“Sleepaway Camp”
Day 23 -27 of the 2024 31-Days of Horror
There’s something a little different about Angela. And these might be the worst camp counselors ever. It’s been a while since I’ve seen these. I know I hadn’t seen them all, so might as well jump right in.
“Sleepaway Camp (1982)”
For more information follow this link.
We see in the beginning that Angela (Felissa Rose) has tragically lost her father and her sibling in an awful boating accident. She has been sent to live with her creepily odd aunt, who is a doctor, and similar aged cousin, Paul (Jonathon Tiersten). After a few years of being sheltered in her aunt’s home, she joins her cousin at summer camp, Camp Arawak, where she encounters the crappiest people.
Someone clearly had some shitty summer camp experiences growing up. Or maybe just some shitty childhood experiences in general.
I can see why this film is available on multiple streaming platforms, while the rest of franchise is less readily available. Sleepaway Camp is a solid film about a child who suffered a severe trauma witnessing the death of a parent and sibling. She was then forced to conform to a gender role that she did not identify with (we know this because of a flashback scene) by her aunt who was supposed to be her protector, but was actually her abuser. Her aunt, who was a doctor and self admittedly forged medical documentation to suit her own wants. Then, this child was sent off to a camp full of the worst people imaginable, including a camp counselor who encourages one of her fellow campers to throw Angela in the lake. From there, it doesn’t take long for her to suffer a complete mental break.
People love to say that kids got more violent because of video games or music, but no, kids were always bloodthirsty little monsters. That’s why no one really calls movies like this, from the 70s and 80s, out on “unrealistic” violence.
Huh, apparently I took this topic a little too seriously. Going to have to lighten things up a little.
“Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988)”
For more information follow this link.
Angela is back. This time she’s a counselor at Camp Rolling Hills. The first one was about a kid who survived a severe trauma, losing her sibling and parents, was abused by her Aunt, was bullied at camp, and finally had a mental break. This one started with a transphobic bang. So, that was not great. Nearly 2/3 through they circle back to talking about Camp Arawak and that’s when things really get crazy.
Anyway, Pamela Springsteen makes a great Angela. She gives the audience a wonderfully sociopathic mix of cheerful innocence and ruthless homicidal behavior, always repeating “I had no choice.”
“Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989)”
For more information follow this link.
Angela is back again, 1 year after the massacre at Camp Rolling Hills. In NYC, she runs down a girl who is heading to get on the bus to summer camp, and takes her identity/place. The legend of Angela Baker, the angel of death, has grown (now dropping the Trans backstory, other than a throw away line about having unspecified surgery).
For some reason, Camp New Horizon is the same location as Camp Rolling Hills. Probably because they filmed Unhappy Campers and Teenage Wasteland back to back over 6 weeks. This time Angela has gone full slasher and no one is safe. The camp is full of insulting stereotypes, from various urban minorities to sensually deviant aspiring politicians to the pedophile married camp owner.
Pamela Springsteen returns as Angela, our cheerful sociopathic protagonist… antagonist? In these it’s not always easy to tell if we’re supposed to be cheering for or against her. In her first movie role is Tracy Griffith, as Marcia, sweet and not so innocent, a genuinely decent, caring person. Talent certainly runs in the Griffith family. And, though briefly, Michael J Pollard, as Herman, the married owner of the camp who sleeps with the teenaged campers. Eeeew.
It was obviously a rushed project, since apparently they decided to do it as they were filming part 2. One thing I really like about all of these is that Angela doesn’t mess around and give her victims a chance to get away or fight back. Sure, there’s a little banter, but then it’s just… whoop… off with the head.
“Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor (2002)”
For more information follow this link.
Well, in the nifty boxed set I have, the disc for this only has 30 minutes of production shots, which was all they’d made of this movie at the time the box set was made. In 2012, some ambitious soul completed the movie, but it’s challenging to find at the moment, so I ended up ordering a DVD copy. I’ll need to update this section after I receive and watch it.
“Return to Sleepaway Camp (2008)”
For more information follow this link.
So this is supposed to be a direct sequel to the first one, I’m guessing because Robert Hiltzik, Melissa Rose, Johnathan Tiersten, and Paul DeAngelo all returned for it. Which is funny because cast/characters from the previous 2 films returned as well, so not entirely a “direct sequel.”
Apparently summer camp hasn’t improved in the past 20 years. At Camp Manabe some of the counselors at just as awful as the ill mannered kids. The storyline, such as it is, about Ronnie’s (Tiersten) past trauma at Camp Arawak, isn’t bad. And although it was obvious what they were doing with Angela from the moment she was first shown on screen, I still give them full marks for creativity.
There was nothing really worthwhile in the rest of the film. It was all just characters being shitty and kill scenes. And what the heck with the kid, Alan, and the frogs?
Overall, I wasn’t a huge fan of this one, except for very specially Felissa Rose. She was great, I really loved the post credit scene.
