Sleepaway Camp (1983)

[baumer]

Discuss

[DAR]

One of those films that is so entertainingly awful with one of the biggest WTF moments ever.  It either gets an A+ or an F-

[baumer]

Horror films seemed the easy way to make a quick buck in the 80's. There was an abundance of them that graced video. I don't think half of them actually made it to the big screen. You can add Sleepaway Camp to that list. This is a typical scary film. It has it's moments and it is scary in some parts. It has some nice humour especially when they play camp jokes on each other. But having said all that, this movie is as good as it is (and it's not too bad ) because the mother in this film is creepier than Mrs. Bates and she actually makes you want to kill her. But the two parts that I will never forget are images that are firmly planted in my brain, especially the part of it that stores nasty horror elements in it.

The first was the death by curling iron. It is so horrific that it bothered me so much that I had to cover my eyes the second time I saw it. It is qutie graphic, not because of what they show, but because you know how nasty it is.

But the one thing that will stay with me and probably anyone else that has seen this film is the very end. That last shot is so horrific, so way out of left field that you never see it coming. It just hits you and then it ends. It has a power of its own. And judging by the comment on here from other users, they feel the same way. This is a film absolutely worth checking out.

 

8/10

[DAR]

I forgot about the curling iron that was disturbing.  The most hilarious kill is the pedophile cook who is hanging from the top shelf in the kitchen over the boiling water/grease(I forget) like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 2

[baumer]

Hmmm...I'm going to have to watch it again.  I forget that part.  

[DAR]

I just saw the film for the first time earlier this year. 

[TheMovieman]

One of the more disturbing horror movies and like baumer said, quite graphic. Still somewhat liked it though I already had heard about the twist by watching another review a few months ago (at the time I hadn't planned on seeing it, but got a Blu-ray copy to review for my site).

 

***/*****, (C+, 6.1/10, 2.5/4)

[Thrylos 7]

Wow, people find sleep away clamp disturbing ? It was a typical slasher, a genre of the eighties that I hated , with a hilarious ending , honestly I burst out laughing with the last scene . Bad movie with no larger than life villain, to make things a little better . I think that I own a VHS copy of it , I used to buy almost everything anchor bay .Anyway the slasher movies of the eighties had neither the charm nor the evilness of similar movies of the seventies (best decade for cult horror movies) .

[TheMovieman]

Wow, people find sleep away clamp disturbing ?

 

I said that, so at least one person did.

 

BTW, I'm not a huge fan of it (or of slashers), but I also recently watched Final Exam which was soooo boring.

[baumer]

Im actually watching it now.  The curling iron scene, although not graphic, is still disturbing because you know what happens.  The hot water scene is awesome.  And the ending is still horrifying.  I like this movie a lot...it even has a Friday the 13th score.

[kitik]

Great movie. A true cult classic. (Though certainly not great production values. But it knew it was a cheap movie, and that just helps add to the charm and cult classic-ness of the thing.)

 

Unique, because unlike so many other slasher movies of the 80's, the killer here was actually one of the campers. Plus that great twist ending. The pedophile chef is incredible in retrospect. How often do we see such a character today?

 

Plus the sequels are great too. They each have their different charms. About midway through the second one is one of my favorite kill scenes in the history of horror, not for the gruesomeness or the actual kill itself, but the killer's attitude during the scene.

[baumer]

I have the white box set. Ill check out part two tonight. Thanks kitik