Gateway Cinephiles

3-Minute Intro: Sleepaway Camp

Screened: October 16, 2008
Format: DVD - Anchor Bay (2000)
HorrorFest 2008

The tale of first-time director Robert Hiltzik’s 1983 film, Sleepaway Camp, and how it became a beloved cult classic, is one of the lesser-known sagas of the slasher movie’s 1980s heyday. At the time of Sleepaway Camp’s production, the slasher parameters were already well-established by features such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Black Christmas, Halloween, and Friday the 13th, as well as a host of lesser works vying for adolescent eyeballs. Sleepaway Camp had a conceptual drawback in that it utilized the same setting as the Friday the 13th series—a summer camp—but it was savvy enough to subvert the subgenre in cunning ways. Its protagonist, the shy little Angela Baker, doesn’t quite fulfill the archetype feminist film critic Carol J. Clover has termed the Final Girl, the pretty young thing who eventually confronts the killer.

Sleepaway Camp attained a modest success in its theatrical run. Perhaps unexpectedly, a small but loyal fan base gradually developed over the years based on sales and rentals of the VHS videocassette. The film’s murder sequences—especially a notorious scene involving a beehive—and particularly its shocking conclusion lent it a forbidden quality that endeared many teenage horror fans. There were two rogue sequels by another director, but the original film’s cast and crew quickly moved on. Director Hiltzik attended law school and eventually attained partner in a New York City firm. Felissa Rose, who had something of a break portraying Angela at the age of thirteen, went on to an arts education and a career in the theater.

In 2000, horror film buffs from a website devoted to the Sleepaway Camp series contacted Hiltzik about recording an audio commentary track for a new DVD release of the film. The director-turned-attorney was shocked that his seemingly forgettable film had acquired a devoted following over the years. The revival of interest in the film also brought Rose attention as a lost cult figure, and she has appeared in host of low-budget horror films since 2000. The revival has even sparked enthusiasm for a new Sleepaway Camp film that is now in production, with Hiltzik returning to direct and Rose reprising her notorious role.