For one thing, SLEEPAWAY CAMP has a cast of kids who seem like actual kids and not 25-year-olds playing people who are supposed to be kids who don't act like any kids you've ever met. Some of the performances might come off as a little amateurish, but again, that's to the movie's benefit, as you feel like you're watching authentic people and not chainsaw fodder.
Speaking of chainsaw fodder, most of the kills in this flick are super unique and the sparingly-used gore effects are good, too. I've said so much but I haven't said what it's about.
Felissa Rose stars as a shy tween who watched her family die in front of her in a tragic boating accident and is adopted by an off-putting and eccentric woman (Desiree Gould). As the movie opens, Rose is being sent off to the titular camp with her cousin (Jonathan Tiersten), who is outgoing and well-adjusted by comparison, and also knows the ins and outs of camp life as he's a camp vet. He's also nice and actually cares about his cousin, and this relationship also serves to ground the movie in a more real place than many others of its kind -- although Rose goes on to face her fair share of bullies, her cousin is not one of them. He's actually a cool dude.
The problem is, the people who start turning up dead at camp each had problems with shy Rose, so you immediately start thinking Rose is behind it. The pervy cook (Owen Hughes) makes a move on her and ends up boiled alive, a bitchy counselor (Katherine Kamhi) ends up shower-stabbed, and so on. But Rose seems so sincere you also think, how could she be the killer? There's gotta be a twist. Well, there's a twist, but it's not any kind of twist you are thinking of. It is a mind-blowing ending, though. This is the first solid recommendation for Horrorfest 2016.
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