Throughout the early eighties, the market was saturated with cheap slashers. Many of these quickie films were set at summer camps, playing off the success of the wildly popular-profitable "Friday the 13th" series. Some of these films, like the hyper-gory "The Burning," have become cult favorites. Others, like "Summer Camp Nightmare," aren't well-known. But there's no camp-set eighties slasher flick cult-ier then 1983's "Sleepaway Camp." The movie is most notorious for its gender-bending twist ending. Yet the conclusion is hardly the only odd thing about the film. "Sleepaway Camp" is one of the weirdest films from the first wave of American slashers.
This is mostly thanks to the movie's implacable tone. "Sleepaway Camp" does not exist in our reality. The film is a horribly uneven mixture of nightmare images, camp, a low budget, unexpected subtext, and mean-spirited violence. The film's opening credits are set over shots of an empty camp, the voices of far-off children playing, a genuinely eerie moment. Early on, one of the camp chefs makes lewd comments towards the prepubescent kids. The other chef reacts not by reporting the man but by laughing off the would-be pedophile's behavior. All of the characters act in this exaggerated, trashy manner. Meg the camp councilors, despite being older then the other kids, still picks on shy, socially awkward Angela. "Pick on" isn't even the right word, as her language is highly abusive. Despite brutally dispatching the pedophilic chef, "Sleepaway Camp" also features a romance between teenage Meg and fifty-something camp owner Mel. The movie doesn't treat this behavior as predatory.
The movie appears to be an earnest attempt to create a frightening experience. However, any attempt at horror is undermined by how unintentionally hilarious most of the film is. The acting from all involved is terrible. Felissa Rose's lead performance as Angela is somnambulist, characterized by flat line-reading and unblinking stares. Karen Fields as bully Judy seems unsure of how to handle her outrageous dialogue, delivering it in meaty lumps. The rest of the slasher fodder have a similar problem, giving broad performances without even the basic ability to read lines convincingly.
As bad as the teens are, the adult actors give even worst performances. Desiree Gould is Aunt Martha and gives one of the strangest performance in any '80s horror film. Her dialogue is spoken in a spaced-out, antiqued manner. Gould honestly seems to have wander out of a David Lynch movie. As bizarre as Gould is, Mike Kellin as Mel is much worst. The mush-mouth Kellin is given some of the heaviest dialogue in the film, a feat beyond the actor's ability. Mel's obsession with keeping the camp open, even with bodies piling up, is inexplicable. When he deduces Ricky is behind the deaths, he brutally beats the kid. An adult beating a child should never be hilarious but Kellin's tone-death performance and the movie's melodramatic delivery makes it funny.
The hilarity doesn't stop there. "Sleepaway Camp" also serves as a time capsule for fashion in 1983. Pastels are the color of choice. One of the male camp counselor wears tiny shorts hiked up to his crotch. The fashion isn't the only source of unintentional humor. The sole cop in the movie reappears at the end, his real mustache replaced with fuzzy duct tape. The movie could be commended for having the kids act like kids. They let loose explicit profanity, play mean-spirited pranks, and generally act like entitled d-bags. The nasty way they act is so unexpected that it frequently becomes hilarious. All of this characterizes the high-strung, melodramatic, trashy world of 'Sleepaway Camp."
The whole movie is also characterized by discomfort with, not just teen sexuality, but human sexuality in general. The film has a strong homoerotic undercurrent. At the beginning, we see Angela and Ricky's father with a male friend. Turns out, that friend is their father's lover. In addition to this element, the film is full of half naked teen boys. They wear mid-drift barring shirts, go skinny dipping, and shove their bare butts in other kids' face. The whole film is focused on the kids' budding sexuality in a greasy, unseemly fashion.
Of course, the biggest queer element is the infamous ending. Turns out, Angela is actually a boy who has lived his life as a female. The film lets this twist explain away Angela's murderous desire, a deeply transphobic element that probably wasn't thought about much in 1983. The film doesn't have time for that, as its final image of a naked Angela, penis in full sight, is bizarre. Not because of the nudity but because the character's face freezes in an animalistic growl while an eerie hiss escapes her throat.
Befitting the off-putting tone, the film's murders are unusual. A man is burned with boiling water, his body covered with bursting blisters. One kid drowns while another is stung to death by bees, the camera lingering on their brutalized bodies. A stab to the back and an arrow in the neck are more typical but pulled off convincingly. The most notorious death happens off-screen. Judy is somehow killed with a curling iron, the implication being that she was stabbed in a very uncomfortable place. As opposed to most eighties slashers, the kids here are played by visibly young actors. That such violence is being inflicted on young children is one more thing that makes "Sleepaway Camp" a mean-spirited mess of a film.
That mess isn't for everybody. Initially, it wasn't even for me. I found the film difficult to swallow on first viewing. However, "Sleepaway Camp" has grown on me over subsequent watches. The film is utterly unique among slashers and too generally weird not to be memorable.
This is mostly thanks to the movie's implacable tone. "Sleepaway Camp" does not exist in our reality. The film is a horribly uneven mixture of nightmare images, camp, a low budget, unexpected subtext, and mean-spirited violence. The film's opening credits are set over shots of an empty camp, the voices of far-off children playing, a genuinely eerie moment. Early on, one of the camp chefs makes lewd comments towards the prepubescent kids. The other chef reacts not by reporting the man but by laughing off the would-be pedophile's behavior. All of the characters act in this exaggerated, trashy manner. Meg the camp councilors, despite being older then the other kids, still picks on shy, socially awkward Angela. "Pick on" isn't even the right word, as her language is highly abusive. Despite brutally dispatching the pedophilic chef, "Sleepaway Camp" also features a romance between teenage Meg and fifty-something camp owner Mel. The movie doesn't treat this behavior as predatory.
The movie appears to be an earnest attempt to create a frightening experience. However, any attempt at horror is undermined by how unintentionally hilarious most of the film is. The acting from all involved is terrible. Felissa Rose's lead performance as Angela is somnambulist, characterized by flat line-reading and unblinking stares. Karen Fields as bully Judy seems unsure of how to handle her outrageous dialogue, delivering it in meaty lumps. The rest of the slasher fodder have a similar problem, giving broad performances without even the basic ability to read lines convincingly.
As bad as the teens are, the adult actors give even worst performances. Desiree Gould is Aunt Martha and gives one of the strangest performance in any '80s horror film. Her dialogue is spoken in a spaced-out, antiqued manner. Gould honestly seems to have wander out of a David Lynch movie. As bizarre as Gould is, Mike Kellin as Mel is much worst. The mush-mouth Kellin is given some of the heaviest dialogue in the film, a feat beyond the actor's ability. Mel's obsession with keeping the camp open, even with bodies piling up, is inexplicable. When he deduces Ricky is behind the deaths, he brutally beats the kid. An adult beating a child should never be hilarious but Kellin's tone-death performance and the movie's melodramatic delivery makes it funny.
The hilarity doesn't stop there. "Sleepaway Camp" also serves as a time capsule for fashion in 1983. Pastels are the color of choice. One of the male camp counselor wears tiny shorts hiked up to his crotch. The fashion isn't the only source of unintentional humor. The sole cop in the movie reappears at the end, his real mustache replaced with fuzzy duct tape. The movie could be commended for having the kids act like kids. They let loose explicit profanity, play mean-spirited pranks, and generally act like entitled d-bags. The nasty way they act is so unexpected that it frequently becomes hilarious. All of this characterizes the high-strung, melodramatic, trashy world of 'Sleepaway Camp."
The whole movie is also characterized by discomfort with, not just teen sexuality, but human sexuality in general. The film has a strong homoerotic undercurrent. At the beginning, we see Angela and Ricky's father with a male friend. Turns out, that friend is their father's lover. In addition to this element, the film is full of half naked teen boys. They wear mid-drift barring shirts, go skinny dipping, and shove their bare butts in other kids' face. The whole film is focused on the kids' budding sexuality in a greasy, unseemly fashion.
Of course, the biggest queer element is the infamous ending. Turns out, Angela is actually a boy who has lived his life as a female. The film lets this twist explain away Angela's murderous desire, a deeply transphobic element that probably wasn't thought about much in 1983. The film doesn't have time for that, as its final image of a naked Angela, penis in full sight, is bizarre. Not because of the nudity but because the character's face freezes in an animalistic growl while an eerie hiss escapes her throat.
Befitting the off-putting tone, the film's murders are unusual. A man is burned with boiling water, his body covered with bursting blisters. One kid drowns while another is stung to death by bees, the camera lingering on their brutalized bodies. A stab to the back and an arrow in the neck are more typical but pulled off convincingly. The most notorious death happens off-screen. Judy is somehow killed with a curling iron, the implication being that she was stabbed in a very uncomfortable place. As opposed to most eighties slashers, the kids here are played by visibly young actors. That such violence is being inflicted on young children is one more thing that makes "Sleepaway Camp" a mean-spirited mess of a film.
That mess isn't for everybody. Initially, it wasn't even for me. I found the film difficult to swallow on first viewing. However, "Sleepaway Camp" has grown on me over subsequent watches. The film is utterly unique among slashers and too generally weird not to be memorable.