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Sleepaway Camp
Robert Hiltzik 1983 USA

Another eighties slasher film entry not needed by any means but standing out from the bunch due to some different elements used. Its about a young boy named Ricky and his quiet cousin Angela who go to camp Arawak where people who cross the two are murdered. Another important subplot has the death of a man and one of his children in a boating accident. The film has a very disturbing and sleazy quality to it. It does not have a giant maniac roaming around in the woods killing off the cast, something which most slasher films rely on. The storyline is very different for this type of film, it has homosexual overtones and even a pedophile camp cook who is literally burned for his deviant sexual preference. What drags the film down are the routine murders, absolutely horrible acting and some generally bad performances. A couple of murders are particularly gruesome including the one with the bee hive and the hot water scalding. Unfortunately, not everything is different, like most slasher fare there are kind and caring characters as well as mean and snotty characters, the latter being those who are butchered. A lot of people see the film as a another boring slasher but I think it has some very disturbing stuff in it, not gore wise but just in general. I'm not saying its a classic, because its anything but that but it is a bit different. The ending is amazing and one hell of a surprise.

Richard J.Taylor