In the first of an occasional blog looking at the critical reception of ‘80s slasher movies, I’ve gathered 18 quotes from newspaper critics’ reviews of the 1983 pic SLEEPAWAY CAMP. Today, fans (including me) remember the film fondly, but mainstream critics hated slasher movies with something approaching manic fervor. And Robert Hiltzik’s movie got some of the most vicious notices. Enjoy!

“"SLEEPAWAY CAMP" - A tasteless picture about mysterious murders at a summer youth camp that obscenely blends beheadings, stabbings, pubescent impulses, homosexuality, transvestism and hermaphroditism with a cast of junior high school actors.” Wayne Gire, Imperial Beach Star News

“… a repugnant and vile "Friday the 13th" ripoff that is only one step removed from child pornography.” Keith Roysdon, Muncie Evening Press

“A horror film about murders at summer camp. No names we know and not good for kids who have just packed a duffel bag.” The Arizona Republic

“"Sleepaway Camp" has less explicit gore than many of this genre, but even for a movie of its kind the level of acting is astonishingly low. Rarely have so few non-actors, over-actors and bad actors been assembled for a single film.” Sharon Johnson, The Patriot News

“Of course, in such low-budget movies, there tend to be unanswered questions. For example, why doesn't a camp full of people hear the victims screaming bloody murder within their own midst in broad daylight? Why does the "scary" music also play during harmless goodnight kisses and pillow fights? Why does the cop have his mustache painted on? Why didn't Bill Whitaker see this dog instead of me?” Danny Reagan, Abilene Reporter News

“The very last image of Sleepaway Camp is so shocking and deeply disturbing it's given me goosebumps every time I recall it. The trouble is the rest of the movie is so uninteresting most viewers probably won't have the patience to sit through it to get there.” Richard Martin, The Ottawa Citizen

“Hiltzik has also, for the most part, elicited effective, straightforward per• formances from his cast that sustain the mood rather than hurt it. Sleepaway Camp will probably not cause you nightmares, but it likely. won't cause you to doze off either.” John Barker, The Hamilton Spectator

“The actors, and I use the term loosely, all talk with New Joisey accents and possess the charisma of a bald duck. One of the main characters is named Angela and it is her job to stare catatonically into space. In this she is brilliant.” Roxanne T. Mueller, The Plain Dealer

“Because the print at Oxmoor is so scratched, it's difficult to see a lot of this. Think of it as a blessing.” Andrew Addler, The Courier Journal

“It sounds as if half-filled soup cans were used for microphones. The acting is sub-junior high. The language of the script would make a Marine blush. The plot is completely predictable. The special effects appear to be assembled from a deserted garbage dump. "Sleepaway Camp" was written and directed by someone named Robert Hiltzik. He should be banished from camera-land for life.” George Williams, The Sacramento Bee

“Judy (wildly overacted by Karen Fields) is Arawak's Pola Negri, an adolescent femme fatale who fancies that all boys should lust after her.” Scott Cain, The Atlanta Journal

“Watching "Sleepaway Camp" is like being forced to watch somebody's home movies. The lingering image is of children running past the camera. Some of the campers are laughing because they are embarrassed to be in a movie. That just goes to show what good sense children have. Who wouldn't be embarrassed to be a part of "Sleepaway Camp? Apparently not the aunt, who appears to be either doing a Boy George impression or auditioning for "The Munsters." She looks right at the camera with a look in her eye that screams, "Here I am Hollywood!’” Paul Willistein, The Morning Call

“Dear Mom, How are you? I am fine. I went to Sleepaway Camp this morning. My editor made me go. She's mean. I had to sit through the whole thing. There were other people in the audience. I guess their editors made them go, too. Some of them yelled at the screen. I am told that the average cost of making a movie these days is $12 million. Sleepaway Camp looks as if it cost about, oh, 59 cents.” Rick Lyman, The Philadelphia Inquirer

“I think anyone who is contemplating sending a child or two to summer camp this year should immediately check out. "Sleepaway Camp," the new horror movie. A nearly perfect B-grade or lower film, it's got to be one of the hottest howls going at a theater or drive-in near you.” Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle

“What kind of a mind conceives of a film where kids go to a summer camp and slaughter each other? Who would have the hideous mentality necessary to finance it? What sort of theater owner would want such atrocious garbage on his screen? What quality of mental defective would ever spend five bucks to witness such a thing? What film editor of a major L.A. newspaper would actually send a writer to see it and expect coherent criticism? Why am I doing this?” LA Weekly

“There's a point at which a bad picture gets so bad it's fun to watch. Here the fun is guessing who will be the next victim and the modus operandi. We get them all drowning, murder by hornets, boiling water, an axe, a dagger - ho hummmm. And at the end we have the obligatory shocker: There she stands, stark naked, over the body of her final victim - and guess what? She's not a girl! She's a boy! More popcorn, anyone?” Dean Boyd, The Pensacola Journal

“The popcorn and hotdogs at the theater were very good. Unfortunately, the same can't be said about "Sleepaway Camp." Without a doubt, this is one of the worst films of the year.” Henry Edgar, Daily Press