Return to Sleepaway Camp

The horror industry lately suffers, as I'm sure you're very much aware, from an incredibly annoying trend called remakes. Numerous classics from the 1970's and 1980's – perfectly fine films that absolutely don't require any form of updating – are being remade in order to appeal to nowadays horror loving audiences. That sucks! It also sucks that this trend involuntarily causes you to be milder and a lot less skeptical towards other movies that are nevertheless inferior. "Return to Sleepaway Camp", for example, is a totally redundant and stupidly incoherent sequel that is a quarter of a century overdue, but hey … at least it's not a remake so let's be a little more generous!

I didn't like the original "Sleepaway Camp" very much. The film contained some really ingenious plot ideas and several very grisly images but, regretfully, NONE of these promising elements were processed the way they should have and the shocking climax wasn't shocking enough to compensate for all the defaults. Many old-school slasher fans did count the original among their favorites, and thus the film spawned a handful of sequels. "Return to Sleepaway Camp" is considered to be somewhat unique because it was once again scripted and directed by Robert Hiltzik; the creator of the infamous original. Fair enough, but it isn't because this guy crawled back from underneath a rock after 25 years that the film suddenly becomes an instant must-see cult classic. As to be expected, "Return to Sleepaway Camp" is a routine and hugely derivative slasher picture with uninspired murder sequences and immature attempts at sleazy humor. The atmosphere is light-headed and the production luckily never takes itself too seriously, but generally speaking it's still a waste of time. Strangely enough the film stars a couple of respectable actors, like Vincent Pastore and Isaac Hayes in a flesh & blood portrayal of his South Park character Chef, but most of the cast is a gathering of annoying teenagers (the chubby kid is truly insufferable) and untalented scream queens. Felissa Rose, the one and only Angela from the original, returns to camp as well after 25 years. If you, like me, promptly recognize her amidst the other cast members, it means you've seen way too many stupid 80's slashers.

"Return To Sleepaway Camp" isn't as much a real movie as it is a joke that got a bit out of hand. Apparently there's a website entirely devoted to 80s slasher gem "Sleepaway Camp", and they moved heaven and Earth to get some of its cast and crew back together for a sequel. They even got Robert Hiltzik back in the director chair, even though he retired from filmmaking decades prior. Sadly though, that totally shows. Hiltzik has forgotten pretty much everything that made his first movie such an underground classic. The first one thrived on its inventive kills and compelling mystery (with an amazing conclusion). In this one, the kills just make no goddamn sense (the bed of spikes!?) and you've figured out the twist well before halfway. Even worse though is the handling of the characters. When someone teased cute innocent kids in the original, you were glad they died minutes later. In this one the protagonist is a teen that picks on little kids in the cruelest ways possible, and then gets picked on by adolescents in the cruelest ways possible. You just can't sympathize with anyone in this movie, which makes you indifferent to all the deaths. The biggest difference is in the acting though. Why is everyone acting so tongue-in-cheek all of a sudden, why the sudden shift in tone? I don't remember wanting to punch Jonathan Tiersten in the face any time he opened his mouth in the original, what happened? This movie was released four years after completion: that's rarely a good sign.

I am a huge fan of the original "Sleepaway Camp" film and its two original sequels.

Like most fans of the series, I was ultra-excited when I heard that the original director was going to make his own sequel to his film. Though I do like the "Unhappy Campers" and "Teenage Wasteland," they are tad to thick on the humor than I would have preferred. So, I waited and waited and waited patiently for this film to finally be released. Well, it was, and while I appreciate the nostalgic feel to the film, and the fact that is a slasher film through and through and knows its origins, the film, for me, was a huge let down for ONE reason alone: the character that we are suppose to sympathize with the most and who is by all accounts the main character of the film (Alan) has to be one of the most annoying characters in film history. He is rude, disgusting, nasty to everyone, and not likable in the least. When campers pick on him, we root them on and I really wanted him to be the first to die.

What made the first film effective was that Angela, who got picked on the very same ways Alan does in this film, doesn't deserve it. She is quiet, sweet, and introverted. She doesn't cause any problems for anyone, so when the people who harass her the most begin to meet their deaths, the audience can silently cheer. Having a unlikable main character can ruin any film, and this is a prime example.

If you can get past the annoying Alan, "Return to Sleepaway Camp" follows virtually the same plot as the original, but with less originality and more clichés. Ronnie, the counselor from the original, now owns his own camp. Typical teenage behavior is shown, and when the campers begin picking on Alan (who again, DESERVES IT!), they begin to meet grisly deaths. Ronnie quickly blames Angela, even going as far as to accusing another counselor who is OBVIOUSLY much to young to be her, of being Angela. Unfortunately, due to a pretty lame disguise, the killer's identity is not hard to figure out. The "Angela" aspect of the film is also played down quite a bit, so much so that this really could have been any typical camp slasher unrelated to the "Sleepaway Camp" series. Yes, Angela is mentioned, but she is hardly a crucial component to the plot, and even the ending is abrupt and explains very little and certainly isn't the return to glory that one of the most interesting slasher film killers in history deserved.

There are some creative kills, but I honestly thing the original sequels are better and more brutal in this department. The acting is atrocious by most involved and the script is just really bad. In the end, I wanted more from this film and expected the original director to really bring it. Unfortunately, he didn't and the film pales in comparison to the original and even to the original sequels.

I only hope that if "Sleepaway Camp: Reunion" DOES happen, it is much better than this. The series deserves it.

My Grade: D

I was truly looking forward to this being a HUGE fan of the original and was devastated once the DVD had reached the five minute mark.

I kept checking the box to make sure I had been sent the right movie. A $4 million budget, what the hell did they spend it on - catering???!!! - ços the money sure isn't up there on the screen.

Cheaply shot, badly graded, sloppily edited, appallingly scored, a script that sounds like it was scratched down quickly on the back of a piece of toilet paper and the piece de resistance is the DIABOLICALLY BAD performances by a truly inept cast of nobodies.

What was Robert Hiltzik thinking? He should have just left well enough alone and not tarnished the reputation of the ground breaking original.

Avoid at all costs.

This was one I was really looking forward to seeing. It felt like it took years for it to be made and released. So when it was available to purchase I bought it at full price not knowing what a disappointment it would be. The plot follows the basic "kids are at camp when a bunch of murders occur" storyline. Fans of the original know the backstory of Angela so I won't go into that, but if you don't; it's probably a good idea to familiarize yourself with the 1983 film.

This sequel does something I hate which is it completely ignores Sleepaway Camp 2 and 3. We are supposed to forget those late eighties sequels which involved Angela escaping and becoming a counsellor killing a bunch of teenagers. By not bringing up the incidents that took place in these movies left me a little confused, but I'll move on from that negative. The next problem I have with this is the "lead" character Alan. What an annoying human being. He bullies other kids and then whines like a baby when he gets bullied or other camp counsellors tell him to stop. The constant whining, screaming and cursing was driving me nuts by the twenty minute mark. Now I loved the fact that Ricky in the original cussed like no other, but it's WAY overdone in this by Alan. And the acting by pretty much everyone involved is some of the worst I've seen since Troll 2.

What I found in this movie after seeing the original was that a lot of these new characters emulated characters from the original. There is Alan who is supposed to be a mix of Angela and Ricky, a character named Pee-Pee (I know right?) acts a lot like a shy Angela, there is even a nasty chef who gets scalded by boiling water. There are other parallels as well. Other cons are the music, which is mostly terrible and adds no suspenseful effect to the scene like the original score did in 1983. And the juvenile writing is just annoying to sit through. Some of the things the teens say and do is supposed to be funny but just leaves a bad taste in the viewers mouth, especially when the same joke is repeated over and over again.

I've been down on Return to Sleepaway Camp so far, and rightfully so; it isn't very good. BUT the ending definitely saves it from being a total letdown. The last half hour is jam packed with murder and mayhem. And some of the gore is pretty shocking and well done. Also, I liked the added mystery of trying to find out who the killer is (even if I thought the identity of the killer was a bit lame). And I loved seeing some of the original cast and characters return like Ricky (Jonathan Tiersten), Ronnie (Paul DeAngelo) and a "cameo" by Felicia Rose who played the original Angela Baker.

Overall, this movie is all over the place. It's almost as if Return to Sleepaway Camp has an identity crisis. The first SC was scary. Parts 2-3 were funny. This one tries to be a bit of both and, except for a good thirty minutes of scares, doesn't do well at either.

4/10