8/21/08
Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers
Sleepaway Camp II:Unhappy Campers (1988) starring Pamela Springsteen, Renee Estevez, and Brian Patrick Clark. Directed by Michael A. Simpson
Its another summer and its time for more fun and games at camp. Sadly not poor old Camp Arawak because after the first batch of killings it was closed down, but barely a mile away a new camp, Camp Rolling Green, is opened. I mean what could go wrong at a camp next door to where tons of grisly murders happened. Oh yeah, I know. Angela could have already gotten out of the mental institution they locked her up in. She could have been given a total sex change there. She could have gotten a job at camp rolling green, and she could look an awful lot like Bruce Springsteen's younger sister. In fact she does all these, and brother Bruce must have been so proud. It somehow brings an extra level to it knowing that The Boss has watched at least two of these movies.
But I digress, the film opens with the head councilor T.C. (the very amusing Brian Patrick Clark) and some campers hearing the urban legend about Angela and Camp Arawak. Naturally Angela shows up and puts the kibosh on the story and takes the girl who was telling it "back to camp" also known as cutting her tongue out and leaving her for dead. She explains the campers disappearance as having "sent her home" and Angela sends lot of folks home. One by one the campers in her cabin start dropping off. One of the girls even gets killed in a outhouse full of leaches which I have to say would be a crap way to go. (Yeah I went there.) One of the best moments comes when two campers decide to scare Angela by dressing up like Freddy and Jason. Angela has other plans and dispatches those guys while dressed up a bit like a Micheal Myers/Leatherface hybrid. Basically anyone with a moral shortcoming in Angela's eyes is another body to be put on the pile.
Overall this one is played for laughs like a progenitor of the Scream movies. This is all in all not a bad thing. The cast of campers has been given names ripped out of John Hughes movies and adds a nice touch. I really enjoyed the pervy 10 year olds who sneak around to take pictures of the many boobies in the camp (of which there are quite a few, this cast of campers is quite a bit older than the first.). When it comes out their their names were Emilio and Charlie, I was bustin a gut as the other famous sister in this film is Renee Estevez.
Sleepaway Camp II is a pretty funny movie, but its hard to see it as a direct continuation of the first one. The effects look pretty bad, but that's not really whats its about. Instead it's commentary on the slew of slasher films coming out around this time, and just like in those films Angela escapes in the end with a camp full of corpses behind her and a Happy Camper song in her heart.
Its another summer and its time for more fun and games at camp. Sadly not poor old Camp Arawak because after the first batch of killings it was closed down, but barely a mile away a new camp, Camp Rolling Green, is opened. I mean what could go wrong at a camp next door to where tons of grisly murders happened. Oh yeah, I know. Angela could have already gotten out of the mental institution they locked her up in. She could have been given a total sex change there. She could have gotten a job at camp rolling green, and she could look an awful lot like Bruce Springsteen's younger sister. In fact she does all these, and brother Bruce must have been so proud. It somehow brings an extra level to it knowing that The Boss has watched at least two of these movies.
But I digress, the film opens with the head councilor T.C. (the very amusing Brian Patrick Clark) and some campers hearing the urban legend about Angela and Camp Arawak. Naturally Angela shows up and puts the kibosh on the story and takes the girl who was telling it "back to camp" also known as cutting her tongue out and leaving her for dead. She explains the campers disappearance as having "sent her home" and Angela sends lot of folks home. One by one the campers in her cabin start dropping off. One of the girls even gets killed in a outhouse full of leaches which I have to say would be a crap way to go. (Yeah I went there.) One of the best moments comes when two campers decide to scare Angela by dressing up like Freddy and Jason. Angela has other plans and dispatches those guys while dressed up a bit like a Micheal Myers/Leatherface hybrid. Basically anyone with a moral shortcoming in Angela's eyes is another body to be put on the pile.
Overall this one is played for laughs like a progenitor of the Scream movies. This is all in all not a bad thing. The cast of campers has been given names ripped out of John Hughes movies and adds a nice touch. I really enjoyed the pervy 10 year olds who sneak around to take pictures of the many boobies in the camp (of which there are quite a few, this cast of campers is quite a bit older than the first.). When it comes out their their names were Emilio and Charlie, I was bustin a gut as the other famous sister in this film is Renee Estevez.
Sleepaway Camp II is a pretty funny movie, but its hard to see it as a direct continuation of the first one. The effects look pretty bad, but that's not really whats its about. Instead it's commentary on the slew of slasher films coming out around this time, and just like in those films Angela escapes in the end with a camp full of corpses behind her and a Happy Camper song in her heart.
The Lightning Bug Rating
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