Summary
- Sleepaway Camp, a cult classic horror film, has a divisive twist ending that is considered one of the most surprising in cinematic history.
- Some critics argue that the film's transphobic ending perpetuates real-world harm by equating mental instability with growing up in a gender role not concurrent with one's identity.
- However, there are differing opinions among critics, with some arguing that Sleepaway Camp can still be enjoyed for its '80s horror charm and that Angela isn't necessarily a trans character. The film's legacy remains complicated.
Despite being the first film in a now-iconic horror franchise, Sleepaway Camp's legacy remains complicated four decades after its initial release. Derivative of earlier slasher movies like the 1980 instant classic Friday the 13th, Sleepaway Camp boasts a dedicated cult following. Even outside the typical shock-and-awe of the horror genre, the film's twist ending is considered one of the most surprising in cinematic history. However, that same twist ending is divisive among contemporary critics.
Sleepaway Camp opens with John Baker and his kids, Angela and Peter, boating on a lake with John's boyfriend, Lenny. After a fatal accident kills John and Peter, a traumatized Angela grows up with her Aunt Martha and cousin, Ricky. At summer camp, a teenage Angela is bullied by her peers and abused by some of the camp's staff. One by one, Angela's tormentors are murdered. At the end of the film, a naked Angela sits on the beach, clutching a knife and severed head. The big "reveal" is that Angela actually died in the boating accident, while Peter was raised as a girl by Aunt Martha.
Sleepaway Camp's Modern Criticisms Explained
For some critics, Sleepaway Camp's ending is a transphobic conclusion that perpetuates real-world harm. Trans writer Willow Maclay notes in why the cult classic slasher wouldn't be made today.
However, not all critics have the same opinion of Sleepaway Camp. In an interview with Fangoria, trans actor and activist Calpernia Addams argues that even though Sleepaway Camp is problematic, it doesn't deserve to be censored. Instead, it can be enjoyed for its brand of "schlocky '80s horror." In fact, Addams doesn't read Angela as a trans character at all. On the other hand, trans writer Alice Collins of Bloody Disgusting argues that Angela, despite her aunt's abusive "forced gender-bending," is a transgender girl. The Sleepaway Camp sequels seem to this reading: Angela undergoes gender-affirming surgery and uses traditionally feminine pronouns.
What Sleepaway Camp's Cast Have Said About The Horror Movie's Legacy
Even though Sleepaway Camp's iconic ending was created by accident, it defines the film. Actor Felissa Rose, who plays Angela, reflects on Sleepaway Camp's 40-year legacy in an interview with Dread Central, stating that she doesn't feel like the movie is transphobic. "I feel as though Angela was a typical adolescent trying to find her gender identification and sexual orientation," Rose says. "It was ahead of its time." For Rose, Angela is an antihero — a survivor who endures the abuse of her "unhinged" aunt and peers before taking agency in the only way she can.
Although Angela's story can be read in many ways, there's no getting around that the film's intention and impact may not align. Even if Angela is a queer antihero, her storyline echoes some of cinema's most enduring transphobic characters, like The Silence of the Lambs' Buffalo Bill and Michael Caine's character in Dressed to Kill. With few positive depictions of trans characters in mainstream film, these duplicitous, violent characters become synonymous with transness. In turn, this perpetuates real-world harm and shapes film's visual language. Even when Sleepaway Camp is reevaluated, that doesn't mean the movie's adverse effects are undone.
Sources: Cléo Magazine, Fangoria, Bloody Disgusting, Dread Central
