Sleepaway Camp

This article is about the film. For the summer activity, see Summer camp.

Sleepaway Camp
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Hiltzik
Written byRobert Hiltzik
Produced by
  • Jerry Silva
  • Michele Tatosian
Starring
CinematographyBenjamin Davis
Edited by
Music byEdward Bilous
Production
company
American Eagle Films[1]
Distributed byUnited Film Distribution Company[1]
Release date
  • November 18, 1983 (1983-11-18)[2]
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$350,000[3]
Box office$11 million[4]

Sleepaway Camp is a 1983 American slasher film written and directed by Robert Hiltzik, and starring Felissa Rose, Katherine Kamhi, Paul DeAngelo, Mike Kellin (in his last screen appearance), and Christopher Collet (in his first). The original entry in the Sleepaway Camp film series, it focuses on serial killings which occur at a summer camp for teenagers.

Filmed in upstate New York in the fall of 1982, Sleepaway Camp was released the following year by United Film Distributors. It earned approximately $11 million at the box office, but was met by largely unfavorable reviews from critics, many of whom deemed it exploitative and derivative of such films as Friday the 13th (1980).

In the years since its release, Sleepaway Camp has gone on to develop a cult following, as well as garnering notoriety for its twist ending, which is considered one of the most shocking in the horror genre[5][6][7] and in film history at large.[8][9] The film has also been subject to diverging criticism from modern reviewers regarding its themes of gender identity.

It was followed by four sequels: Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988), Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989), Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor (2012), and Return to Sleepaway Camp (2008).

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference afi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Sumner 2010, p. 171.
  3. ^ Hayes, Jeff; Klyza, John. "Sleepaway Camp Trivia". SleepawayCampMovies. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  4. ^ Hafdahl & Florence 2020, p. 47.
  5. ^ Kumar, Sharath (July 28, 2017). "25 Best Horror Movie Twist Endings - Best Twist Endings in Horror Movies". The Cinemaholic. Archived from the original on May 14, 2023.
  6. ^ Cotter, Padraig (March 11, 2019). "Why Sleepaway Camp's Ending Is Best Slasher Movie Twist". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on May 14, 2023.
  7. ^ Yahoo! Staff (October 30, 2017). "From 'Sixth Sense' to 'Sleepaway Camp': Horror's Most Bonkers Twist Endings". Yahoo! Entertainment. Archived from the original on May 14, 2023.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference digest was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference stolworthy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).