Nerds That Geek Movie Review – ‘Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​While sequels are often lamented and debated over in other genres in film, I’ve come to notice over the years that they seem to be embraced and encouraged by horror fans. Because in this particular genre, there is a genuine opportunity to continue the storyline, and learn more about the antagonist that was introduced in the first film and really, it’s the sheer potential storytelling wise that allows for sequel after sequel to come forth.
 
Yet, while it’s awesome to see this genre produce a bevy of sequels that give us more of what we crave, there is a slight catch when it comes to this, in that, often times the sequels that come our way, aren’t that good to begin with. Budget constraints, new writers and massive casting changes can change everything we loved about the original story and sadly, those kinds of sweeping alterations befell the Sleepaway Camp franchise, since the second entry in this series, Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers, turned out to be quite the mixed bag storytelling wise.
 
Which is shame because the story to this film had some serious potential since it picks up several years after the incident at Camp Arawak, where we learn that Angela Baker, who is now known as ‘The Angel of Death’, served a sentence for her crimes and underwent counseling before being released and moving on with her life, but her story lives on at every summer camp out there, including Camp Rolling Hills, where suddenly, campers are starting to go missing while camp is in session and there’s good reason for that. Because no one has a clue that Angela Baker is a counselor at this camp, and she is most certainly not ‘reformed’, and she is instead relishing in resuming her killing spree, and punishing every wicked camper that she comes across.

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​So, while that plot sounds juicy and deep in its nature, it’s sadly…handled with some serious fluff. In fact, the big problem that surrounds the second entry in this storied franchise, is that it purposefully ventures into campy territory without a second thought. Gone are the thoughtful plot threads we found in the first film, instead all of that is replaced with hammy one-liners and horror film homage after horror film homage and while some of those wisecracks do elicit a chuckle, the tributes to Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees definitely pull you out of the story.
 
However, so that this review doesn’t become an outright rant, we do need to take a moment and discuss the film’s more redeeming qualities. After all, some of the kills are actually fairly solid and gross in their own right, and that does give the splatter factor some merit in this film, and in all honesty, the finale, wherein Molly gets a good, up close look at Angela’s handiwork is pretty disturbing in its own right and the actor who takes over for Felissa Rose as Angela Baker, Pamela Springsteen, brings a special kind of honesty to the role and the zest and zeal that she plays the character with actually works within the framework of the film.
 
But, make no mistake about it, this movie doesn’t hold a flame to the original and it’s clear that the people behind the scenes simply wanted to cash-in on the summer camp slasher film trend that dominated the 1980’s and their creative choices clearly reflect that. But that doesn’t make the film outright awful, just campy and by and the numbers, which means that it’s supremely watchable and a fun way to kill an hour and half and really, you can’t go wrong with the fact that this slasher flick does deliver when it comes to the blood and guts. 

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