Sleepaway Camp
HORROR-THON 2024 • SEEING RED
1/10
DIRECTOR: Robert Hiltzik
STARRING: Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten, Karen Fields
RELEASED: 1983
RUNTIME: 1 hour, 24 minutes
WATCH ON: Peacock, AMC+, Prime Video, Tubi, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, YouTube TV
SCARE LEVEL: Low. Confusion level: high.
GOING TO SUMMER CAMP: No.
When I watched Chopping Mall, I joked it was a 10/10 with no notes despite it being one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. I didn’t think I’d find anything worse. Sleepaway Camp said hold my beer.
Years after a boating accident kills her father and her brother, shy, silent Angela lives with her very eccentric Aunt Martha and her protective cousin Ricky. One summer, Martha sends the two kids off to Camp Arawak.
Angela barely speaks. The other campers and at least one counselor are horrible to her. Then the people who are horrible to her start dying in increasingly bizarre “accidents.” Ricky defends her, the camp director covers things up, and the body count climbs right up to an ending that people are still talking about forty years later.
MY HUMBLE OPINION
Trust me: just watch the first five minutes. You’ll be wondering whether this is a serious movie or somebody taking the piss. Aunt Martha alone is a performance I can’t describe, only experience.
The accents are horrible. I don’t know where these campers are supposed to be from. I don’t think they know either.
Unlike Chopping Mall, it isn’t funny enough to come out the other side. Chopping Mall knew it was ridiculous and leaned in. This one seems to have no idea.
FUN FACT FOR YOUR NEXT DINNER PARTY
Sleepaway Camp was an unexpected hit and has become a cult favorite for horror movie fans. It has made 30 times more than what was spent to make it.