Sleepaway Camp (also marketed on VHS as Nightmare Vacation) is an American 1983 exploitationslasher film written and directed by Robert Hiltzik, who also served as executive producer. The film tells about a young girl and her cousin sent to a summer camp, where a group of killings begins shortly after their arrival. The film came at a time when slasher films were in their heyday, and is largely known for its twist ending, which is considered by some to be one of the most shocking endings among horror films.Sleepaway Camp is also notable as the last movie of Tony-nominee Mike Kellin, and as the film debut of Christopher Collet.
Plot
In 1975, John Baker and his lover, Lenny, take John's children Angela and Peter on a boating trip. After the boat capsizes, John and the children attempt to swim ashore where Lenny is waiting for them. However they swim into the path of a reckless motorboat driver and are struck, and John and one of the children are killed.
Eight years later, the film reveals that Angela is now traumatized. She has been living with her eccentric aunt, Dr. Martha Thomas, and her cousin Ricky Thomas. Angela and Ricky are about to be sent to Camp Arawak. Martha first gives them documents stating their physicals and tells them not to let anyone know where they got them as she believes they would not approve at all. Due to her introverted nature, Angela is bullied, her main tormentors being fellow camper Judy and camp counselor Meg. The head cook, Artie attempts to molest Angela until Ricky interrupts, and the two children flee. While Artie is boiling water for corn, an unseen figure pulls the chair out from under him and he is severely scalded by the boiling water. Ben eventually enters the kitchen, to the sound of Artie's terror-filled screaming. He is shocked by the chaos created. Artie's incident is deemed accidental by camp owner Mel Costic, who pays Ben and other kitchen employees to keep the accident quiet.
Sleepaway Camp is an American slasher film franchise consisting of five films, one of which was not fully completed. The franchise primarily focuses on transgender serial killer Angela Baker and the murders she commits, largely at summer camps.
The series has developed into two apparent continuities: Robert Hiltzik's, including the original 1983 film and Return to Sleepaway Camp; and the other, which introduced comedic elements into the franchise, overseen by Michael A. Simpson and comprising Sleepaway Camp II and III. Sleepaway Camp IV is the only film not directed and/or written by either. Despite this, Angela is still the focal character of the films. Both Hiltzik and Simpson planned sequels to their own entries (Reunion and Berserk, respectively), but neither were made; a reboot of the series is now planned.
Films
The "Year" column in the table above lists the year of release; however, Sleepaway Camp II and III were filmed back-to-back in 1988, but the latter was released the following year.
Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland also known as Nightmare Vacation III is a 1989 Americanslasher film and the second sequel to Sleepaway Camp written by Fritz Gordon and directed by Michael A. Simpson. It stars Pamela Springsteen, Tracy Griffith, Michael J. Pollard, Mark Oliver, and Haynes Brooke. The film features a transgender former camper and killer targeting teenagers at another summer camp.
Plot
The film opens with Maria (Kashina Kessler) heading to camp. However, she is chased into an alleyway by a large truck, driven by serial killer Angela Baker (Pamela Springsteen), before being run over. Angela disposes of the body in a trash compactor, before posing as Maria and boarding the bus to Camp New Horizon, which was once Camp Rolling Hills where Angela massacred campers the year before. After arriving, news reporter Tawny Richards (Randi Layne) interviews the many campers who are taking part in "an experiment in sharing", seeing different social classes living together. Tawny soon asks Angela to get her some cocaine, however Angela gives her Ajax cleanser instead, which kills Tawny when she snorts it.
Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers also known as Nightmare Vacation II is a 1988 Americanhorror film and a sequel to the movie Sleepaway Camp, written by Fritz Gordon and directed by Michael A. Simpson. It stars Pamela Springsteen, Renée Estevez, and Tony Higgins. The film takes place several years after the original film, and features transgender former camper and killer Angela targeting misbehaving teenagers at a summer camp.
Unlike the original Sleepaway Camp, which featured a serious tone, Sleepaway Camp II blends elements of black comedy, and satirizes various horror films.
Plot
T.C., the head counselor at Camp Rolling Hills, is at a campfire with the male campers Sean, Rob, Anthony, Judd, Charlie and Emilio. Also there is Phoebe, who has sneaked away from her cabin to be with the boys. As Phoebe tells the story about the killings of the previous film at Camp Arawak, her head counselor Angela appears and forces her to go back to the cabin. After the pair get into an argument, Phoebe becomes lost, only to be attacked by Angela who hits her over the head with a log before cutting her tongue out.
A camp with a tragic past, somehow involving the death of a boy named Jason, is reopened for a summer season for new campers, but before they populate the area, the counselors are being hunted and killed, one by one ...SleepawayCamp II.
