SLEEPAWAY CAMP
American Eagle Films Corp., 1983.
Directed by Robert Hiltzik. Starring
Felissa Rose as "Angela Baker."

     By Stephen Pytak 
     It's basically just another summer camp slasher 
flick, until the very end.
If you haven't seen it, stop reading now. I'm going to spoil it for you.
If you have seen it, I'm sure you watched it over and over again. I know I did when I first rented it in 1984. I saw it with a friend and we kept zipping the tape back.
It was the most primal image, a boy-girl beast hung like a horse, growling like a rabid monkey. Christ! I never seen anything like it.
Then that song came on over the credits, "Angela, Just What I've Been Looking For."
We fucking lost it. We must have watched that thing six times. And I remember we memorized the words to that song. Honestly, I still have them running through my head.
The ending of that flick was the most fucked up thing we saw that week and was definitely worth the $2.10 we paid for the rental.
Whoever came up with "Angela" was a genius.
The story is about a quiet girl with a secret. This girl, "Angela," comes to summer camp with her protective boy cousin. The girl seems disinterested in the world around her. She doesn't talk to anyone. She hardly eats. Something's wrong. But what?
That something is slowly revealed.
Kids start picking on her. Adults do too. Then the movie shifts gears and a body count begins.
If you're a serious gore hound, this film will put you to sleep.
If you're a pervert, forget this one. There's no T&A here either.
But if you like weird movies, I'm sure you'll stay awake.
One thing I never really figured out to the letter was Angela's backstory. Whatever it is, it's a mind fuck too. There are hints dropped in flashbacks. But they don't make a hell of a lot of sense.
Then again, was it supposed to?
Copyright 2002 by Stephen Pytak