Sleepaway Camp Star Offers Update on Franchise, Hopes for New Installment Soon

When many horror fans think of seminal summer-camp slashers, they might think of Friday the 13th or The Burning, but another pivotal installment in the subgenre is 1983’s Sleepaway Camp, largely thanks to its ending being one of the most unexpected reveals of the ’80s. The debut installment inspired four sequels, the most recent of which was 2012’s Sleepaway Camp: The Survivor, with star of the original film Felissa Rose recently confirming that she’s unclear if any development has been made on either a remake or a sequel, though she does admit that she’d be most interested in seeing a new film be a prequel to the original.

“I will say this, because there’s been so much looming around the Sleepaway Camp universe for so long. Will they remake it? Will there be another sequel? I know that something’s in the works,” Rose shared with Bloody Disgusting. “I don’t even really know exactly how it will be, but I can tell you that definitely like—we just had our 37th anniversary—I would love to say that, mark my words, by the 40th, something will be out.”

She continued, “Now, if they ever consulted with me, I would love to see a prequel to the Sleepaway Camp world. Because this is one of those movies that is driven by the circumstances that happens in the beginning of the film. And I would love to understand who is Aunt Martha? What happened to her in creating all that she did with Angela and Ricky? Why didn’t Angela go to camp with Ricky the other summer? With all of this, I would love to see a prequel. I would love to make the prequel. So, definitely we haven’t seen the end of Sleepaway Camp.”

The original film saw Rose’s Angela and cousin Ricky going to camp together, only for various figures at the camp to start being violently killed. Reveals are made about Angela’s upbringing that tie into the deaths, which is what the actress is referencing about her desire for a prequel.

While Rose might not have become a household name following the slasher, she’s a huge figure in the horror community, going on to star in variety of projects over the years. When discussing a new project in the series possibly landing on a streaming service, the actress noted how much of her current life she owes to the film.

“I had heard something [about something on a streaming service], but only from reading about it. I’m always skeptical because I haven’t heard about it from the close sources like the director or producer,” the actress admitted. “Certainly, anything would be great, because for me it’s my whole life. It gave me a life. Sleepaway Camp gave me a life. That’s the truth.”

She added, “It sounds weird when I say that, but I married my husband [CKY frontman Deron Miller] because he was the—I didn’t marry him because he was the number one fan, but I married him and he was the biggest fan of the movie. We always joke, like these kids are here because of a cheesy movie from the ’80s. Like, I was hugging my son the other day and I looked at my husband and I was like, ‘Do you realize that if Sleepaway Camp had never happened, this child would not be here?’ And my son is looking at me like, ‘What?’ But it’s true. We met because he came to the set of Return to Sleepaway Camp almost 18 years ago and we met because he was this crazy fan of Sleepaway Camp. And when he was 12, he said, ‘I’m gonna marry Felissa Rose. I’m gonna meet Felissa and I’m gonna marry her and we’re gonna have kids.’ Talk about manifesting your reality.”

Stay tuned for details on the Sleepaway Camp franchise.

How would you like to see the franchise continue? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!