Under Surveillance

This movie has the prestige of reuniting the most notable characters in the first Sleepaway Camp, Desiree Gould (Aunt Martha) and Felissa Rose (Angela). Even though they never crossed paths in SC, and neither in this, having them both in the same film brings a healthy reunion feel about. Former site partner Jeff pops up too, wearing a Return To SC tshirt.

The story follows a young man named Justin who goes back to live with his father to find his home has been converted into a boarding house. As he deals with his new life and relationships a masked, cloaked killer begins to make life difficult. So Justin and his buddies rig up black & white video cams in each tenant's rooms to delve into the mystery and ferret out the killer.

Desiree plays Justin's enstranged mother, Norma Besler (a homage to Norma Bates, perhaps?) whose character is in two major scenes that bookend the film. Norma is very different than Aunt Martha in that she's angrier, trashier, but very similar in that both characters hide secrets with lies. Felissa Rose plays Heidi, a tenant who is mistaken for a prostitute in one scene (she's a massagist, she says!). Sadly, her character doesn't die a graphic death, which would be a nice flipside to her exploits as Angela.

The contrast of the surveillance technology with a very old looking house has an original feel to it. Some nice camera shots implicate the viewer as a voyeur or killer, keeping in with the slasher motif. But this is more of a Hitchcockian thriller that uses conventions of the slasher film to unravel it's story. A very dark (literally!) film, I'd call it slasher-noir. From what I've read, and evident in viewing, alot of thought and care was put into its making, and I'm surprised Anchor Bay haven't snapped it up yet for distribution.

To learn more about the film & where it's playing next, visit the Official Site.