In August, I went to the Bloody Summer Camp double feature put on by Connecticut Cult Classics. The double feature consisted of the original Friday the 13th (1980), and the ridiculous Sleepaway Camp (1983) being played at the Strand Theater in Seymour, Connecticut. I'll focus on the experience of the double feature rather than commenting on the movies themselves, because that's an update for another day.
Rather than taking Amanda with me I took one of her best friends, since she's a horror fan and Amanda was double booked with Harry Potter Trivia Night at That Bookstore in Wethersfield, Connecticut. So while Amanda was busy winning the trivia night, the horror fans went to the double feature.
Despite the fact that the theater was packed and the Strand Theater is a small theater in a small town, we found parking and only had to walk a few hundred yards to the theater, where we were instantly surrounded by horror fans wearing their Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp gear. I will say that I was a little disappointed that nobody came dressed up as Jason Voorhees or Angela from Sleepaway Camp, but I get it. It was a warm August evening. I grabbed the poster done by local artist Next,we grabbed our seats which were first come, first serve and watched some advertisements for local businesses that had sponsored the events, which was great to see.
Before the first movie started, they played some trailers of some very obscure and utterly ridiculous slasher movies. Then Sleepaway Camp started. The audience was just rowdy enough, laughing at the parts of the movie that were funny (intentionally, or otherwise), and cheering for fan favorite moments.
Between the two movies there were some giveaways, some raffle prizes, and more trailers for the sequels to Sleepaway Camp.
Then we got into the original Friday the 13th. We got to see Kevin Bacon in his fourth ever role in a film. We got to see all of the iconic moments including Mrs. Voorhees chasing our final girl around while talking to herself in her son, Jason's voice.
All in all, I had a great time. The crowd seemed to have a very positive attitude and a sense of community. My only suggestion is bringing up some of the famous plot twists and lines from Sleepaway Camp that have not aged well, and offering support to folks who may be affected by them. I won't go into the specifics, but for those of you who know and feel like you may need some support, please feel free to utilize https://www.translifeline.org/ which is a trans-led organization dedicated to improving the quality of trans lives by responding to the critical needs of the community with direct service, material support, advocacy, and education. Their vision is to fight the epidemic of trans suicide and improve overall life-outcomes of trans people by facilitating justice-oriented, collective community aid. Their hotline phone number is 877-565-8860.
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