sleepawaycamp

Sleepaway Camp is an effective little shocker with a surprisingly strong cult following. The title, setting, and time period all point to this being just another entry in a long line of Friday the 13th style camp slashers. While this is not entirely unfounded (I don't think Sleepaway Camp would have seen the light of day without the tremendous success of Friday the 13th), it's not exactly fair either. This is an odd little movie that stands on its own with an incredible ending and some taboos touched upon almost unconsciously.

When I mentioned to the taboos earlier I wasn't refrering to any sort of gay undertones as I don't think those are really that 'taboo' to begin with. Possibly, they were back in 1983 but if that's all this film had going for it, then it would definitely not have the endurance to remain somewhat disturbing 20 years later. Instead, I'm thinking about the dealings with not so innocent the sexual awakenings of preteens (who are actually played by preteens!) and the slovenly old head chef who says that there is no such thing as 'too young'. These elements together give the film a somewhat dirty feel that is hard to shake long after the credits have rolled.

The story deals with a shy reclusive girl, Angela, who is sent off to camp (with her foul mouthed cousin), by her rather peculiar Aunt. The camp hijinks begin almost immediately: Angela is mercilessly teased for her quiet nature, the boys ogle the girls' developing bodies, and the fat kid is tricked into doing a blindfolded sit-up right into a bare ass! A short time later, the head chef makes an indecent advance upon Angela in the walk-in freezer. Her cousin walks in while the chef is unbuckling his belt. The chef threatens them to keep quiet and they run off like scared rabbits. Soon after, the chef is boiled in a large pot of water and from there the bodies continually mount up.

The identity of the killer is kept secret until the shocking climax. This is indeed the movie's trump card! Everyone deserves to see this for the first time unspoiled, so if you hear someone begin to tell you about the movie and it sounds like they might spoil the ending, block your ears and run the other way. Everyone has a different reaction to the end, but whatever it is, it's usually strong.

The pacing of the film is a little awkward and seems off center, but this actually works in its favor. The whole story is cockeyed and nothing feels quite 'right'. As I stated earlier, one of the more interesting aspects is that the kids are played by kids that are the correct age. This is particularly out of character for this subgenre and makes the movie feel very unique. On top of that, some of the performances are pretty good! The major standouts include Felissa Rose as young Angela and Desiree Gould as her well intentioned but slightly spaced out Aunt. Also noteworthy is Paul DeAngelo as the nice guy counselor, Ronnie.

This movie has had an interesting life. It faded into obscurity for most of the horror-lite 90s but made a strong resurgence of late thanks in part to Jeff Hayes and his, now official, website. Fortunately for me, I've known Jeff for a while now and got to see the whole thing unfold before my eyes. I won't get into the specific details, you can find out more about that by visiting his site, but I'll give a quick overview. I went with him to see Jonathan Tiersten perform with his band in western Massachusetts. From information obtained there, Jeff was able to locate Felissa Rose. So off I went with him on a road trip (this time one of the other creators of this site, Matt, came along with us) to meet her. From there (literally, from her house) he got in touch with Robert Hiltzik. From there he coordinated a commentary for the DVD, a large cast reunion at the 2001 NYC Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors, and development of a future sequel.

So, now the film is relatively well known and has an easily accessible widescreen DVD available. The story doesn't end there though; controversy surrounds the release of the DVD, which is taken from an alternated print of the film that is actually missing a few scenes and sound effects. To top it all off, the widescreen video release is even more of a mess - containing several more missing sound effects. All in all though, the good of this release vastly outweighs the bad. The print is beautiful and the commentary is a fun listen.

Another reason for the film's strong resurgence has to do with the extremely charismatic spokesperson. Felissa Rose has gone to screenings of the film, attended two Fangoria conventions (so far), and personally answers letters sent to her through the website. I've had the pleasure of meeting her on several occasions, and she's nothing short of charming. She is one of the warmest and most sincere people I've ever met.