31 Nights of Horror Sleepaway Camp
Platform: Vudu (Owned Movie)
Director: Robert Hiltzik
Release Year: 1983
Watch Date: October 1, 2023
My Rating: 7.8
Welcome to 31 nights of horror films. More on my decision to do 31 Nights of Horror in the Misadventures blog.
Sleepaway Camp is a campy film about the horrors of summer camp. Okay, okay, it’s about horror at a summer camp. Angela Baker loses her brother and dad in a boating accident and is sent to live with her aunt and cousin. The aunt sends the two kids to summer camp. Angela is quiet and looks horror-stricken for most of the movie. The other kids are mean to her. Soon, the kids and adults who are mean to Angela start being killed gruesomely. The most creative might be the pervert cook boiled alive in the corn water.
Her cousin sticks up for her throughout the movie and you begin to suspect that he is offing all of the people who pick on Angela, including the camp director. One other boy is nice to Angela and it looks like the two of them are going to have a young love summer romance. The film ends with the campers finding Angela and the boy on the beach. Angela is naked and holding the boy’s head. It turns out that Angela isn’t Angela. She is Angela’s brother, who didn’t die in the boating accident…Angela did, but her Aunt wanted a little girl. I think that is the most disturbing part of the movie.
Now, there are two sequels, Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers and Sleepaway Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland. I actually like the sequels better (2 is my favorite) because they are campy gruesome horror comedies. Angela has the best one-liners and finds imaginative ways to off the campers. I struggle a little bit with the one she drills (2) and the one whose head she mows over (3), but all in all, they are a romping good time.
I gave this movie a 7.8 because it is very original, the acting is good, and the script was well written. It isn’t the best horror movie you will ever see, but if you are looking for something that is a little bit kid-friendly, this is a good choice. Of course……I’m a little jaded and probably not the best person to ask what is and isn’t appropriate for kids when it comes to horror.
Photo Credit: imdb.com
