Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Summer Camp Horror...With A Twist!, April 22, 2000
Sleepaway Camp is first and foremost, another summer camp slasher film. A very popular slasher subgenre originated with the 1980 classic Friday the 13th. Angela and Ricky are young teenagers off to camp Arawak for the summer, Ricky the likable popular type, and Angela, the quiet and 'different' type. When all kinds of scuzzy camp regulars begin to give Angela a hard time, they start dying rather brutally...much to the dismay of the camp's burnt out owner Mel (Mike Kellin). Sleepaway Camp is a slasher film, however, it goes a bit deeper than that, what gives Sleepaway Camp its distinction, is the bizarre homosexual themes running throughout the film. Why they are there are anybody's guess,but from the strange transvestite (?) Aunt Martha, to Angela's gay father, the truly shocking and disturbing final shot and more, Sleepaway Camp is sick, grisily, twisted, yet always fascinating. Of course, its not always great, many scenes in this film are just laughable, like the melodramatic boating accident at the film's start, or the character that wears a shirt with her name on it, and even the scenes with Chef Artie, the local camp sleazeball. Sleepaway Camp however, always manages to be charming, despite its warped themes and lurid subject matter, this one certainly isn't for everybody, but those with a taste for something not quite the norm will find much to savor here with Sleepaway Camp, a truly strange film that stands in a tired subgenre, but stands out as a unique achievement-even if partially a fluke.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Retrospective [SPOILER], June 10, 2000
It was released on November 18 1983 opening the same week as the movie Yentl starring Barbara Streisand. Ironically, both movies shared a common thread. Gender role reversal. Yentl had Barbara Streisand portraying a woman posing as a man while Sleepaway Camp had Felissa Rose portraying a boy posing as a girl. Newspaper ads claimed persons with weak stomachs or women carrying unborn children shouldn't see Sleepaway Camp. These tactics used to lure audiences into seeing horror films didn't help make Sleepaway Camp a success. Only when it was released on video did the low budget production make a name for itself. Sleepaway Camp could only be considered successful if you count how many fans it has instead of how many dollars it made.
Sleepaway Camp was originally a thesis Robert Hiltzik had written for college. Eventually it evolved into a screenplay. Most of the film's funds were from an insurance settlement resulting in the unfortunate death of Hiltzik's mother, who was killed in a gas explosion. Hiltzik's own camp experiences inspired him to write a horror story which takes place at the fictional Camp Arawak. However, the filming location for Sleepaway Camp was anything but fictitious. Camp Algonquin, located in Argyle, New York, had been an actual Boy Scout camp. Coincidently, it was also where Hiltzik had attended camp as a boy. Shooting for Sleepaway Camp had begun soon after the camp closed down and just as the leaves started to change color.
While analyzing the psychological and sexual aspects of the film, one often wonder's what happened to Robert Hiltzik as a child to make him create such a seedy piece of work. Homosexuality, pedophilia, rape, and child abuse are just some of the themes you will find in Sleepaway Camp. There is even a scene which suggests necrophilia. Not only are these "taboos" shamelessly presented with no remorse or redeeming qualities, each and every one involves children. In fact, most of the film's cast are children. What makes the case of Sleepaway Camp even more bizarre is that it is dedicated to the film makers mother.
Some of the characters are just as deviant as the story itself. There's Aunt Martha, an obviously mentally ill woman who is a psychiatrist no less; Artie, the head chef, who openly admits to his pedophilia and is teased by his fellow employees; Mel, the profit conscious owner of Camp Arawak, who cares more about publicity than the well being of the children he is repsonsible for; and of course, the children, all of whom fit one stereotype or another. The murders range from cliche to anything but. Victims are drowned, stabbed in the shower, attacked with wasps, shot with arrows, hatcheted, and decapitated. One death inparticular was so disturbing that actress Jane Krakowski passed the role of Judy over to Karen Fields. Even then, the scene had to be toned down for the actress to feel comfortable. It has become the most infamous death scene in the horror genre. A young girl is on her bed curling her hair with an iron. She is approached by the killer, punched and then as a pillow is held over her face, she is raped with the curling iron to her death.
What really saves Sleepaway Camp is the films climax. Although it's an idea which has been used before in film (see 1978's A REFLECTION OF FEAR), this probably presents it in the most shocking way imaginable. The killer, believed to be a young girl, is seen sitting naked on the waterfront holding the head of another camper in her lap. A flashback ensues and once over, the girl stands up, the campers head rolls off her lap, and we see a naked boy standing, mouth open in a frozen state of shock and terror. Much like the one most people wear when they watch Sleepaway Camp for the first time.
By all accounts, Sleepaway Camp should have been left on the shelf, never to be seen by the public. Perhaps if it had been released in another time, it might have been banned. Then again, maybe not. It may be just another low budget horror movie, but it acheived cult status and has gained a fan following. Spawning three sequels, two which were filmed back to back, and one unfinished, it has become one of the most popular and saught after horror series amongst fans.
It raises questions, provokes theories, and makes us laugh. It has held it's own for twenty years and has never been forgotten among the masses of horror fans. Whether people love it or hate it, they sure as hell remember it. Sleepaway Camp has a reputation. How many movies can you say that about?
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sleepaway Camp finally on DVD!, April 29, 2000
By A Customer
Finally, the b-movie/horror flick, Sleepaway Camp is being released to DVD. It's nearly impossible to find on VHS (the original and both sequels are currently out of print!). Its a good thing this movie is getting the recognition it deserves because the story is so unique (with the bizarre aunt) and surprising (the final scene in which "Angela"'s true self is revealed). Hopefully, Anchor Bay will give this film a good DVD transfer (who can forget the garbage they gave us for the non-collector's edition of Halloween), and hopefully they'll have a new 5.1 soundtrack and anamorphic widescreen. What about Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers? Or Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland? All the films in the series need the DVD treatment, right? I'm still waiting for April Fools Day or Mothers Day.
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