Sleepaway Camp

Alternate titles : Nightmare Vacation.

Tagline : "You won't be going home."

Originally released in the UK under the title "Nightmare Vacation", this was one of many early 80's slasher films to quickly follow in the wake of Friday the 13th's popularity.

Set at a kids summer camp (how original), the film centres around young orphan Angela Baker (Fellissa Rose), who's there with her cousin Ricky (Johnathon Tierston). Trouble flares when some spiteful teenagers start harassing poor Angela, only to go missing shortly afterwards, and turning up dead in a variety of nasty ways. As does anybody else who happens to upset her.

Suspicion falls upon her overly protective cousin, but fearing claims of a serial killer will be bad for business, the camps owner tries to pass off the recent misfortunes as being a series of bad accidents.

But as more bodies pile up in increasingly suspicious circumstances, including the chef being drenched in scalding water, and one nasty girl being brutally knifed in the shower "Psycho" style, it looks like a killer is indeed at work.

Not as good as the other films of this ilk from around that era, this is an enjoyable enough slasher pic, though it pails in comparison to Friday the 13th. There are some rather good kill scenes though and it also manages to pull off one of the most bizarre plot twists ever during the films climax.

Overall Marks : 5/10.

Terrifying Trivia

• The US DVD box set issued in 2003 was originally made to look like a 1st aid kit, but had to be changed following complaints from the US Red Cross.
• The part of Judy was originally offered to Jane Krakowski (Elaine from TV's "Ally McBeal"). But after reading how her character died, decided to drop out, as she thought it was too disgusting.
• The films budget was $350,000.
• The film was shot during early autumn, so the crew had to spray paint the leaves green to make it look like it was the summer.
• Felissa Rose was just 13 at the time, which was unusual as most films tend to use actors that are over 18 but look younger. For the final scene, where she takes her clothes off, they had to use an actor that was over 18, wearing a mask to disguise their own features. But they had to get drunk before being able to film the scenem (if you've watched the film, you'll understand why).
• Ben, the camp caretaker, was played by Robert Earl Jones, who's the father of James Earl Jones (Darth Vader's voice).
• Mike Kellin, who plays the camp owner Mel, was actually suffering from lung cancer during filming. He died the same year the film was released, in 1983 and was the last feature film he appeared.
• The original UK release, under the title "Nightmare Vacation", was heavily cut by the BBFC. Who removed 57 seconds of footage before they would give it an 18 certificate. This toned down most of the gore, as well as shortening the sequence of the scalded chef lying on the floor and a close up of Meg's dead body after she slumps out of the shower.
• The US DVD release from Anchor Bay in 2003 was inadvertantly struck from a censored print, possibly from a proposed TV edit, which missed 23s of footage. These shortend the killings, toned down some language and edited out much of the nudity. The UK release was of this same cut version, but included the cut scenes as extras, which appeared to have been taken from a VHS source. The US Blu-Ray from Shout Factory issued in 2014 was of the original uncut version.

Other Recomendations

A-Z REVIEWS | REVIEWS INDEX | HOME