Return to Sleepaway Camp Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: Decades after the original film, someone is beginning to kill campers, but could it be Angela?

Review: Completely ignoring the events of parts 2-4 (not that it's hard to ignore 4), "Return to Sleepaway Camp" tries to recreate the tone and seriousness associated with the original. As such, a major component of the plot is the whodunnit aspect; though, I was able to guess the identity of the killer instantly, and I'm guessing most horror veterans will too. While I do appreciate the general attempt at making this series horror-focused once again, the film doesn't fully succeed in presenting a worthwhile entry. Oh, sure, the kills are somewhat creative, and it's amusing to see idiots get what's coming to them, but the story and characters lack that charm from part 2 and some of the material feels like a retread. Likewise, the twist, while doable, is nowhere near as startling as the original. What I would have loved to see is a blending of part 1's tone with part 2's charm and quirky characters.

One genuinely positive thing was that there were plenty of red herrings that could have worked as the killer. On the other hand, it's a bit pointless to introduce so many potential suspects when it's painfully obvious Angela is still the killer. Alternatively, someone should have been working with Angela to make the final reveal have a form of relevance. For example, why not give her an accomplice and link a connection between her in a way that brings things full circle? Maybe utilizing Angela's mom or the dad's gay lover or even the aunt. In fact, why bring back a bunch of actors from the original if they're ultimately pointless? I mean, they brought back Ricky who claimed he visits Angela every week. This would imply that Angela managed to escape a mental institute, get a disguise, convince a town she is the sheriff, insert herself into coincidental camp shenanigans, arrange to be on the camp grounds in the first place, and organize all of her kills...all in the span of a week at most?! Yeaaaaah...okaaaaaay. I'll take "Things That Could Never Happen" for $200, Alex.

Don't get me wrong, I did appreciate bringing the actors back--it made this feel like a true sequel. Also, the other nods like Big Pussy, a death right out of "1984," and Chef from "South Park" are humorous in their own way. But these kind of things don't necessarily create lovable victim fodder. The main kid everyone is picking on--retarded or not, I don't know what that was supposed to be--is made out to be an asshole half the time. It's kind of hard to feel bad for the bullied kid when he's also a bully too! This reminded me of the mean-spirited vibe of part 3. Is it so hard to give the audience characters to root for? They should have made the bullied kid likable in a dweeby way which could be used as a motive to set Angela off. Instead, it's just by chance that Angela stumbled upon a camp full of assholes in need of dying.

Overall, this is an okay entry, but it's kind of annoying that the filmmakers decided to ignore part 2. Come to think of it, I hate it when franchises will arbitrarily ignore sequels like fucking "Halloween!" The kills are decent, and there are plenty, but there's still a low-budget style. The acting does leave much to be desired, but I can get over it I suppose. There were a bunch of cute background girls, and the opening sequence did have a song about "Sleepaway Camp" so there's that too. Eh, I'd say this installment is worth a watch but only for those who want to complete the series.

Notable Moment: When that one chick is killed by a spike bed. I'm always a sucker for spike beds...they just don't get enough love!

Final Rating: 5.5/10