fun.First, let me put your attention on the positive things : the movie wasn't boring to watch and the ending was cool and (even if you had read about it) surprising, even when the ending was over way to soon (you know what i mean when you see it).
I don't know why it does, but at least it's better then a "summer camp slasher movie where all people are 21 years or older", like 'Friday the 13th'.
At first you think it's going to be just another 80's slasher movie about a homicidal maniac going around and killing teenagers at summer camp, and at first it seems that way.
The writing starts getting good; characters start to develop, there are some funny snippets of dialogue and realistic scenes of life in a summer camp.Angela is a highly unusual heroine for a slasher film.
On top of all of this, Sleepaway Camp boasts one of the most shocking and surprising "twist" endings in horror history.
But now, I look back on it with fond memories - and can laugh at the inane wardrobe and poor dialog (all which heightens the fun - it IS a horror movie after all).The murders are all effective, using first person perspective and appropriately nasty effects.Looking forward to the fourth entry, Return to Sleepaway Camp, as it is the first true sequel - parts 2 and 3 don't count as they seemed to forget Felissa and cast Pamela Springsteen in the role of Angela.This is one of the most overlooked horror films of the 1980's, and a true gem.Make sure to pick up the DVD for a great commentary!.
You have this whacked pedophile cook drooling over the fresh meat running into the camp, and the rest of the staff are just yucking it up over this freak's comments.Fans of 80s horror would do best to avoid this and just go watch Friday the 13th for the 100th time..
Sleepaway Camp?.you' d probably be better off sleeping and keeping this movie AWAY from your DVD player..
The first time I saw "Sleepaway Camp", I was hanging out with some friends, it was somewhere around four in the morning, and I was the only one in the group with a fetish for b-movies.
The most SHOCKING/DISTURBING ending of any movie I have ever seen !!!!.
I have to say, it has been 8 hours since I watched it, and my stomach still hurts from the "disturbing" ending and, THE FINAL SHOT OF THE MOVIE.
I was pretty interested in this films through its run and even found some parts a little creepy,but when I seen the ending it gave the film a whole new creepy feel to it what a movie and it should be in the same vain of horror films like Halloween,a nightmare on elm Street,the Texas chainsaw massacre,and Friday the 13th..
A rip off of movies like Friday the 13'th, but with a twist ending.
Regarding "Sleepaway Camp," I've seen the movie a number of times and I'm consistently perplexed that serious horror fans take it so seriously because, as far as I'm concerned it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen and my appreciation is largely ironic, but it's great to watch it accompanied by both Briggs and Rose.
Much has been said of the ending and, especially if you were a kid watching this in '83, it's pretty shocking.
Sleepaway camp is probably one of the best teen slashers ever made, and one of the best 80s film for the movie industry.
The movie is described as "original" by many solely because of its twist, which is extremely unique and affecting (especially how it is shown and presented and hinted at throughout the film; plus, the final image is genuinely unsettling and will likely haunt my mind for years to come), but throughout there's just so much weird things going on that I think it really is one of the most unique slasher films ever made.
I wanted to watch an old school bad / not-so-scary slasher flick, and when I typed that into google it gave me Sleepaway Camp.Firstly, I love old school horrors.
I had to finish it that way!Sleepaway Camp is fun and constantly has you trying to guess the killer until the very end!
The summer camp is overrun with pedophile staff, unusually aggressive kids (played by actors ranging from 12 years old to 35 years old, it seems), and multiple gruesome deaths that go largely unnoticed.The plot is copied straight from the slasher films of the era, with slews of victims being brutally murdered by a faceless killer (from their POV) for no good reason.
'Sleepaway Camp' is worth a watch just for the insane ending, which, if you haven't read up on this movie, you won't expect - but it will stay with you..
Rose is good in the central role, and the late, great character actor Mike Kellin, as camp director Mel, is wonderful as always; Mel turned out to be his final film role.This is pretty much essential viewing for new fans of the late 1970s and 1980s slasher craze.Eight out of 10..
But it DOES have its little 80s slasher charms and if you're watching this movie, then you probably know how it goes with these movies (i.e. bad acting, script, etc.)But it is worth watching if just for that ending!
The sole reason for me to watch this movie was the twist ending that every reviewer was raving about.
And I think that ending alone makes it worth watching the movie.
"Sleepaway Camp" is defined as a slasher movie.
"Sleepaway Camp" is certainly not the most well done slasher movie and at times seems cheap, but when you are finished with it you will never forget it.
The Ending , You Have To Watch The WHOLE Movie.
I had to buy it and I have to say , even though the first hour of the film is anything but good - the ending was well worth the watch!
The last 5 or so minutes are just great and I won't even dream of spoiling the ending for you (you probably know it by now anyway, if not DON'T READ ANYTHING ABOUT THIS MOVIE BEFORE YOU'VE SEEN IT !