Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988)
Directed By: Michael A. Simpson
The Prologue
While Sleepaway Camp might be one of the more loved horror films of the 80s, I personally think, Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers, is the one that truly shows what 80s horror was all about. Felissa Rose didn’t return because she was doing the college thing, so we ended up with Bruce Springsteen’s sister, Pamela, in the role of a Angela. And in another fun note, we get Renée Estevez, the sister of both Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez, in this movie as “Molly”. That adds up to a movie full of people with famous siblings. That also adds up to a cool little movie.
The Movie
Angela Baker has undergone years of therapy, electro-shock and sexual reassignment surgeries, and finally landed herself a job in the last place she should be working – camp rolling hills. She has an old fashioned approach as to how camp should be, and an old familiar deadly way of making sure that those who don’t follow her rules don’t get to come back next summer.
Angela doesn’t have a penis anymore, seeing as how she now as went through shock treatment and a full on sex change. But clearly she’s still crazy. If she wasn’t we wouldn’t have much a movie now would we? As the movie starts Angela sorta seems normal enough. As a matter of fact, one could argue that if these brats didn’t talk back to Angela, people might not have been killed in this thing to start with. Angela is more like a bad ass Mr.Rogers in this one, as long as you go by the rules and are a “good camper” you’ll be fine. But how many good kids did we have in the 80s? That means you get a heck of a body count in this one. You also have a character named, Alley, that if you watched while young probably put you through puberty.
Sleepaway Camp II, doesn’t seem to really care. It’s having fun, it’s letting it’s hair down, and it doesn’t really try to be fun and cool, it just ends up that way. I mean sure, people have little jokes and one-liners, but it never seems forced. The movie is also a little on the short side and flows well, leaving little time for any dragging at all. These kids are smoking dope, having sex, and being all around smart asses from the start, meaning we get the blood flowing rather quickly. And we get nice little references to Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface along the way too!
Now if the film does have a fault, maybe the ending just goes a little off the tracks a bit. Angela runs along her way, killing a lot of people, hitching rides, and it just kinda seems a little rushed or off to me for some reason. Our leading lady, Molly, who is by all logical standpoints the film’s final girl, doesn’t seem to do much besides be a goody two shoes. She sorta puts up a fight, she sorta stands her ground, but she also sorta doesn’t live up to what a final girl usually does. Not that it’s her fault, it’s probably the writing. This film is all about Angela, but it could have used a better foe to Angela. Outside of that, it’s the 80s! Gore, one liners, and a nice soundtrack. It’s a lot of fun.
The Conclusion
You know, I probably like this one more than I do the original. I remember renting this one as a kid and it was always just a whole lot of fun to me. It’s got plenty of re-watching value, and while most people like Felissa Rose as Angela I don’t think Pamela Springsteen does a bad job at all. This was of course made back to back with Sleepaway Camp III, which I guess we need to get to sooner or later.
The Rating (7/10)
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