Sleepaway Camp

Welcome back to Rotten Reelz Reviews. Now as last week I was busy just picking random movie and TV to put together a few convoluted and opinionated reviews as per usual. Since epinions was abandoned for paying reviews, I noticed I sat through the sequels but never bothered to give a write-up for the original.   From the creation writer/director Robert Hiltzik (Sleepaway Camp, Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers, Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland and Return to Sleepaway Camp) comes the slasher film with the twist ending. This is Sleepaway Camp.

Kill her Mommy.  Kill her!

Yes before the campy and goofy patter of Pamela Springteen of Sleepaway Camp II and III, came Angela Baker (Felissa Rose of Taken Alive, Bloodhounds II, Dinner and Driving, Daybreak, Nikos the Impaler, Zombiegeddon, The Drone Virus and Satan's Playground) is off to summer camp with her cousin Ricky (ABC Afterschool Specials, Return to Sleepaway Camp, The Perfect House, Redemption, Blood Reservoir, Then and Again, Terror Tales, Sugar! And William Froste) at Camp Arawak and all its host of deviants. From the bullying of physically mature Judy (Karen Fields of Sleepaway Camp and Judy) and the "Camp Counselor" Meg (Katherine Kamhi of All My Children, CBS Afternoon Playhouse, Kate & Allie, Silent Madness, The Marshall Chronicles, Dragnet, The Young and the Restless and Bones) to the attempted molestation brought to you by the cook Artie (Owen Hughes of Sleepaway Camp) you can imagine the lack of happy campers. Again, a background check would solve a lot of things.

Accidents in the kitchen are as common as in the bathroom.

Artie cracks wise about fresh meat while getting scalded by the pot prepped for cracking corn causing his little black heart to cease to beat. So best way to deal with this is to leave him uncovered and wheeled out right in front of the kids. Camp owner Mel (Mike Kellin of Banning, The Incident, The Boston Strangler, Riot, The People Next Door, Freebie and the Bean, Midnight Express, The Jazz Singer, Fitz and Bones and Sleepaway Camp) rules Artie's demise as an accident. Also one of the longer screaming death scenes. Imagine Meatballs with gore.

The water's too hot!!!

Meg and Judy decide to toss Angela in the water because...well they're dicks would be my guess. Small kids hurl handfuls of sand at her and Angela proceeds to stare them down with creeper eyes. With the beach mishap aside, Meg offers a bit of tail to camp owner Mel but she needs a shower first. Aw, sprucing herself up for her sugar daddy. Hot time in the shower leads to a murder in the shower. Mel discovers her, swears vengeance and chases out to the campgrounds and stumbles upon the mutilated corpses of the very small kids that made fun of Angela. Mel remembers in a fit of rage that Ricky was there screaming he would get back at all of them and proceeds to jump the kid, slapping him around and throwing him a beating only to get an arrow through the throat. If not Ricky, then who?

How many more die tonight? Will this make Camp Arawak be less than safe for kids?

Our gore and SFX is brought to us by the FX guru Ed French (Nightmare, Sleepaway Camp, C.H.U.D., The Stuff, Necropolis, Creepshow 2, Mutant Hunt, Prime Evil, Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, Terminator 2: Judgment Days and Return to Sleepaway Camp) and brought one of the most impressive and clever twists in slasher history. More than a handful of young kids swearing profusely made me just laugh remembering how at that age was odd to say the least. While cashing in on the popularity of Friday the 13^th, these films are completely separate and it offers a warped outlook of morality, kids being kids and a disturbing backstory. FYI, Felissa Rose's cool stare will chill you to the bone, if not the soul.

Ah, you startled me!