What’s better than going to summer camp? Watching movies where other people get murdered at summer camp!

At the volunteer-run Star and Shadow Cinema, where anybody can bring their passion project to life, a pair of slasher movie enthusiasts organised a summer camp-themed movie marathon, complete with food, activities, souvenir T-shirts, and photo opportunities with the “Star and Shadow Slasher”.

Over the course of eight and a half hours, we watched four of the slasher genre’s campiest films: 

Friday the 13th: Jason Lives, Madman, The Final Girls, and the “mystery movie” Moonstalker. We also ate vegetarian hotdogs and chilli, made friendship bracelets, and learned the Star and Shadow Slasher’s tragic backstory. Although watching four films in a row turned out to be something of an endurance test, the extra activities and the enthusiasm of the volunteers helped a lot, and most of the audience made it to the end of the marathon and earned their souvenir merit badges.

As a long-time volunteer at the Star and Shadow, it was wonderful to see this event become such a success. It’s definitely quelled my envy towards kids who got to go to summer camp every year.

Sid Purvis