Delivering gruesome, sadistic gore and loads of low-budget hand-crafted charm, Sleepaway Camp (1983) is a conflicted look at the hells of adolescent sexuality. On the one hand, the film mines the summer camp setting for all the humiliations it inflicts on youngsters as a matter of course: heterosexist mixers, cabin showers, competitive courtships, rampant bullying, awkward structured outdoor activities. On the other hand, the much-ballyhooed twist ending undoes all that insightful chronicling with an absurdly homophobic and trans-phobic explanation of the central killer's motives. Still, Sleepaway Camp is that most pleasurable of B-movie romps: a dumb movie by smart people. The acting, the camera-work, and the music (including a fabulous analog synth-laden original song "Angela's Theme" by Frankie Vincie) are crafted with an unusual level of detail and commitment even as the obviously nonexistent budget and various plot absurdities disqualify it from mainstream respectability.
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