Okay, I've got something special for today. As some of you know there was never an official soundtrack for any of the Sleepaway Camp films, but thanks to the hard of work John and Giles from the fantastic Sleepaway Camp Official Site a soundtrack for the trilogy has been put together. It's been compiled from various sources, from CD rips to DVD Audio rips. There are even a couple audio splicing experiments to be found. This was finished a few months back and I'm sure some of you have found it on their site already, but John was nice enough to let me share it with the rest of you here on The Morgue.
Be sure to visit this page before you download, it gives a complete overview of everything on the soundtrack. It would take a huge amount of space listing everything on the post, so head over there to see what all you're getting when you download this one. There are also links to each individual track if there is only one or two tracks you're interested in. I recommend downloading the entire thing, a lot of hard work went into this and a lot of these tracks are very hard to come by.
Sleepaway Camp, also known as Nightmare Vacation in the UK. A title card informs us that this is An American Eagle Film Corps Production". American Eagle? The clothes people? Anyway, I just watched this today actually. While it's not an outright terrifying film it's certainly one of the creepier films of the past 30 years. Half the people running Camp Arawak in the film are rather grimy and really give you an uneasy feeling. Especially Artie, the head chef, who goes as far as to refer to the young girls at the camp as "baldies". There's a bizarre pyschosexual undertone throughout the entire film, from Artie's attempted rape of Angela to the curling iron death of Judy (well, only if that curling iron went where I think it went) all the way to the infamous ending shot. Speaking of that curling iron scene, I don't know if curling iron was "inserted" anywhere or not for sure, but that scene is very effective. It doesn't show much more than a hand holding a pillow and the shadow of Judy's hands writhing in pain but it is incredibly cringeworthy nontheless, I think Judy's muffled screaming really added a lot to the scene.
The one part of the film that did frighten me is Desiree Gould's portrayal of Aunt Martha. No reviews really seem to mention her, but this is easily one of the oddest and creepy characters I've ever seen. Aunt Martha is a frighteningly campy character and honestly she scares the hell out of me. I've had nightmares with this woman floating towards me, smiling with that deranged smile of hers. I don't know if it's that hat or her very androgenous appearance, but god she freaks me out. She really seems to be completely mentally unbalanced, I wouldn't have been suprised if she had ended up as the film's killer.
Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers and Sleepaway Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland were pretty much unrelated to the 1983 original. I mean the Angela Baker character returns but it's not a continuation or anything and they take place at Camp Rolling Hills. And Angela has lost the wang and is an actual girl this time around. They actually shot both sequels back to back, kinda like a low budget Back to the Future 2 and 3. Only minus the time travel part. Totally the same otherwise. These two went the comedic horror route, which I really don't mind because I have a soft spot for horror comedy. A lot of people don't seem to care for funny in their horror, but I generally approve. Angela Baker was played by Pamela Springsteen, sister of The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. And speaking of famous people's younger sisters, Charlie "Carlos" Sheen and Emilio Estevez's sister Renee Estevez also stars as the cute "good girl" of the camp for Unhappy Campers. While I'm on Part 2 still, I especially enjoyed this guy. He answers the question "What if Ron Perlman and Joey from Full House had a kid?" Part 3 brings back a little of the creepy feel of the original by including Michael J. Pollard as Herman, the sex offender with a heart of gold. They are very cheesy, but very entertaining sequels and I'm happy to have them complete the trilogy in the boxset sitting on my shelf.
Anyway, head over to the site after you're done here and have a look around. There's a ton of great stuff to be found, not just the music from the films. Pretty much all the Sleepaway Camp info you could ever need.
Be sure to visit this page before you download, it gives a complete overview of everything on the soundtrack. It would take a huge amount of space listing everything on the post, so head over there to see what all you're getting when you download this one. There are also links to each individual track if there is only one or two tracks you're interested in. I recommend downloading the entire thing, a lot of hard work went into this and a lot of these tracks are very hard to come by.
Sleepaway Camp, also known as Nightmare Vacation in the UK. A title card informs us that this is An American Eagle Film Corps Production". American Eagle? The clothes people? Anyway, I just watched this today actually. While it's not an outright terrifying film it's certainly one of the creepier films of the past 30 years. Half the people running Camp Arawak in the film are rather grimy and really give you an uneasy feeling. Especially Artie, the head chef, who goes as far as to refer to the young girls at the camp as "baldies". There's a bizarre pyschosexual undertone throughout the entire film, from Artie's attempted rape of Angela to the curling iron death of Judy (well, only if that curling iron went where I think it went) all the way to the infamous ending shot. Speaking of that curling iron scene, I don't know if curling iron was "inserted" anywhere or not for sure, but that scene is very effective. It doesn't show much more than a hand holding a pillow and the shadow of Judy's hands writhing in pain but it is incredibly cringeworthy nontheless, I think Judy's muffled screaming really added a lot to the scene.
The one part of the film that did frighten me is Desiree Gould's portrayal of Aunt Martha. No reviews really seem to mention her, but this is easily one of the oddest and creepy characters I've ever seen. Aunt Martha is a frighteningly campy character and honestly she scares the hell out of me. I've had nightmares with this woman floating towards me, smiling with that deranged smile of hers. I don't know if it's that hat or her very androgenous appearance, but god she freaks me out. She really seems to be completely mentally unbalanced, I wouldn't have been suprised if she had ended up as the film's killer.
Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers and Sleepaway Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland were pretty much unrelated to the 1983 original. I mean the Angela Baker character returns but it's not a continuation or anything and they take place at Camp Rolling Hills. And Angela has lost the wang and is an actual girl this time around. They actually shot both sequels back to back, kinda like a low budget Back to the Future 2 and 3. Only minus the time travel part. Totally the same otherwise. These two went the comedic horror route, which I really don't mind because I have a soft spot for horror comedy. A lot of people don't seem to care for funny in their horror, but I generally approve. Angela Baker was played by Pamela Springsteen, sister of The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. And speaking of famous people's younger sisters, Charlie "Carlos" Sheen and Emilio Estevez's sister Renee Estevez also stars as the cute "good girl" of the camp for Unhappy Campers. While I'm on Part 2 still, I especially enjoyed this guy. He answers the question "What if Ron Perlman and Joey from Full House had a kid?" Part 3 brings back a little of the creepy feel of the original by including Michael J. Pollard as Herman, the sex offender with a heart of gold. They are very cheesy, but very entertaining sequels and I'm happy to have them complete the trilogy in the boxset sitting on my shelf.
Anyway, head over to the site after you're done here and have a look around. There's a ton of great stuff to be found, not just the music from the films. Pretty much all the Sleepaway Camp info you could ever need.
Thanks for the post, and for guiding me to a site I had not visited before!
ReplyDeleteI am one of John's Minons from the site, and LOVE this soundtrack:) BTW, I LOOOOOVE your site, and would like to see the soundtrack from COBRA up, my cassette finally bit the big one;)
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome, thanks so much!!!
ReplyDeleteMistressmarshmello - You know I could've sworn I had that one, but I cannot seem to find it. If I find it I'll put it up, there are a few more discs I need to check. My attempt at being organized has been pretty half-assed so it could be anywhere. Glad you enjoy my site, tell your friends:)
ReplyDeleteThanks Phelpster...I would most appreicate it, I will keep my fingers crossed:)
ReplyDeleteThe Sleepaway Camp site is a GREAT one. I'm not gung-ho for every song from the movies but there are some gems on there I've always itched for and this is a treat to get, thanks for much!
ReplyDelete