Sleepaway Camp (1983) (possible spoilers)

Submitted by emmerliii t3_ygi4bd in movies

I just watched Sleepaway Camp for the first time. It had been on my watch list for a long time, but for whatever reason I hadn’t gotten around to actually watching it. Finally got around to watching it tonight, and the twist ending blew my mind.

I had seen bits and pieces of the movie before, mostly in horror movie documentaries. And I had seen the final clip at the very end, but I knew nothing about the twist ending at all. It completely blew my mind.

It’s rare for me to not see something coming in a movie, and this was definitely one of those times. I would strongly recommend this movie to pretty much anyone. It's an amazing movie.

19

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

toofarbyfar t1_iu916kn wrote

The fun thing about Sleepaway Camp is, even if you go in knowing about the completely bonkers ending, there are still three or four completely unrelated, completely bonkers other things that will still melt your brain.

20

Buffy11bnl t1_iu95gcr wrote

The aunts performance alone is incredible enough to be the topic of an in-depth analysis - like, there were a lot of *choices* made and I’m still not entirely sure I believe they had seen the whole script?

12

AmeliaMangan t1_iu974u9 wrote

I am utterly obsessed with Desiree Gould's amazing, all-caps performance as Aunt Martha ("I MADE YOU SOME COOKIES FOR THE RIDE HOME!!1!"). Everyone else is more or less going for naturalism in their performances, but she's got this, like, John Waters/David Lynch thing going on wherein the performance is just so much that all concepts of "Good Acting" or "Bad Acting" just become wholly irrelevant. Absolutely iconic, either way.

11

Buffy11bnl t1_iu981oj wrote

It’s so surreal! and yes that’s exactly it - somehow it pulls together go form something that goes well beyond the concept of “good” movie Vs “bad” movie, it’s truly a spectacle in the best possible way!

3

Homerpaintbucket t1_iuam9e9 wrote

I always took as their way of demonstrating that she was fucking out of her skull insane.

2

LockardTheGOAT23 t1_iu8tvpt wrote

I remember seeing Sleepaway Camp 2&3 before seeing this one and going in expecting a much different movie than what I got. My first impression was, "This is crap."

I have a better appreciation of it today but back then I couldn't believe it was even part of the same series as the sequels were.

4

DarrenEdwards t1_iu94rs0 wrote

2 & 3 stars Bruce Springsteen's sister.

I agree, such a tonal shift. In the 70's there had to be a twist ending of some sort for every horror movie but by the late 80's they just needed a repeated slasher with just the minimum of plot to move through the body count.

6

AmeliaMangan t1_iu96cjm wrote

>2 & 3 stars Bruce Springsteen's sister.

And she's great, legitimately the best thing about those films. Her Angela isn't the sad-eyed lost soul Felissa Rose created - to such an extent that it's really hard to buy them as the same character - but she's so darn likable and peppy that she's fun to watch no matter what the hell she's doing.

2

MrFluffyhead80 t1_iu8r62f wrote

I remember just thinking it can’t be that obvious, but then I remembered when it was made and it probably was that obvious, then I saw the end and it really was so weird to me. I remember turning on all the lights around me, it was like 2 am, and just thinking “what the fuck did I just see?”

3

JupiterAnneWinter t1_iu8mtcf wrote

It’s amazing what you can remember about a movie you haven’t seen in over two decades. Thanks for bringing me back to nightmares of my childhood!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

2

Bros555 t1_iu8we4l wrote

I watched it as a kid with my dad. I remember being so shocked with that ending. I love it.

1

Buffy11bnl t1_iu97kf2 wrote

I saw this movie for the first time in 2019 and I fluctuate between thinking it’s unintentionally brilliant and not good.

Like, as someone who grew up on Long Island in the 80s/90s both the accents and the straight up asshole nature of the kids is spot on, and I think it’s a very unfiltered/honest look at how awful kids can be with little to no provocation but at the same time the decision to film 3 innings of a pickup baseball game (in real time) is one that has me scratching my head, even if it does give us one of the best comeback lines of all time (Eat shit and *live*, Bill)

Thats not even getting into whatever wackiness is going on with the aunt (i can’t imagine that she has an actual medical degree right?) and the completely out of left field dream /flashback scene at the end of the movie.

Two fun facts, the head of the kitchen staff (not the gross pedophile) is played by James Earl Jones’ father, Robert Earl Jones, and “young Peter“ was played by Maximo Gianfranco Sorrentino aka, the brother of “the situation” from The Jersey Shore!

Decided it’s time for a rewatch - it’s streaming for free right now (with ads) on Roku, Pluto, Tubi and Peacock (among other places) in case anyone else wants to do the same!

1

2xWhiskeyCokeNoIce t1_iub3bot wrote

It's such a wild ride. You don't see many slashers open with heartfelt dedications like:

“In fond memory of Mom, a doer.”

If you want to hear two funny people discuss it then I recommend listening to With Gourley and Rust's episodes on the movie. They always talk at length but Sleepaway Camp generated so much discussion they had to split it into two episodes due to file size issues.

1