With most of the other films I've inducted thus far, the prevailing theme seems to be "vital" or "important." For example, "Audition" is simply a masterpiece of a movie that gets you to identify with its characters through its awesome acting, only to completely pull the rug out from under you. "Last House on the Left" is a very important movie for the horror genre due to its previously unseen levels of violence and intensity. And "Psycho" is nothing less than the sum of all the parts that make up great horror - acting, directing, and a great trailblazing spirit that didn't give a fuck about modern sensibilities.Heed these words, because they're very important - watch "Sleepaway Camp" with a group of friends, preferably late at night (like, after midnight-level night). I know this from experience. I've borrowed this film out to friends before, and without exception they've all hated it. This is a movie that just doesn't work in a solitary setting, viewed in the middle of the day when everybody else is up. In addition to that, it isn't particularly important, and it isn't a vital morality tale like other slasher films. The acting, with a couple very notable exceptions, is pretty horrible. But, this movie isn't derivative - it's very original, and will surprise you if what you're expecting is just another '80s slasher movie.
Nope, what "Sleepaway Camp" is, my friends, is a phenomenally fun party movie that few can top, and surprisingly, long after the credits have rolled and the party has ended, this movie's legendary ending WILL be in your brain, and likely making you think about some of the craziness that went down in the flick's preceding 85 minutes.
It was released in 1983 amid some glowing critical notices, but mainly pans, as the backlash against all things slasher had already begun in abundance by the time this beast hit the New York theater scene. Going back and reading some of those reviews is quite the humorous little exercise, as review after review slam the movie and decry it is just another slasher movie. It's ANYTHING but that. Who knows why the critics responded with such vitriol? Maybe they were tired of all the "Friday the 13ths" and "Halloweens" and "Prom Nights" that were so prevalent at the time. Maybe they were just dumbfounded that the movie's hard-hitting ending had actually managed to outsmart them (as it did with me). Or maybe critics, with the exception of yours truly, are just a bunch of self-righteous assholes (thank Adam Sandler for that one).
So, without further adieu, the movie...
The opening scenes of "Sleepaway Camp" show us a typical American family - single father, son and daughter, happily swimming in a small town lake. A horrible boating accident kills both the father and the son, leaving little Angela Baker all by herslef, permanently scarred by the tragic accidental killings. Flash forward a few years, as Angela, now a teenager, lives with her cousin Ricky (Jonathan Tiersten) and aunt Martha (Desiree Gould, whose performance will likely leave your little viewing party in stitches with its oddball eccentricity). It's summer, and Martha is sending the cousins away to summer camp.
It doesn't take long for "Sleepaway Camp" to turn into a laugh riot; indeed, Tiersten, who plays Ricky, says that "Sleepaway Camp" is "like a cross between 'Friday the 13th' and 'Meatballs', only it's scarier than 'Friday the 13th' and funnier than 'Meatballs'!" He's right. As they arrive at camp, we meet the creepy camp cook, who refers to young female campers as "baldies" and that "there's no such thing as too young." The actor's delivery is just SO vehement that I can't help but laugh every time I see it.
From here, the movie begins a pattern - every character who wrongs Angela turns up violently dead (two of the more impressive kills are the aforementioned cook who is horrifically scalded by boiling water and the kid on the crapper who gets stung to death by bees), all while the camp owner attempts to humorously write off all the deaths as "accidents." Hey, there's still a summer profit to be made, people!
Surprisingly, however, much of the focus of the first two thirds of this film isn't on the usual stalk-and-slash formula that permeated most horror movies of the time. Throughout much of this movie, we merely witness kids be kids, make jokes, build relationships, and betray each other. The character arc that Angela goes through is actually very relatable. Felissa Rose very quietly turns in a very unsung performance as Angela; for the first third of the film, she doesn't say a single word. She's pretty, but in a nonthreatening way, still obviously damaged by the loss of her family. When she meets a male camper who shows more than a passing interest in her, she begins to come out of her shell.
The Angela character arc is the emotional strong center of "Sleepaway Camp"; I've stated this before several times, but since it rings so true, I don't care how old it gets. The single best thing that any movie can do is make you care about its characters. "Sleepaway Camp" does this like few other horror movies have with Angela Baker; Rose's softspoken, understated performance, along with the way the character was written by Robert Hiltzik, is a masterpiece at tugging your emotional heartstrings, and by the end of this movie, you will identify with Angela Baker like few characters you've seen in a movie before. In direct contrast to that, Karen Fields also does an excellent job as Judy, the camp's popular cheerleader character and Angela's chief rival in the film. Just as much as I loved Angela the first time I watched this movie, I hated bitchy Judy with a vengeance.
Meanwhile, several intentional and unintentional hilarious moments have transpired, including but not limited to:
- Ricky's EXTREMELY dirty mouth
- A murder victim's epic singing of "Hey Bob a ree Bob!" before biting it
- The Sherriff's plastaic-looking fake mustache at the end of the film (as it turns out, the actor shot the opening scenes, thought his part in the movie was over and shaved off his moustache only for the director to call him back for the ending, at which point we got the ridiculous fake one)
- The line "I gotta take a wicked dump!"
- And, not surprisingly, much more.
Finally, while all of this has been going on, there has been a pair of flashback scenes that show us various aspects of Angela's past that suggest some very strange sexual episodes have transpired in her life, giving the movie a good deal of psychological depth. And the less said about this the better, but everyone and their dog talks about this movie's ending...and yeah, it lives up to the hype. The final three minutes of "Sleepaway Camp" come TOTALLY out of left field, catch you off guard like no movie I saw before or after it ever will, and legitimately creeps you the hell out. Absolutely perfect, and in a day and age where so many thrillers have killers that project their guilt from a mile away (usually by the law of economy of characters - just ask yourself who has no other reason to be in the movie than to turn up at the end and be the killer), "Sleepaway Camp" pulled the wool over my eyes.
This film is just loads of fun, and really, movies are supposed to be about fun. "Sleepaway Camp" makes you laugh at both its hammy, bad acting and its quirky, offbeat sense of humor, it makes you shriek at a few of the kills, and it makes you get involved in the life of its unforgettable protagonist...and when the ending hits, it's up to you and your friends to let out a collective "HOLY SHIT!" and start the conversation. Trust me, while the credits to "Sleepaway Camp" are rolling, you'll be busy looking back at a lot of the events in the film in a WHOLE new light.
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