Sleep Away Camp Series
1, 2 and 3
Reviewed by Lee Pletzers
Sleepaway Camp 1
Released by Anchor Bay released 2002
Written and Directed by Robert Hiltzik
Staring Mike Kellin, Katherine Kamhi and Paul Deangelo
Color / 84 minutes / Rated R
1983, originally released by: American Eagle Film Corp.
{Note: this movie was a shocker hit in the 80’s and it still is}
I must admit, I had never heard of these movies and going by cover only, I would never have rented it from the video store. And what a loss that would have been! The three-disk set is part one through three, and from number two it stars the sisters or brothers of already famous people.
Part one was filled with unknown actors/actresses and was played by real teenagers for the most part. Thankfully. They actually looked their age. A nice touch.
Sleepaway Camp was an okay movie until the end where it blew me away. The twist at the end was so shocking that I never saw it coming. Very seldom can a movie do this to me, especially an old one from the early 80’s.
It starts typically enough: A man has his son and daughter at on a small river sailboat. In the background is a Summer Camp. Also on the river is a speedboat with a skier in tow. The skier is complaining, she’s had enough and wants to go back. Driving the boat is a camp lifeguard, in the passenger seat is a counselor or student, who begs for a chance to drive. The lifeguard gives in and hands over the steering wheel.
The family on the sailboat is playing around, enjoying the day. The little girl pushes her father into the river, the sailboat overturns, and suddenly everyone is in the water and laughing.
Back on the speedboat, the skier is complaining and both the lifeguard and passenger turn to try and hear what she is saying. Suddenly the skier sees the direction they are headed, she tries to warn them but fails.
The kids and father notice too late. The speedboat takes out one kid, hits the hull of the sailboat and tears open the father.
The camp is closed and bought years later by a wealthy businessman.
Eight years later:
We meet Angela (Felissa Rose)and her stepbrother as they head out off to camp. The mother is strange, likes to talk her thoughts out loud. She sends them off and gives her special daughter a hug good-bye.
Angela is a very shy girl; she barely talks and has no friends. Her stepbrother is constantly protecting her; especially at Camp Arawak, where almost everyone seems to hate her, yet no reason apart from her shyness is given at first.
To the other campers, she is a weird kid; to the camp counselors, she’s special and needs a bit more attention.
During dinner, she refuses to eat and the head counselor takes her to the kitchen and asks the head chief if there’s anything else, she might like. He’s unsure and takes her into the back room. “See anything you like?” he asks. She shakes her head. “I know you’ll like this,” and he proceeds to undo his belt. Before things get out of control, her stepbrother bursts in. The chief grabs him by the throat, slams him into the wall, and is threatened by a bloody violent death if he breaths a word of what he saw.
Shortly after someone enters the kitchen while the chief is on a chair and putting corn into a huge tub of boiling water. The killer yanks the chair and the chief is covered in boiling water.
There are 5 deaths in this movie, which seems to be the standard for movies in the 80’s. Some of the kill scenes are extremely well done like the afore mentioned, but the others are not good at all.
The actress playing Angela does an excellent job; her acting is near perfect as is a few of the supporting cast. Some of the others are typical b-grade, but the movie is highly watchable and you’ll be guessing at who the killer is. Until the end, all you see is a pair of hands or a shadow.
The tension in the movie is there but it is soft; the cinematography and lighting is just right, throwing eeriness over the camp that sits well and a roughness that adds to the reality of what we are viewing.
The last ten minutes are going to blow you away.
This is a great movie that will take you back to the good old days of slasher movies, like Freddy and the great Jason…
Speaking of Freddy and Jason, enter:
Campaway part 2: Unhappy Campers.
Directed by Michael A. Simpson.
Staring Pamela Springsteen (sister of Bruce Springsteen), Renee Estevez (sister of Emilo Estevez and Charlie Sheen) and Brian Patrick Clarke.
Color / 79 minutes / rated R
Originally released by: Double Helix Films
A brilliant squeal to the original movie. It even tells us in the beginning what happened to Angela in part one. This movie is set five years later and Angela is working at Camp Rolling Hills.
It follows a more standard route of the slasher film’s of the 80’s, but the kill count has increased.
This movie unfortunately uses adults playing kids, not a single actor looked like a teenager — this is the only downfall of the movie in my honest opinion. The acting and scenery is three times better than before and the director kept the gritty feel to it. It is far more entertaining than the first.
The movie starts with camper sitting around a fire telling the classic scary story when one of the campers mentions The Angel of Death. The kid who killed only bad people. I’m not going to say what the story is, that is for you to find out. If you’ve seen number one, then you need to see number two. Not just for the answer of what happened to Angela but because it is a darn good movie and had references to Jason, Freddy and Leather Face, the chain saw scene is one of the best.
But, the best scene ever is Angela in the small cottage where the kids sleep and she is looking for a weapon to kill one of the kids who was nosy and telephoned the parents of the dead (thinking they had been all sent home). “You talk too much,” Angela says finally finding an object to use.
So far these movies have had a kind of message attached to the killings. For example in number one, everyone who died was an asshole in one-way or another. In number two, the same and the similar: kids who are mean to others, fornication, drug use (beautiful death scene attached to that), the baring of breasts and pornography. These are not things good girls/boys partake in and is unacceptable at Camp Rolling Hills.
Everyone she kills is (to her boss) supposedly “sent home” and when she sends too many kids “home”, she is fired from the camp. Crying and depressed, she walks to an abandoned shack where she likes to go to think by herself.
What’s in the shack?
Sleepaway Camp 3
Directed by Michael A. Simpson
Staring Pamela Springsteen, Tracy Griffith (Melanie’s sister) and Academy Award nominee, Michael J. Pollard (Bonnie and Clyde, 1967).
Quote from case: “Nasty but fun!” ~ Variety.
And they weren’t wrong.
In the third installment of Sleepaway camp, our beloved Angela is up against gangsters, a police officer (the one who arrested her in the first Sleepaway camp, and also the father of one of the boys she killed in part two — nice connection there) and rich kids. Why were these two groups put together? For an experiment in sharing. Think it worked? Nope. The husband and wife owners are umm, umm, umm…well, the husband likes to shag the young girls while the wife like to lay in the sun and have the kids do all the work while she looks at travel magazines.
The opening of this dvd is the best scene in the entire series, buy it for this scene only. Angela follows a teenage girl and disposes her in classic style and poses as her to get into the campground. Camp New Horizons, the same camp as in part two — under new ownership with government support.
Angela is her usual funny self and some kill scenes are great. The two best, in my opinion are:
The flagpole (funny comment from Angela, which also rings true for many people in this world).
The Lawn mover incident. Great kill scene, especially the sound…
This installment of the Camp series is the run of the mill slasher movie in many aspects, including the “she’s dead — whoops, no she isn’t” part.
Part two and part three were filmed back to back.
This is the perfect box set to own. Sleepaway Camp survival kit, is available at Amazon for about $35.
I heard there was a part four that totally sucked and was pulled from the sales shelves. I’d like to see that movie, but can’t find a copy anywhere.
