Sleepaway Camp : on twist and layering

“Sleepaway Camp” - Robert Hiltzik - 1983 - Sleepaway Camp is probably widely recognized, by those who've seen it, as having such a qualification. The movie manages to turn itself in a surprising way, from a grotesque sum of first chapters, to a reveal the viewer was not invited to anticipate.

The slasher genre helps such lack of anticipation, as it is not expected to be light or funny, but only funny despite itself, which Sleepaway Camp is for a large part. As an example, a widely known code of the slasher genre is : a character uttering ‘I'll be back' before being found dead. The code is laughable although nothing in the portrayal of the characters suggest this is a matter of comedy. In fact, quite oppositely, a slasher film continuously suggests peril.

Being funny despite yourself is generally the result of poor mishandling, and presumably comes from a lack of control. Such impressions of lack of control from the filmmaker of Sleepaway Camp, whether accidental or planned, will switch-off your analytical part. The first murders in the story will not evoke any dread either. It will either make you turn away from the story, or simply follow it as a ‘stupid' film. That's where it turns.

The movie slowly ceases to be funny despite itself, and becomes well-centered around Angela, played by Felissa Rose, who is in a catatonic state since an accident she had in childhood, and is being bullied at the camp. The viewer knows more murders are around the corner and will want to know who is responsible for them, but he might not stay for the murder themselves, only for the character of Angela, in sympathy with her.

There comes the case of a Mule reveal, where the lack of anticipation mixed with the empathy about the main protagonist, are added to a sudden crafted, surreal technical shot; inventing a new unexpected surprise which works on all subconscious levels of the viewing.

The last closing shot works as an inverted blue-ribbon, where the symbol unifying the story is found only before the credits. The movie not only unifies but gains a new layer of meaning, one the viewer had not expected due to having turned down his own analytical part. It would be pointless to prove the filmmaker achieved all that out of careful planning, as none of the sequels suggest it, but there's no denying the movie has been blessed by the fairies of cinema, and truly is worth an attentive study, to understand if there's not a rule about twist and layering that Sleepaway Camp develops in a unique way.