Sleepaway Camp (1983) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - March 23, 1984

My last two years of high school (Fall 83 - Spring 85) were spent living overseas, so I missed out on the theatrical release, and any and all spoiler talk from classmates who had seen it, for Sleepaway Camp and went into my first every viewing of the movie blind. This would have been, I think, in the fall of 1985 or the spring of 1986. That is when my best friend and I rented Sleepaway Camp from a local video store and gave it a watch.

For most of its 84 or so minutes of runtime, we found it to be an uninspired and routine slasher movie. One that was interchangeable with the innumerable others that were clogging the horror sections of every single video store during that period in time.

Then came the ending and, well, that final reveal and our reaction to it may have been one for the history books. Damn...

The euphoric jolt delivered by that moment can fuel something of a unicorn hunt for many a fan. Leading to a mistrust of trailers, ads, or reviews that might spoil any or all potential for yet another discovery high. But we all need to remember that these moments find you, that you do not find them. This is what makes them, and why there are, so very special.

Because you are just not expecting it, at all.