Return to Sleepaway Camp

Last updated
Return to Sleepaway Camp
File-ReturnToSleepawayCampPoster.jpg
Official DVD cover by Magnolia Pictures
Directed by Robert Hiltzik
Written byRobert Hiltzik
Produced byRobert Hiltzik
Michele Tatosian
Thomas E. van Dell
Starring
Cinematography Ken Kelsch
Brian Pryzpek
Edited byRon Kalish
Music byRodney Whittenberg
Production
companies
Go2sho
Return to Sleepaway Corp.
Distributed by Magnolia Pictures
Release date
  • November 4, 2008 (2008-11-04)(United States)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4 million

Return to Sleepaway Camp is a 2008 American slasher film written and directed by Robert Hiltzik. The film stars Vincent Pastore, Jackie Tohn, Jonathan Tiersten, Paul DeAngelo, Isaac Hayes, and Michael Gibney.

Contents

The fourth and final film in the Sleepaway Camp film series and first film released direct-to-video, it is a direct sequel to Sleepaway Camp (1983), while ignoring the events of Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988) and Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989).

Plot

Several boys are lighting farts and after failing, Alan threatens them, but is soon stopped by camp counselor, Randy. In the dining hall, Alan gets into a violent confrontation with Randy after he complains about the food. Ronnie allows Alan to get something else to eat, but Alan gets in trouble with cook Mickey. Alan throws a butcher knife at Mickey and the camp owner, Frank, argues with Alan. Alan runs away, with his stepbrother Michael chasing him. In the kitchen, Mickey is killed after being held above and dumped into the deep fryer. His body is dumped in the trash compactor.

During the social, Alan is fooled by Terry "Weed" and Stan into smoking dried cow manure, which makes him cough and falls on Stan's crotch, earning him the nickname "Blowjob.". After the social, Weed is tied to a chair and gasoline is squirted down his throat. The killer sticks a lit cigarette in his mouth and his insides explode. Ronnie suspects the murders that happened twenty five years ago are happening again, but Frank states the murders were accidental. A week later, Michael makes Alan look like he skinned frogs, and Karen and Marie run away. Michael, T.C. and Marie force Karen to lure Alan to the back of the stage, where they take his clothes off, tie him up, blindfold him and embarrass him at the social.

Ronnie suspects that counselor Petey is the killer for always being nearby when Alan is in trouble. After returning to his cabin, Frank is knocked unconscious with a hammer and wakes up with his head inserted in a birdcage. The mysterious killer opens the birdcage and places two rats. The rats eat through his head and down into his intestines. Randy and Linda go to the pump house to have sex. Whilst Randy urinates, the killer ties him to a tree, using fishing line to wrap around his penis. Upon returning, Linda panics after hearing Randy placate the killer and drives off in the jeep, but the fishing line is tied to the jeep and tears off Randy's penis. Linda crashes after driving through a wrapped barbed wire line, which wraps around her face and kills her.

After Spaz visits T.C., a wooden spear comes through a hole in the floor while T.C. is looking into it and impales him through the eye. Jenny and Ronnie find Frank dead and begin rounding up everyone. Bella goes to her cabin, where she finds that the bunk above her has been replaced with a board with spikes. The killer jumps down from the rafters and lands on the top bunk, causing the spikes to impale Bella. T.C. and Bella are found dead and Ricky Thomas is called by Sheriff Jerry. Karen bumps into the killer and faints.

Karen wakes up with a rope hanging from a basketball hoop tied around her neck. The killer flips a switch to raise the net, causing Karen to be lifted off the ground. Michael arrives, causing the killer to run off, and lowers the net. After Karen tells him she thinks Alan is the killer, Sheriff Jerry consoles Karen while Michael grabs a croquet mallet and beats Alan with the mallet. The killer appears behind Michael as the screen fades to black.

Ronnie, Ricky and Jenny find a badly-wounded Alan. Sheriff Jerry walks up, explaining through his mechanical voice box that kids never learn and are always mean. Sheriff Jerry reveals himself to be Angela Baker. They find Michael, skinned alive on the ground, with Angela laughing maniacally.

In a post-credits scene, a flashback set three weeks before the film shows how Angela escaped from the psychiatric clinic. She causes a brake fluid leak in a car and flags down Sheriff Pete, the real sheriff. She murders him by dropping the car on his head and steals his clothes to become the new sheriff.

Cast

Production

Return to Sleepaway Camp concluded filming in 2003 and was scheduled to be released theatrically between 2004 and 2006, but due to unsatisfactory CGI effects and a lack of distribution deals, it did not see release until November 2008. An executive producer of the film, Thomas E. van Dell, claimed that most of the corrected CGI had been completed by December 2006, but director, Robert Hiltzik, felt that it needed more work to meet his expectations. By 2007, compositors and CGI personnel had been hired by van Dell to correct the effects. Additionally, a small special F/X group was hired to reshoot work unapproved by Hiltzik; such included the skinned body of the character Michael, additions to the death of camper T.C., and unfinished/pick-up shots. All work was finished by 2008, and the producers secured distribution through Magnolia Pictures.

Release

The film was released direct-to-video in the United States in November 2008, and was released internationally in 2009.

Reception

Critical response

A 2/5 was bestowed by David Harley of Bloody Disgusting, who regarded Return to Sleepaway Camp as a draggy, unimaginative, and unfunny film with an ending "that manages to disappoint with its banality". [1] Dread Central's Steve Barton gave Return to Sleepaway Camp a 1½ out 5: "Gone is the really black humor of the first film. Gone is the insane twist. Gone are the inventive kills. And gone is nearly all of the charm that has kept this franchise alive. I would have rated this even lower if not for the nostalgia factor. Man, what a letdown". [2] In his review for DVD Verdict, Gordon Sullivan wrote that "Return to Sleepaway Camp makes Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland look like Shakespeare. A poor script, a total lack of compelling campers, and a too-brief glimpse of Angela all spell trouble for this nostalgic trip back to camp-land. I know that diehard fans of the original film will likely get suckered into watching this, but everyone else should stay far, far away". [3] A 1/4 was awarded by Arrow in the Head's Pat Torfe, who concluded: "A 'return' this is not. Hiltzik should've taken Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor 's demise as a warning and let this series go quietly. Return is nothing what the original trilogy was in terms of kills or fun. It limps by on sloppy editing, unlikeable characters, unsatisfying kills and hopes that people get pulled in by the return of past characters". [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Scream 2</i> 1997 American slasher film

Scream 2 is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Jada Pinkett and Liev Schreiber. The sequel to Scream (1996), the film was released on December 12, 1997 by Dimension Films as the second installment in the Scream film series. Scream 2 takes place two years after the first film and again follows the character of Sidney Prescott (Campbell), and the other survivors of the Woodsboro massacre, at the fictional Windsor College in Ohio where they are targeted by a copycat killer using the identity of Ghostface. Like its predecessor, Scream 2 combines the violence of the slasher genre with elements of comedy, satire and "whodunit" mystery while satirizing the cliché of film sequels.

<i>Sleepaway Camp</i> 1983 American slasher film

Sleepaway Camp is a 1983 American slasher film written and directed by Robert Hiltzik, and starring Mike Kellin, Katherine Kamhi, and Paul DeAngelo alongside Jonathan Tiersten, Felissa Rose, Christopher Collet, and Karen Fields. The original entry in the Sleepaway Camp film series, it focuses on serial killings which occur at a summer camp for teenagers.

Robert Hiltzik is an American director and writer. He is writer and director of the 1983 summer camp slasher film, Sleepaway Camp, which attracted a cult following.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felissa Rose</span> American actress (born 1969)

Felissa Rose Esposito, better known as simply Felissa Rose, is an American actress and producer. Rose has amassed over 150 film credits, and is best known for her work in the horror genre, for which she is recognized as a "scream queen".

<i>Student Bodies</i> 1981 film by Mickey Rose, Michael Ritchie

Student Bodies is a 1981 American parody slasher comedy film written and directed by Mickey Rose, with an uncredited Michael Ritchie co-directing. A spoof of slasher horror films such as Halloween, Friday the 13th and Prom Night, Student Bodies was the first film to satirize the thriving slasher film genre. A prominent feature of the film is a body count that is superimposed onscreen whenever a death occurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Tiersten</span> American actor and singer (born 1965)

Jonathan Tiersten is an American actor and singer, who is mostly known for his role as Ricky Thomas in the 1983 cult classic Sleepaway Camp. He reprised the role in the 2008 sequel Return to Sleepaway Camp.

<i>Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland</i> 1989 American slasher film by Michael A. Simpson

Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland is a 1989 American slasher film and the third installment in the Sleepaway Camp film series. Written by Fritz Gordon and directed by Michael A. Simpson, it stars Pamela Springsteen as Angela, Tracy Griffith, Mark Oliver, and Michael J. Pollard. Taking place one year after the events in the previous film, it again follows the same transgender serial killer, Angela, who is targeting more teenagers at another summer camp.

<i>Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers</i> 1988 American black comedy slasher film by Michael A. Simpson

Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers is a 1988 American slasher film written by Fritz Gordon and directed by Michael A. Simpson. It is the second installment in the Sleepaway Camp film series, and stars Pamela Springsteen as Angela, and Renée Estevez. The film takes place five years after the events of the original, and features serial killer Angela, working as a counselor, murdering misbehaving teenagers at another summer camp.

Sleepaway Camp is an American slasher film series consisting of five films, one of which was not fully completed. The franchise primarily focuses on serial killer Angela Baker and the murders she commits, largely at summer camps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela Springsteen</span> American actress and photographer

Pamela Springsteen is an American actress and photographer. She had a short acting career, during which she played the role of serial killer Angela Baker in the cult slasher and comedy horror films Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988) and Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989). She had two co-starring roles in the obscure comedies Dixie Lanes (1988), The Gumshoe Kid (1990), and smaller roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Reckless (1984), and Modern Girls (1986). She is a still photographer in the film and music industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surprise Lake Camp</span> Jewish summer camp school

Surprise Lake Camp is a non-profit sleepaway camp located on over 400 acres (1.6 km2) in North Highlands, New York. It is the oldest Jewish summer camp in the United States.

<i>Bloody Murder</i> 2000 American film

Bloody Murder is a 2000 American slasher film directed by Ralph E. Portillo and written by John R. Stevenson. It stars Jessica Morris, Crystalle Ford, Peter Guillemette, and Patrick Cavanaugh. The plot follows a group of counselors working at a summer camp, where a masked assailant begins a murder spree. The film was released direct-to-video.

<i>Bloody Murder 2: Closing Camp</i> 2003 American film

Bloody Murder 2: Closing Camp is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Rob Spera, and written by John R. Stevenson. A sequel to the 2000 film Bloody Murder, it was released direct-to-video, and stars Katy Woodruff, Kelly Gunning, and Amanda Magarian. The film follows a group of camp counselors who are terrorized by a masked murderer while working at Camp Placid Pines, a summer camp that is said to haunted by a murderous bogeyman-like figure named Trevor Moorehouse.

<i>Grizzly Park</i> 2008 American film

Grizzly Park is a 2008 American horror film written and directed by Tom Skull. The film stars Randy Wayne, Emily Baldoni, Julie Skon, Zulay Henao, Shedrack Anderson III, Kavan Reece, Jelynn Rodriguez, and Trevor Peterson as eight teenagers forced to complete a week of community service at a national forest, during which they are hunted by a vicious Kodiak brown bear, played by Brody the Bear in his film debut. Glenn Morshower, Whitney Cummings, and Rance Howard appear in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackie Tohn</span> American actress

Jaclyn Tohn is an American actress and musician. She is best known for playing Melanie "MelRose" Rosen on the Netflix series GLOW and Courtenay Fortney in the Amazon Prime Video series The Boys and Gen V, and for taking part in American Idol season 8, making it to Top 36. She also took part in the 2011 songwriting competition series Platinum Hit on the Bravo network.

<i>Loch Ness Terror</i> 2008 Canadian TV series or program

Loch Ness Terror is a 2008 horror television film directed by Paul Ziller and written by Ziller and Jason Bourque.

<i>Cheerleader Massacre</i> 2003 American film

Cheerleader Massacre is a 2003 American B-movie slasher film directed by Jim Wynorski and written by Lenny Juliano. It is the seventh installment in the Massacre franchise and was originally meant to be a direct sequel to The Slumber Party Massacre (1982).

<i>Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor</i> 2012 American film

Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor is the fifth installment in the Sleepaway Camp film series. The film stars Carrie Chambers, John Lodico, and Victor Campos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desiree Gould</span> American actress (1945–2021)

Desiree Joan Gould was an American actress. She was known for her role as Aunt Martha in the 1983 slasher film Sleepaway Camp.

<i>Girl</i> (2020 film) 2020 film

Girl is a 2020 thriller film written and directed by Chad Faust. The films stars Bella Thorne as a young woman known only as Girl, who returns to her hometown with the intention of murdering her abusive father, only to discover that somebody else has already murdered him. The film's cast also includes Faust, Elizabeth Saunders, Mickey Rourke, Lanette Ware and Glen Gould. The film was shot in 2019 in Sudbury, Ontario.

References

  1. ↑ Harley, David (November 1, 2008). "Return to Sleepaway Camp (V)". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  2. ↑ Barton, Steve (October 30, 2008). "Return to Sleepaway Camp (DVD)". Dread Central . Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  3. ↑ Sullivan, Gordon (November 14, 2008). "Return to Sleepaway Camp". DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  4. ↑ Torfe, Pat. "Return to Sleepaway Camp". joblo.com. Arrow in the Head. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.