So much average

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

'Sleepaway Camp' is a film that is weird from the very start. The opening scene is pretty bad to be honest, the acting is so ridiculously week and there's this generally schlocky feeling throughout it. Then, in the very next scene, we get this bizarre encounter with a beyond-eccentric mother character performed by a lady who acts as if she's in a John Waters movie. Then, as the film goes on, we've got blatantly pedophiliac chefs, both comically and uncomfortably lengthy shots holding on the aftermath of the slasher killings, noticeable homoeroticism, seeming social commentary, a perverted old camp councilor who's shamelessly greedy, and just a general build up of events that is super discomforting. It's super funny, too, in a way, sometimes intentionally, sometimes possibly unintentionally, but I honestly don't even know. The movie is described as "original" by many solely because of its twist, which is extremely unique and affecting (especially how it is shown and presented and hinted at throughout the film; plus, the final image is genuinely unsettling and will likely haunt my mind for years to come), but throughout there's just so much weird things going on that I think it really is one of the most unique slasher films ever made. The constant commentary on sexuality, the surreal humour, and the abundance of bizarre pauses/stretches of just horrible screaming coming from the victims help make the whole film an original work of horror cinema and just generally disturbing to me. In its final moments, it isn't perfectly done, and the gore effects are kind of cheap and simple, but it depicts some things that are just so brutal and difficult to digest, and, in the end, it is super tragic and depressing. It's hard for me to exactly say what I can really think of this film, it seriously makes me want to look into it and whatever its intentions may be. There are really campy moments throughout and a lot of what seems to be very intentional black comedy and there are a few scenes that just go all out and nearly approach some kind of surreal or dreamlike quality that's tough to pin down, and there are these odd sequences of what feels like shameless filler, and then it just punches you in the face with a heartbreaking and horrifying final scene and then that's it. One thing is for certain, this was an extremely entertaining film to watch throughout, and it did have a serious impact on me despite its numerous flaws.

This movie starts off as a campy regular flick, but wow what a twist!

Let's take a trip back to 1975, when John Baker and his boyfriend Lenny took John's kids on a boating trip. Those kids are madcap scamps that capsize their dad's boat for fun. But on the swim back to shore, a waterskier kills John and his son Peter, leaving Angela traumatized.Eight years later, Angela is living with her weird aunt Dr. Martha Thomas (who would be able to unite Superman and Batman, based on her first name), along with her cousin Ricky. They go to Camp Arawak for the summer. As someone who has never been to summer camp, nor ever wanted to go, I fail to see the fun that places like this promise.Angela gets bullied at every turn, even when the counselors try to help her. And to top it off, the head cook even tries to rape her. Sure, he's soon scalded by hot water. But it seems odd how many people have it in for this little girl. I guess the good news is that everyone that screws with her dies horribly - if that can be good news. Like Kenny, a kid that mocks her. She also finally gets a friend, Paul, who has the hots for her.As Paul and Angela attend a movie at the camp, two of the boys throw water balloons at them. Billy, one of the throwers, is soon killed by bees. At this point, Mel, the owner, starts to realize that maybe there's a killer in the camp.Paul tries to kiss Angela, but she has a flashback to catching her father in bed with Lenny. Oh no! And it gets worse, as Judy - one of the worst behaved girls - kisses Paul and then throws Angela into the water. Ricky saves her, only for a bunch of kids to throw sand in her face! Will the torment ever end?The film then descends into slasher film madness. Meg, a counselor who is sleeping with the owner of the camp, a man nearly fifty years or more her senior, is killed in the shower. The kids who threw sand at Angela? Nearly all of them are dispensed of with a hatchet. And the evil Judy? She's raped with a hot curling iron (!) and smothered with a pillow, which feels like the roughest and softest kill ever. And finally, the owner of the camp blames Ricky and attacks him, only for the real killer to shoot him with an arrow.The police come to investigate the murders while Paul and Angela decide to go skinny dipping. Two of the counselors find them and we learn that she has decapitated Paul and jumps up, fully nude and fully a dude, making a hissing sound and looking like a complete maniac. The truth? Angela is really Peter, the boy we thought died in the opening. Dr. Martha had raised him as the daughter she never got to have..It's funny. In the early 80's, so many people bemoaned how many slashers were playing in theaters and drive-ins. But today, we're lucky to get a horror film into theaters. And truly odd films, like Sleepaway Camp, go direct to streaming or DVD. Let's face it - none of today's films are as goofy as this either. And by goofy, I don't mean the SyFy or Troma movies that are made to be dumb. No, this is a film that appears to be an attempt at a legitimate, serious film that ends up being something wonderful crazy. It's filled with ridiculous dialogue, over the top murders and that ending!

Sleepaway Camp is of the first movies that comes to mind when the sub- genre of eighties slashers is brought up. The film is the epitome of a slasher film in so many ways, for example the time period's campy atmosphere, cheesy teenage dialogue, point of view from an unknown killer, and a twist ending when the killer is finally revealed. What makes Sleepaway Camp special is that it's also different than many slashers with a large mix and certain complexity of characters, entertaining filler scenes and its fearless filmmaking. The ending comes to shock to anyone who doesn't know about the twist prior to watching the film. Its final scene is so notorious that it's in the same category with the likes of Saw and The Sixth Sense. Sleepaway Camp without question ranks as one of the top 80's slasher films and probably doesn't get the credit it deserves.