This review of Sleepaway Camp does contain Spoilers! I highly recommend reading this only if you have had the pleasure of watching this great movie. If you have not, STOP right now! Go out to your local video rental place and pick up a copy of Sleepaway Camp and then come back and read this review. Don’t worry; we’ll wait here for you to come back.

Ok, so if you’re here you’ve obviously seen the movie. And if you haven’t, and think that I won’t find out, you’re wrong.

Anyway, Sleepaway Camp is easily one of the most original and shocking slasher films of all time. I don’t know what it is, but I like the idea of a camp movie. Perhaps it is because of my own trip to summer camp in 1995, or it could be that I just watched Ernest Goes to Camp way too many times.

Regardless, in time, I became interested in Friday the 13th movies. I was 16 and felt I was old enough to handle them, and they became a regular part of the old Drewcasfilm Movie nights. We would eventually watch all nine of them by graduation in 2001.

They were pretty good, but basically the same thing each time. Teens would go out into the woods, screw around and most would get killed by Jason, usually with a machete. There were things that were annoying about the series, like no campers for example, and the constant use of cheap scares for the first half of the movie, but for the most part, they were fun, with a few exceptions.

So when I came to SMU in 2001, I was still very interested in horror movies. I went down to the local Ma and Pa video store near SMU, Gigantic Video, which is clearly the scariest movie place I’ve ever been to, but that’s a story for another day.

There I saw it: Sleepaway Camp! I had heard of it before, but had never actually seen it. As it was a camp movie, I naturally assumed it would be similar to Friday the 13th, thus I was very interested. Even the old box was great, with no pictures from the movie, just a scared girl’s letter to her parents that there was a killer on the loose.

That was enough for me, and I would take the movie home that night. What followed was an experience that I would never forget. And thanks to that experience, many more around me have shared the enjoyment of this classic.

I wouldn’t even own the box set today, had it not been for the discount DVD bin at Wal-Mart. They had all three movies for $15, an offer I could not refuse. My renewed interest in the series continued with me buying the box set a month later, which I must say is well worth the money.

Throughout this review, I’ll give my impressions of this movie, as well as those that have enjoyed it with me. So without further ado, I give you….SLEEPAWAY CAMP!!!!

The movie opens with some really creepy music and glimpse of an empty camp. There are some voices in the distance, and the music escalates to sound like it’s the coming of Satan or something. I can only assume that the reason that the camp is empty, yet we hear voices, is because they are serving Sloppy Joes in the cafeteria.

We cut to a family hanging out on a sailboat, and in the distance some campers are water-skiing. The children, with their amusing New York accents, end up tipping over the boat and they frolic in the water. The Lifeguard driving the boat foolishly allows the bikini chick to drive, perhaps in the hope of getting lucky, and the two of them decided that the best way to handle a boat was to keep their backs to the bow (That’s the front of the boat, kiddies).

Anyway, the water skier, with her keen eyesight from about 25 yards away, notices a boat in the distance. The morons in the boat continue their idiocy until its too late, and when they finally clue in, they accidentally speed up and crash into the helpless family.

We cut to 8 years later, and find out that the little girl, Angela had survived the crash and was living with her Aunt Martha and cousin, Ricky. The first time I saw this, I was certain that Martha was a dude, but further research found it to be untrue. The kids are heading off to Camp Arawak, and I continue to be creeped out by Martha. She haunts my nightmares.

The kids arrive at camp and we are introduced to the Camp Owner, Mel and the Head Councillor, Ronnie. We also meet the Head Chef, Artie and his kitchen crew. We’re also introduced to sudden revulsion as Artie goes on about how turned on he’s getting by looking at these kids. Holy Crap! This isn’t like Friday the 13th, when everyone is clearly in their 20s. These are kids! Sick!

Ricky meets up with his friend Paul, who gets introduced to Angela. We also find out that Ricky’s lady friend, Judy, has grown since last summer. However, with her fully-grown bosoms, Judy has also attracted the older guys at the camp. She blows Ricky off with the whole, “girls mature faster crap” and he’s not impressed. Ricky also treats us to one of his many memorable phrases, “excuse me, bitch”.

We watch Judy enter the girls’ bunks and are introduced to Meg (M-E-G) and Susie, who are in charge. We also see that Angela has this nasty habit of staring at people with a creepy blank expression. Meg states to Judy that “they’ve got a real winner here”, even though Angela is sitting right there. Subtle, ladies.

We enter the cafeteria, and find that Angela hasn’t been eating. Ronnie tries to help her find something she’ll like in the kitchen, as she’s probably just homesick. He introduces her to Artie, who is just plain creepy. Anyway, Ronnie leaves Angela with Artie. I thought Ronnie was supposed to be a good guy, but he probably didn’t realize that Artie was a freaking pedophile.

Anyway, they go into the freezer and Artie undoes his belt. Uh-Oh, I don’t like where this is going. Thankfully Ricky stumbles upon this before we see Artie’s Wang, and he is threatened to keep his mouth shut. That was just wrong.

Anyway, Artie finds himself alone in the kitchen, with a boiling pot of water. We see a figure stalking around the kitchen that wastes no time and pulls the chair out from under Artie, bringing the pot’s boiling contents all over him. Not bad, considering how big Artie was. Anyway, Artie is severely burned, which makes a pretty gruesome sight. Not to cause any problems, Mel sweeps it under the rug and everything is business as usual.

The guys try a “mind over matter” trick on the resident nerd, Mozart, which ends with him getting an ass in the face. Funny stuff.

We cut to a baseball game with Ricky’s bunk against the older guys. Coincidentally enough, it is against the guys that were hitting on Judy. This scene really doesn’t serve more than to establish that the two bunks don't like each other, but seems to be pretty unique for a horror movie. I’d prefer something like this instead of teens making out and having stupid fake-outs. Plus, the language used by everyone, as well as the gay looking shorts, make this scene pretty funny.

We head to the social, where the jerky bunk guys are planning on going skinny dipping, but can’t get any girls to come with. They try Angela, but she gives them the usual, creepy, blank stare. This infuriates the guys, and they ask her why she’s so fucked up. Very suave, gentlemen. Anyway, in another hilarious shot, Ricky and Paul enter the social, and for some reason, Ricky has a giant cowboy hat on.

Or Maybe they looked like this...

Anyway, he doesn’t like the way they’re treating Angela, so a brawl ensues, and Mel does nothing. Here is a re-enactment made by O’Brien and myself:

Also of interest, is the cowboy hat during the melee. Keep your eyes peeled.

So Paul sits down and talks to Angela about the pranks that he and Ricky used to do. We finally hear Angela speak as Paul leaves and she says goodnight. His reply of goodnight to her is utterly hilarious. Judy watches all of this and does not seem to be impressed. I guess she was that “hot chick” mentality that every guy is in love with her, so she doesn’t like guys being interested in other girls. Interestingly enough, she’s not jealous of Meg, who has caught the eye of Mel. Ugh!

Its skinny dipping time, and the girls seem hesitant. Bill is annoyed by this and decides that the only way to have fun was to go skinny-dipping with the rest of the guys. Right. Swimming’s fun and all, but I can’t see how get naked with the guys would make it better.

Moving along, Kenny takes Leslie out in the canoe and tips it over. Word is that he really sliced his hand up really bad on the first take. Anyway, she leaves and Kenny becomes amused with the echo under the canoe, and starts to sing. It becomes his downfall as the killer comes from out of nowhere, and drowns Kenny. Geez, everyone’s a critic.

Kenny’s body is found the next morning by the foul-mouthed, crotch pointing, job hating lifeguard. The authorities arrive and take the body away. No, not to the kindergarten! AHHHHHHH! Again, Mel tries to sweep the death under the rug, and life goes on. Just not for Kenny.

Judy shows off her latest fashion find as the girls play volleyball. We hear more out of Angela, as Paul asks her to the movie tonight. Awww, budding romance. We cut to them getting out of the movie and Paul walks Angela to her bunk.

Things aren’t going well for Ricky though, as Judy continues to ignore him. I guess that accounts for his temper and constant swearing. I mean, if the camp slut won’t give you the time of day...

So Paul takes Angela behind the cabin, and the music gets all creepy, as he kisses her, and then asks for another. Funny stuff. Angela goes into the cabin, completely unaffected by Paul’s advances and Judy tries to seduce him with her sexy ways.

Paul heads back to the cabin as we see Mozart about to fall victim to the old shaving cream on the sleeping guy’s hand trick. Mozart’s response is too pull out a knife and chase after Ricky. Good times! This is the sort of thing that horror movies are missing. Character development and pranks. All they need now is the old bucket on top of a door gag. Wait, didn’t they use that in Sleepaway Camp 2...

Angela and Paul continue to bond and Meg gets physically abusive on Angela. This would never happen in real life as the courts and parents would be all over the abuser. Simpler times, I guess.

So Judy is pissed that Meg got in trouble and naturally blames Angela. Yeah sure, blame the victim. She goes on a whole tangent about Angela being queer for not showering with the other girls. Right. Not being around naked members of the same gender makes you queer. You can’t argue with that kind of logic.

The whole puberty issue is brought up, with Judy saying that Angela had “no hair down below”. She go as far as saying that Angela was a carpenter’s dream, flat as a board and needs a screw! Susie has had enough, and asks Judy to stop, to which she replies, “Fuck off” and immediately gets slapped. Yeah! Business has picked up. Again, Susie would be fired for that today, but her good looks and personality, coupled with the fact that Judy is a bitch, make it easy to forgive. Angela is going to see Ricky.

We find the jerky bunk guys having an innocent water balloon fight outside. The only thing really out of the ordinary is that they’re playing on the roof of their cabin. Yeah that’s safe. Run around on a wet and slippery roof, its all good. I see no problem with this logic.

Anyway, they blast Angela with one, which sends Ricky running, not to her aid, but to swear at the guys on the roof. Easily one of the funniest moments of the movie, Ricky calls them every name in the book, in a very short amount of time. We here at the Kingdom feel that it is important to Ricky’s character development that we read exactly what he said in this scene, plus it’s friggin' hilarious:

Wow! That’s a lot of profanity. Mel bans them from the social for a week and Ricky gives a look that says that they won’t get away with this. Either that or he’s looking forward to dinner. It could be both. Great scene.

Bill tells us that he has to take a wicked dump and that he’d be along to the ballgame soon. He never makes it, as the killer locks him in the stall and sends and beehive in to greet him. Pretty gruesome stuff. You can’t even take a dump in peace. At least Jason would’ve waiting for him to finish before killing him.

Mel believes he’s finished and many parents have pulled their kids out of the camp. You have to feel bad for the kids whose parents didn’t send for them. Thanks a lot guys, now I’m going to get killed because you want some peace and quiet.

Its weird, because people don’t seem all that on edge, considering that a few people have died. I’d be flipping out, and getting the hell out of there, but I guess some people just like camp. Mel theorizes that Ricky is behind all of this, but Ronnie calms him down.

We have the only cheap scare of the movie as Angela meets Paul outside her cabin. They go off to the beach and make out, until she trips him. He starts to round first, when she wants him to stop, to which he replies that he’s doing nothing.

She begins to have a flashback to her and her brother looking in on her parents in bed. Only one problem though...they’re both guys!!!! Oh god no. I can safely say this is the only time that I’ve ever screamed in a horror movie.

The first time we watched it, people from down the hall came over to see what the trouble was. We showed them what the problem was and they screamed too. We then see the two kids in bed with the boy pointing ever closer at his sister. I still don’t get this, but it causes her to scream out and run away from Paul. Looks like he’s got a date with his left hand tonight instead.

Its capture the flag time, and Paul wants to know what happened. Angela wasn’t ready, which pisses Paul off. Judy steps in and seduces Paul. Meanwhile, Ricky has a great idea to capture the flag, but he and Angela end up stumbling on Paul and Judy making out. BUSTED!

Later at the beach, Paul tries to explain his actions. He should’ve said that he was giving her CPR or practicing for a play. He suggested that he only did it to get her to leave him alone. That’ll never work, as wrestling fans know that’s how the whole Kane/Lita thing got started, and look how it turned out.

Anyway, Judy tells us that Paul thinks that Angela is a Prude! The Horror! 'Cause being a slut is so respectable.

Anyway, Judy thinks that Angela should go for a swim, when suddenly Meg comes out of nowhere. I can hear JR now. My God, My God! It's Meg! She came out of nowhere! Meg decides that Angela needs to go for a swim, and picks her up and drops her in.

Meanwhile, Mel confronts Ricky and stops him from saving her immediately, by grabbing him accusing him of killing the others. Angela is visibly shaken and Ricky swears revenge. Funny stuff as the little kids throw sand at Angela and Ricky calls them little fuckers. Awesome!

Ronnie gives the councillors their assignments for the evening, which include Eddie taking his kids camping out in the woods. Meg is rewarded for her abuse of Angela by getting the evening off.

Meg takes advantage of this by picking up on Mel. Dinner at his place around 9:30. I guess she’ll provide the dessert. She needs a shower though, so she goes next door to the unoccupied cabin.

The rest is academic, as we see a knife wielding shadow come in and stab her in the back. Ouch! No build up of the camera getting closer to the shower or anything, which is a nice change of pace.

Meanwhile, Eddie’s kids annoy him.

Paul tries to make amends with Angela by admitting that he actually said that she was a prude. Interesting strategy, indeed. She agrees and wants to meet him at the waterfront after the social.

Back with Eddie, some kids are cold, so he takes them back to the truck, while leaving the others. Again, something that he would never get away with today. The camera shows the rest of the kids from afar, but getting closer and closer. You’ve got to be kidding me. Holy crap, its looking at the hatchet!

Mel is looking for some love, but Meg has yet to show up. We find Judy making out with some guy, and Mel asks where Meg is. The guy decides to leave before he gets caught, which pisses Judy off. Guess she’s not as desirable as she thinks.

Mel goes in and finds Meg’ dead body, which horrifies him. I’m not sure if its because she’s dead or if he’s pissed that he wouldn’t be getting any tonight. This is all the evidence that he needs, so Ricky must pay!

Back with Judy, she is approached by a dark figure that punches her out. From there, the killer takes a curling iron and shoves it up Judy, um, female area. Youch!

Eddie comes back and finds that the sleeping kids are now dead, in a grisly pile of sleeping bag and blood. Holy crap, they killed little kids! In Friday the 13th, the kids always lived, whether it was Crazy Nancy, Tommy Jarvis, or that reckless kid. Again, pretty sick stuff, as this shows that nobody is off bounds. Eddie pukes and calls for help.

Ronnie is on the phone with Eddie, when Mel jumps Ricky. Mel insanely pounds on him, as Ricky continues to swear. Thinking him dead, Mel has to get away, and the logical hiding spot seems to be on the archery range. I mean, really, who would be shooting arrows at this hour? Unfortunately there was somebody, and Mel gets an arrow in the neck after saying, “it can’t be you”. Great shot by the director as well as the archer.

Anyway, the cops arrive and the movie quickly goes all to hell. The counsellors are going to find the missing campers before the killer does.

Elsewhere, it looks like Paul is about to hit the jackpot as Angela suggests they go skinny-dipping.

The cop and Geno find Ricky’s body, and it looks like he’s alive. Now its body finding time as one woman finds Meg’s body. This really screws up the cop, and if you look carefully, there’s something amiss about his moustache.

Ronnie and Susie continue to look for the missing campers when they hear humming. Uh-oh, the flashlight just died. They find Angela sitting on the beach cuddling with Paul, when suddenly...

We cut back to Aunt Martha, and Angela when she first moved in with them. She always wanted a little girl, so this is great. She says they already have a little boy, so another just won’t do. What? What does she mean? She can’t mean...

No its all good, she refers to her as Angela. False alarm! I thought for a second there, no, never mind. Yes Angela is a great name, isn’t that right, Peter! Oh, NO!

Angela sits up, and Paul’s head has been cut off. That’s really a moot point, because we see that Angela is really a boy, penis and all. Oh my god!

That is a frigging scary face! She’s just standing there holding the knife, growling, and being naked. And that’s the movie! Holy shit, that is scary. The stuff nightmares are made of. I don’t care who you are, you have to be creeped out by that ending. Even the most jaded of moviegoers has to be shocked by what happened.

Sleepaway Camp is one of those movies that is like a car crash. You don’t want to look, but just can’t turn away. That’s probably why most people either love or hate it. There are very few that are in the middle.

Anyway, this would spawn two sequels in the late eighties as well as a new movie that has just wrapped up production. The other ones are a bit more cookie cutter than this one, but are good for other reasons.

Most of the replay value for me is watching other people watch it for the first time and seeing their reactions. The DVD box set is really worth owning, as the quality is much better and there are some extras, like the trailer and commentary from Angela herself, Felissa Rose.

Easily my favorite horror movie to date, I am proud that more people continue to watch it. I have shown them to about 7 people now and many of them have bought copies of their own and shown it to others. It continues to spread, over 20 years after it was first released.

Box sets can be picked up at most music stores or on amazon or ebay. Definitely worth the cost. I don’t really have a movie rating scale, but I can tell you that Sleepaway Camp easily gets a thumbs up, 10/10, *****, or whatever.

For more information on Sleepaway Camp, check out these awesome sites. I think these guys love the movies even more than me: