“Which animal will you most likely be killed by in
California?” This was one of the more challenging trivia questions posed to two
groups of avid horror fans, volunteers in Camp Void’s pre-show contest. The two
groups competed for desirable prizes including posters and a Scream Factory
label Blu-Ray. “A dog?” “A horse?” No one answered correctly this round. Other
rounds included questions about baseball and horror film trivia, questions
answered with ease and enthusiasm by the fans. The moderators of this macabre
contest, the hosts of Camp Void, held audience attention decked out in
era-authentic 80’s summer camp attire of short-shorts, bright tees, and
headbands. The wacky pre-show jovially introduced the night’s triple feature
slate: 1981’s The Burning, one of the first projects realized with the
involvement of Miramax and Bob and Harvey Weinstein, 1983’s Sleepaway Camp, the
crowning achievement in the summer-camp themed 80’s slasher boom, and 1987’s
Twisted Nightmare, a little-seen, low-budget, straight-to-video romp shot with
the same sets used in Friday the 13th Part III.
The Burning is a seminal entry in the annals of
slasherdom. Directed by Tony Maylam, co-written by Bob Weinstein, and featuring
a musical score by Rick Wakeman of Yes, the film also marks the first time
portraying the rabidly popular upstate New York urban legend of Cropsey. It was
produced at the perfect time to cash in on the newly fueled slasher-craze
following the successes of Halloween and Friday the 13th. Another fascinating
trait unique to the movie is the feature-film debuts of Jason Alexander and future
Academy Award winners Fisher Stevens and Holly Hunter. The king of horror film
makeup himself, Tom Savini, was also onboard and created the amazing gore effects.
The Burning is also a notable title in the notorious Video Nasties List of the
United Kingdom during their censorship crusade against the popular home video
market.
Before Sleepaway Camp began, another special guest, Ryan
Turek, Development Executive at Blumhouse Productions, made a formal
introduction. The film features all the required ingredients for
summer-camp-slasher fare, but also includes some special flavors including a
predatory cook, excessive baseball, and foul-mouthed, obnoxious children.
Following the feature, Turek proudly presented to the stage the star of the
film, Felissa Rose, while she excitedly launched to the theater-front with
massive applause. The actress, who played the reserved and mysterious Angela,
was nothing like her character, and was giggly, candid, and genuinely amused
to share her experiences with the crowd. “The ending…” Turek began, “let’s
begin there first.” “Of course! Where else would we begin?” She refers to the
most shocking and memorable part of the film, the last few shots that *SPOILER ALERT!* reveal that the mousy Angela is actually a ferocious male-bodied killer, complete with all boy parts. “Originally
I was supposed to wear a prosthetic penis, but in the end, the film features a
nude 18-year old boy wearing a mold of my face. To this day, the actor has
never revealed his identity.” Turek explains how important Sleepaway Camp is to
him, and just how realistic it actually is in portraying an authentic
atmosphere. “I talked just like those kids when I was in summer camp!” he says.
When asked about the experience, Felissa remembers, “I was 12, it was my first
movie, and my first time at camp. I also had no idea I’d be talking about this
movie 35 f*cking years later! I was just a kid making a movie, it was real to
me, not Hollywood. I had such a huge crush on my co-star Jonathon Tiersten.”
Felissa laughs while revealing her personal memories,
ones forever important to her future career as an actress.“I first saw the movie when I was in 8th grade and
invited my entire class to seeit with me for the first time… I thought it was
f*cking weird… it was the first penis I ever saw… my parents were the ones who
held the screening!” Felissa then takes a moment to express her gratitude at
how cool her parents were for allowing so much. As the question and answer
session opened to the floor, she was asked what was her least favorite part of
filming. “Well, I could not stop laughing when the creepy chef was trying to
take advantage of me in the kitchen. When he kept calling me ‘cupcake’, I
couldn’t stop laughing. It was tough to get through filming that scene.” One of
the final questions asked to Felissa was whether or not she and the cast had
any input over their wardrobe. Felissa laughs, as she knows how much the film’s
wardrobe brings so much laughter and amusement in the present day. “Sure, they
had some stuff for me to wear… but I mostly brought my own clothes and so did
the cast. It was 1982! That’s what they chose!” As the Q&A closed, Felissa
expressed her hopes that another sequel, remake, reboot, or series would be
realized in the future to continue on the legacy of Sleepaway Camp.
Before the final film screened, make-up artist and actor
Cleve Hall took to the stage with his stylish black eyeliner. “I actually came
to apologize for the film you’re about to see.” When asked to explain his
apology, Hall recounts, “The truth is it’s not a good film… but it’s not a bad
film either… it has its fun. Twisted Nightmare was pretty much a lost movie for
a long time. It was only released on VHS in ’87, but recently a print was found
somewhere in Australia. Code Red DVD is going to be releasing a newly restored
Blu-Ray and, I’ll be providing a commentary track. Let me tell you, it’s going
to be damn funny.” Hall remembered how he was brought onto the project after
shooting already began, hired to help create improved special effects. He adds
some funny anecdotes about working with the elderly actor portraying the
sheriff, as well as having to sometimes drive the director to the drug store so
the man could pick up his favorite whiskey to enjoy on set.
"Camp Void" continues at the Aero on August 19th at 7:30
with another triple feature screening including Friday the 13th, Summer Camp
Nightmare, and Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers.