Book
& Magazine Reviews
Over the years, reviews of the Sleepaway Camp films have appeared in genre
magazines and movie review books. Here, you'll find many of them. While most are negative, they provide an accurate account and timeline of how the films have been recieved by paid movie critics.
Sleepaway Camp
The Psychotronic Video Guide
D/S: Robert Hiltzik P: Michael Tatosian,
Jerry Silva. In a nasty Friday the 13th rip-off that's better than most,
campers are killed in upstate New York. Melissa Rose is the shy murderous
Angela, and there's a Homicidal-style sex switch involved. Ed French created
the grisly FX. With Mike Kellin and Robert Earl Jones.
Movies on TV and Videocassette
(scales from 1/2 star to four stars)
*1/2 Jonathan Tierston, Felissa Rose, Christopher
Collet, Karen Fields, Mike Kellin. Ridiculous horror film with a prologue
and flashbacks that only make it more confusing. The plot has to do with
a series of murders at-- surprise-- a summer camp with most of the victims
being people who are mean to a shy girl. (Dir: Robert Hiltzik, 89 min.)
Video Movie Guide (scales
from a "Turkey" to five stars)
"Turkey" Dir: Robert Hiltzik. Cast: Mike Kellin, Paul DeAngelo. This
bloody, disgusting film, written and directed by Robert Hiltzik, is one
that will make you appreciate the fast-forward feature on your VCR. 1983;
88 min.
Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever (scales
from "Woof!" to "Four Bones")
Crazed killer hacks away at the inhabitants of a peaceful summer camp
in this run-of-the-mill slasher. 1983 (R) 88m/ C: Mike Kellin, Jonathan
Tiersten, Felissa Rose, Christopher Collet. VHS, Beta, $9.95. One Bone.
Movies A to Z (scales from 1/2 star to four
stars)
C- 88 min. *1/2 Dir: Robert Hiltzik. Cast: Mike Kellin, Felissa Rose.
First in bloody series; the repugnant gore, blood, and murders will make
you glad you stayed home from camp. Most people would be better off sitting
through any Friday the 13th film.
The Encyclopedia of Horror Films
Aka Nightmare Vacation (American Eagle Films) 85 min. This film continues
the downward spiral in horror quality initiated by the sublime Halloween
(1978) and the exploitative Friday the 13th (1980) and adds very little
to the sub-genre that had been spread too thin already. Campers and counselors
alike begin dying at Camp Arawak (serving as Camp Anywhere U.S.A.) through
various gruesome methods (scaldings, stabbings, drownings, stingings).
Owner Kellin starts in a downward slide in mental stability as more and
more people are discovered slaughtered. Most of the evidence points to
a foul-mouthed little boy but the murderer is eventually revealed to be
Rose, a young boy who had been raised as a girl by his aunt (Gould) ever
since his sister and homosexual father were killed in a boating accident
years earlier. The shock ending, a full body shot revealing the virginal
female killer to really be a boy, is the only thing that sets this slasher
film apart from the dozens being produced at the time. The gore effects,
while not up to par with Tom Savini, rival anything seen in any of the
other Friday the 13th copycats being unleashed. For the most part, the
acting is uninspired (everyone seems to have studied from the acting school
of Fast Times at Ridgemont High) and Hiltzik's direction is slapdash and
drab. Two sequels were eventually milked out of this movie later in the
decade when the Friday the 13th and Halloween series were at the peak
of their popularity.
Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers
The Psychotronic Movie Guide
The original did well on video, so two sequels were made back to back.
Bruce Springsteen's grinning sister (!) Pamela Springsteen plays the boy
who became the psycho killer Angela. She returns to the summer camp, this
time as a singing counselor, and kills "bad" people there. This sequel
has more novel ways of dying, gore, and nudity, and Spingsteen even sings.
With Renee Estevez as the token virgin, Valerie Hartman, and Susan Marie
Snyder. It was filmed in Georgia.
Video Movie Guide (scales from a "Turkey"
to five stars)
**1/2 Dir: Michael A. Simpson. Cast: Pamela Springsteen, Renee Estevez,
Brian Patrick Clarke. Gory and funny sequel about naughty kids being slaughtered
by a puritanical camp counselor. The film pokes fun at various other
horror films with a fairly good sense of humor. Rated R for nudity, violence,
and profanity. 1988; 81 min.
Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever (scales
from "Woof!" to "Four Bones")
A beautiful camp counselor is actually a bloodthirsty, murdering madwoman.
Sequel to the 1983 slasher "Sleepaway Camp." 1988 (R) 82m [sic]/ C: Pamela
Springsteen, Rene Estevez, Walter Gotell, Brian Patrick Clarke; D: Michael
A. Simpson. VHS, Beta, $14.98. A Bone and a Half.
Movies A to Z (scales from 1/2 star to four
stars)
C- 81 min. ** Dir: Michael A. Simpson. Cast: Pamela Springsteen, Rene
Estevez, Brian Patrick Clarke. Remember Angela from the first film? Well,
she's (yes, now she) back going around killing ill-behaved kids at another
camp. An improvement over the original gorefest. Filmed simultaneously
with Part 3.
The Encyclopedia of Horror Films
This sequel to the slovenly Sleepaway Camp (1983) is a breath of fresh
air when put alongside the likes of Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New
Blood or Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (both 1988) and is an
improvement over the original, though that's not saying much. Springsteen
is the killer this time around, having been transformed into a woman in
between films and is now the head counselor at another summer camp. Just
as in the original movie, it's not long before slain teens dominate the
film (one girl is killed before the opening credits) irritating camp owner
Gotell when Springsteen tells him she "sent them home" and causing discussion
among the remaining campers about what happened to those who are missing.
Soon, the surviving camper (Estevez) wanders upon the killer's cabin deep
in the woods littered with the corpses of the dead in which the battle
between the good virginal camper and the demonic camp killer is played
out in the surrounding forests. The film's ending is straight out of A
Nightmare on Elm Street (1985) [sic] in which the killer survives for
another sequel. While sounding like yet another slasher film that the
sub-genre had already been saturated with, the film is actually a clever
satire (going so far as to name most of its minor characters after "the
Brat Pack"). The killer in this movie garbs herself as Leatherface from
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974; even so far as to wear the face of
another camper) and kills two other teens who have dressed themselves
as Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. In order to better compete with
Krueger, the killer was given a complete overhaul in appearance, speech,
and manner. Springsteen is nothing but insanity personified (she pours
alcohol over a whiskey-swilling camper, then lights a match as she quips,
"Say no to drugs.") and several of the other actors make their mark such
as Gotell (The African Queen, 1951; Moonraker 1979) as the camp owner
and Clarke as a hip, wisecracking counselor that runs afoul of Springsteen
in the final reel. Springsteen is the sister of rock musician Bruce. Estevez
is the daughter of Martin Sheen and sister of Emilio Estevez and Charlie
Sheen.
Joe Bob's Ultimate B Movie Guide
We return to the ghosts of Camp Arawak for the continuing story of Angela,
who killed 30 happy campers in part one but has done her two years in
the psycho ward, had a lobotomy and a sex-change operation, and is now
back in action working with impressionable young children at Camp Rolling
Hills. Her goal in life is to make sure they don't say filthy words or
rip off their blouses except when it's necessary to the plot. When they
don't comply, she's forced to crush their skulls with an oak branch and
drag their bodies into an abandoned cabin so they can have "Happy Camper"
singalongs. We're talking some serious Beanie Weenie Fu. Twelve breasts.
Fifteen dead bodies. Head rolls. Power drill through the head. Dead teenager
brains. Guitar-string strangulation. Acid in the face. Lips cut off. Double
camper barbecue. Pathetic panty-raid scene. Gratuitous group singing.
Gratuitous Jason. Gratuitous Freddy Krueger. Gratuitous Leatherface. Gratuitous
"Kum Ba Yah." Leech Fu. Outhouse Fu. With Pamela Springsteen (Bruce's
sister!) as Angela the psycho ("If I wasn't cured, they would have let
me out!"), Valerie Hartman and her two enormous talents as the loosest
girl in camp ("Great, thanks a lot--listen, you don't have AIDS or anything,
do you?"), Susan Marie Snyder as the dead camper ("I'll never apologize!
I'd rather die first, Angela!"), Renee Estevez (sister of Emilio) as the
shy shiny boring good girl. 3 stars.
Sleepaway Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland
The Psychotronic Video Guide
D/P: Michael A. Simpson S: Fritz Gordon P: Jerry Silva Pamela Springsteen
is back killing off the entire un-suspecting cast of irritating multi-ethnic
kids and their stupid counselors in this stupid, goreless, tasteless,
horror comedy with flashbacks to Part II and the usual topless scenes.
The overworked Michael J. Pollard acts even weirder than usual as a horny,
goofy, always-mugging counselor. Springsteen kills by decapitation, an
M-80 in a nose, a garbage truck, and a spike through a head. With Tracey
Griffith (also in Fast Food, along with Springsteen and Pollard), Jill
Terashita, and in-joke character names. Sleepaway Camp IV was also announced.
Video Movie Guide (scales from a "Turkey" to
five stars)
"Turkey" Dir: Michael A. Simpson. Cast: Pamela Springsteen, Michael J.
Pollard. Angela (Pamela Springsteen), the murderous happy camper, returns
to Camp Happy Woods in this stiff Friday the 13th rip-off. Angela's not
Freddy-funny and she's no juggernaut-Jason. Rated R for violence and nudity.
1989; 80 min.
Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever (scales
from "Woof!" to "Four Bones")
This second sequel is as bad as the first two movies. Another disturbed
camper hacks up a bevy of teenagers. Better luck at the Motel Six. 1989
(R) 80m/ C: Pamela Springsteen, Tracy Griffith, Michael J. Pollard; D:
Michael A. Simpson. VHS, Beta, LV, $19.98. Woof!
Movies A to Z (scales from 1/2 star to four
stars)
C- 80 min. ** Dir: Michael A. Simpson. Cast: Pamela Springsteen, Michael
J. Pollard, Tracy Griffith. Some rich snobs hold a camp meet where junkies
can communicate and mix with both cultures. Angela happens to sneak in.
A restraint in the gore factor and a calm and cool performance by Springsteen
as slasher Angela make this the best of the three films, though, that's
not saying a whole lot.
The Encyclopedia of Horror Films
Aka Sleepaway Camp 3: Angela's Wasteland (Double Helix Films) 79 (77)
min. Returning from the previous outing, mousy Springsteen steals a young
girl's identity, runs her over in a Mack truck, then heads back to camp
to dismember teenagers and warble more camp songs. This time, the camp
(the same one from the previous movie) has new owners (in the form of
inept managers Pollard and Dorsey) and is reopened for the purpose of
bringing rich teens (named after characters from The Brady Bunch) together
and having them interact with ghetto teens (named after characters from
West Side Story). A policeman is thrown into the action to stir up the
mix for good measure, but does very little. Soon, teens from both backgrounds
wind up meeting their deaths at the hands of Springsteen's repertoire
of axes, logs, knives, and lawn mowers. Eventually, Springsteen is butchered
by a not-so virginal camper, though a disappointing coda reveals that
the killer is still alive, awaiting her next sequel. For the third film,
an interesting idea was cooked up to get the campers together, an experiment
in sharing of each ethnic group's backgrounds and experiences. While the
campers squabble about themselves, the killer keeps herself at bay and
only interacts with the others when she decides how to kill them, a complete
turnaround from the character's portrayal in the previous outing. Just
as in the previous movie, Springsteen is given several Freddy Krueger-esque
quips ("Good thing you're dead cause in a couple of years, your breasts
would have been sagging something terrible"). The gore on the other hand
has been trimmed and toned down, while the profanity seems to have increased
(Wilcher's character has nary a line in which he doesn't swear) and the
budget for the film is considerably lower than the previous two films.
The ending, in which Springsteen revives, is especially limp leaving the
door open for another sequel. Griffith is the sister of Melanie Griffith.
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