5 Best Horror Movies & TV Series About Summer Camps Like 'Friday the 13th', Ranked by IMDb
After watching this, you might think twice about sending your kids to camp.
Most people associate summer camp with carefree childhoods, campfires, and first kisses. However, in the world of cinema, it's the perfect setting for a nightmare.
Over the decades, the genre has provided us with many movies and series in which everyday relaxation becomes a fight for survival.
5. 'The A List', 2018-2021
IMDb Score: 5.5/10
Mia arrives at a remote island camp, planning to spend the perfect vacation with her peers. But the beautiful Amber arrives and quickly captures the hearts of the other teenagers.
However, Mia suspects that something is wrong with Amber, and, to her horror, she turns out to be right – Amber becomes a threat to everyone on the island.
The A List is less a horror show and more a mystical thriller. Mia and her friends must unravel Amber's identity and uncover her secrets.
4. 'You Might Be the Killer', 2018
IMDb Score: 5.9/10
Camp manager Sam finds himself in the middle of a bloody massacre and has no memory of what led up to it. The only thing he knows is that a masked maniac was responsible.
Sam calls his friend Chuck, a video store employee and self-proclaimed geek, for help figuring out what happened. However, the conversation leads Sam to an unexpected conclusion: he might be the killer.
The movie has a simple plot, but it's told in an unusual way. Like the main character, we try to piece together the day's events and grasp what led to the victims, so even the cliches about the cursed camp take on new meaning.
3. 'Sleepaway Camp', 1983
IMDb Score: 6.2/10
Angela, a girl who recently survived a tragedy, goes to camp with her cousin, Ricky – they are taken to the very spot where her father died. Angela quickly becomes the target of bullying, but something strange happens – the people who bully her die horrible deaths.
Director and screenwriter Robert Hiltzik puts a new spin on a familiar formula. The victims are unpleasant people who are sometimes unsympathetic and the final twist changes the perception of the entire movie.
Unlike the somewhat straightforward ending of Friday the 13th, Sleepaway Camp strikes a chord with a similar yet more psychological and dark twist.
2. 'The Final Girls', 2015
IMDb Score: 6.5/10
Max is the daughter of former slasher film star Amanda Cartwright. Grieving her mother's death, Max still decides to attend a private screening of her movies but she ends up trapped inside the screen with several other teenagers.
Now, Max can finally meet her mother on the other side of the screen and experience what she missed. However, there might not be time, as a maniac is already hot on her heels.
The authors poke fun at repetitive tropes: the characters compete for the title of last girl because only one is destined to survive. And the main character, Max, knows how to behave – and not behave – in a cursed camp.
1. 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?', 1990-2000
IMDb Score: 8.2/10
A teenager puts on his deceased aunt's jacket and becomes possessed by her spirit, a mischievous boy encounters a demonic pinball machine that comes to life, and an aspiring novelist finds a magical typewriter and experiences its dark power.
These and many other tales are told by members of the Midnight Society while sitting around a campfire in the evening. Their main goal is to be scary and believable.
The horror anthology format is perfect for a spooky summer movie night. The show's core concept of spooky stories around a campfire brings us back to childhood, when we would gather and tell scary tales.
