Maleness as Murder in Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Location
Ponderosa Room C
Presentation Type
Presentation
Presentation Topic
Sleepaway Camp (1983), maleness
Start Date
6-3-2026 3:35 PM
Event Sort Order
52
Abstract
Robert Hiltzik's slasher film Sleepaway Camp (1983) is infamous due to the portrayal of its central character Angela. Despite numerous technical and narrative flaws, the film also contains a fascinating albeit unintentional commentary on gender through Angela’s characterization.
In Sleepaway Camp, maleness is repeatedly associated with violence, and violence committed by men is both normalized and accepted. Consequently, in an effort to make Angela a believable killer, Hiltzik attempts and fails to associate Angela with maleness throughout the film.
This paper seeks to examine the ways in which Hiltzik and other filmmakers associate maleness with monstrosity, and the bizarre yet fascinating ways in which Sleepaway Camp entirely fails in its depiction of Angela as a crazed killer.
Maleness as Murder in Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Ponderosa Room C
Robert Hiltzik's slasher film Sleepaway Camp (1983) is infamous due to the portrayal of its central character Angela. Despite numerous technical and narrative flaws, the film also contains a fascinating albeit unintentional commentary on gender through Angela’s characterization.
In Sleepaway Camp, maleness is repeatedly associated with violence, and violence committed by men is both normalized and accepted. Consequently, in an effort to make Angela a believable killer, Hiltzik attempts and fails to associate Angela with maleness throughout the film.
This paper seeks to examine the ways in which Hiltzik and other filmmakers associate maleness with monstrosity, and the bizarre yet fascinating ways in which Sleepaway Camp entirely fails in its depiction of Angela as a crazed killer.
Presenter Bio
Zachary Hickham is a senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln studying English as a major and Film Studies as a minor. He recently returned from a study abroad in Japan and hopes to continue his studies abroad in the future.