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Sleepaway Camp

Play trailer 1:03 Poster for Sleepaway Camp R 1983 1h 24m Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
82% Tomatometer 28 Reviews 61% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Bunks and the showers are a mad stabber's beat at a summer camp strictly for teens.
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Sleepaway Camp

Sleepaway Camp

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Critics Consensus

Sleepaway Camp is a standard teen slasher elevated by occasional moments of John Waters-esque weirdness and a twisted ending.

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Critics Reviews

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Scott Tobias The Dissolve 05/27/2014
4/5
There are great films and then there are magical films, glorious oddities that pop up sui generis out of nowhere. Sleepaway Camp falls squarely into the latter category. Go to Full Review
Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness 07/21/2005
B
Still the finest Sleepaway Camp, if only because of its memorable final shot. Go to Full Review
Ed Gonzalez Slant Magazine 04/20/2005
2/4
Evokes a period in time before Ritalin and common sense. Go to Full Review
Patrick Cavanaugh The Wolfman Cometh Sep 11
5/5
Sometimes you can't judge a movie but its cinematic merits and instead judge it based on the pure amount of delight it delivers, in which case, Sleepaway Camp is a masterpiece of the summer-camp-slasher subgenre. Go to Full Review
Bryce Hanson Horror Movie Talk Aug 8
7/10
It proves that in many very important ways, you can’t recreate 80’s horror. This movie might not be for everyone, but if you are a fan of campy horror, or even just cult classics in general, you should enjoy this one as much as I did. Go to Full Review
Mattie Lucas trans|cendental cinema 05/13/2025
Its over-the-top grotesqueries are pure camp, serving as a constant performance of gender and gender stereotypes in which Angela is hopelessly trapped so that the final moment of catharsis feels both heartbreaking and completely earned. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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ryder G @Gideonofnir Jul 15 I went in expecting a regular classic decent horror flick like Friday the 13th for example, unlike the first of that movie i was into the mystery, i love gore but this was a suspense movie and i was convinced the twist would be my prediction but i was wrong, this movie is almost merciless, everyone slightly wrong fully dies but the one man who pretty much deserves what came didn’t, it is ruthless, and on top of that the ending is terrifying leaving an answer yet questions too, its left mysterious yet i am satisfied, i was genuinely terrified too and i still am, its not scary as a jump scare but its more like a slow creep towards you that doesnt stop and then the banger if a 80s credit song roles and its incredible. See more Shadow R @GeminiShadowRealm Jul 3 The movie follows Angela, a painfully shy, traumatized young girl who is sent to Camp Arawak for the summer with her protective cousin, Ricky. Angela barely speaks a word, which immediately makes her a target. Soon after their arrival, anyone who treats Angela poorly starts dying in increasingly bizarre and gruesome "accidents." One of the most jarring things about Sleepaway Camp is just how mean, aggressive, and deeply unpleasant almost every single character is. You cannot talk about Sleepaway Camp without talking about its final 60 seconds. The ending isn't just a twist, it is a jarring shock that completely recontextualizes the entire movie. It is easily one of the most famous, weird, and jaw-dropping endings in horror history. See more Hayden O @Haydenthecritic Jun 24 best slasher of the 1980s See more Michael P @TheeMichael-jai Jun 4 Though cluelessly phobic, it's a classic that has the potential to paint a bigger picture. See more Shawn T @Shawn233 Jun 4 Very trans phobic piece of garbage. The acting was terrible and the script was just another run of the mill slasher movie of the 80s. So critics hate racist stereo types now like in gone with the wind, but think it's okay for trans phobic stereo types to be okay. Like this trash and silence of the lambs. All of you should be ashamed of yourselves See more Russell H @RT85733992 May 19 Great, cornball 80s acting and a crazy finish See more Read all reviews
Sleepaway Camp

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Movie Info

Synopsis Bunks and the showers are a mad stabber's beat at a summer camp strictly for teens.
Director
Robert Hiltzik
Producer
Jerry Silva, Michele Tatosian
Screenwriter
Robert Hiltzik
Distributor
Media Home Entertainment, Anchor Bay Entertainment
Production Co
American Eagle Films, U.S. Films
Rating
R
Genre
Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 18, 1983, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 5, 2015
Runtime
1h 24m
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)