Sleepaway Camper

In 1975, a family tragedy unfolds when John Baker and his boyfriend, Lenny, take John’s children, Angela and Peter, on a boat trip that ends in disaster. The boat capsizes, and as John and the children struggle to reach shore, they are struck by a reckless motorboat. In the chaos, John and one of the children lose their lives, leaving Angela as the sole survivor of the crash.

Eight years pass, and Angela endures deep trauma. She lives with her eccentric aunt, Dr. Martha Thomas, and her cousin Ricky Thomas. Angela is sent to Camp Arawak, where her quiet, introverted nature makes her a target for bullying by Judy and the camp counselor Meg. The head cook, Artie, even attempts to assault her, but an unseen figure intervenes, leaving Artie severely scalded and rushed to the hospital. The camp owner, Mel Kostic, writes off the incident as an accident, a stance that unsettles some of the staff and campers.

Tensions at camp rise as Angela endures taunts from campers Kenny and Mike, until Ricky and his friend Paul stand up for her. Paul, in particular, forms a bond with Angela and even shares a kiss. It isn’t long before trouble resurfaces: Billy and Jimmy hurl a water balloon at Angela, and Billy meets a grim fate when he is trapped in a public toilet and struck by a beehive, exploiting his allergy. Mel grows increasingly suspicious that a killer is at work at Camp Arawak.

The fragile dynamics at the camp become more complicated when Angela’s relationship with Paul strains under pressure. Paul kisses Angela again, triggering a painful flashback in Angela to the moment she witnessed her father with Lenny. Judy seduces Paul, and Angela discovers them kissing. In a moment of panic, Judy and Meg push Angela into the water. The horror continues as six young campers throw sand at her, while Ricky offers Angela comfort and swears revenge. Meg is eventually fatally impaled in the shower, heightening the sense that something terrible is stalking the camp.

During a camp social, Paul apologizes to Angela, and she agrees to meet him by the water. Mel uncovers Meg’s body, while Eddie the counselor discovers the bodies of the four children who had thrown sand at Angela, all brutally murdered. Panic intensifies when Judy is killed by a hot electric curling iron used in a brutal, intimate manner. As fear sweeps Camp Arawak, suspicion shifts toward Ricky, whom Mel beats unconscious before fleeing into the woods. There, the killer reveals themselves, and Mel’s recognition of the attacker seals her fate with an arrow to the throat.

With police searching for missing campers, the situation grows increasingly dire. Paul and Angela share a moment at the beach and contemplate a swim, but Officer Frank Breton finds Ricky alive but unconscious, adding to the confusion and danger surrounding the camp.

The shocking truth finally comes to light when camp counselors Ronnie Angelo and Susie discover Angela nude, clutching a hunting knife, with Paul’s severed head nearby. They realize that the person they believed to be Angela is actually Peter, Angela’s living brother. The real Angela had died in the boating accident, and Peter survived. Martha had taken custody of him and raised him as “Angela,” a choice that reveals the long, troubling impact of the trauma and the desire of Martha to possess the daughter she never had. The ending sequence presents the real Angela now replaced by Peter in a grotesque, unsettling form: a nude, blood-covered Angela/Peter stands before Susie and Ronnie, hissing and growling, a haunting revelation of a fractured family and a survivor who carries the burden of a desperate deception.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 10:49