July 18, 2018
Directed by: Michael A. Simpson
Written by: Fritz Gordon
Budget: $465,000
Quote: "Don't talk like that, Uncle John. There's lots of good kids. We just have to weed out the bad."
Trivia: The characters are named after actors associated with quintessential 1980s film culture - predominantly members of the Brat Pack. Molly (Molly Ringwald), Sean (Sean Penn), Ally (Ally Sheedy), TC (Tom Cruise), Uncle John (John Hughes), Mare (Mare Winningham), Rob (Rob Lowe), Demi (Demi Moore), Lea (Lea Thompson), Brooke (Brooke Shields), Jodi (Jodie Foster), Anthony (Anthony Michael Hall), Judd (Judd Nelson), Charlie (Charlie Sheen), Phoebe (Phoebe Cates), Emilio (Emilio Estevez), Diane (Diane Lane).
Angela is back at it again! Everyone's favorite transgender camp slasher is killing campers in this sequel to the infamous Sleepaway Camp. Whereas Sleepaway Camp was a gritty slasher (with an incredible ending) this sequel adds a lot of dark comedy typical for sequels (look at Evil Dead II or even better the entire Nightmare on Elm Street franchise... damn Freddy got silly!). Like Evil Dead II, the comedy really works in this sequel creating a really fun continuation of the original film. The new actress who plays Angela is great and she delivers some of the cruelest deaths yet in the series.
The movie follows Angela, who in the first movie murdered a dozen camp members before revealing that she was born a boy (if you haven't seen the ending of the first movie, do yourself a favor and watch it). Angela has just escaped her mental institution and has taken up a job as the lead camp counselor at a camp full of misfit counselors... the campers themselves are a pretty well behaved bunch. Angela has also changed her last name to Johnson as a disguise (also a penis joke in reference to the ending of the last movie. Get it?). As the counselor's engage in behaviors Angela disproves of (sex, drugs, y'know... the horror movie no no's) she takes it upon herself to "weed out the bad" kids.
There are so many things that I love about Pamela Springsteen as Angela. First, she is just super cute! This really plays when juxtaposed next to the cruel and brutal murders that she inflicts on the teenagers at the camp. Next, I like that there is no secret about who is murdering all the campers. Most slashers have either an unknown murderer (like the first Friday the 13th movie) or a murderer in hiding (like the latter Friday the 13th movies), but this one let's you know from the beginning that yep it's Angela doing all the killing, no secrets here. This might also be the reason for the move toward comedy, without the mystery of an unknown killer, comedy is a good alternative. Third, I love how Pamela's Angela is so matter of fact in her murdering of teenagers. She goes about murdering the campers with the same lack of emotion of someone making a sandwich.
Like many of the 1980s horror movies, there is a pattern to the victim characters in the film. There are usually, the stoner, the slut, the jock, the joker, and the virgin. And this movie is no exception.
Sleepaway Camp II fully embraces the heavy metal of the 1980s with a rock n' roll soundtrack and metal head counselors. Most notably are the Slote Sisters, who are lovably called the Shit Sisters by their fellow counselors. The Slotes represent "the stoner" characters and we immediately identify them as murder victims. The Shit Sisters make their first appearance giggling while high in bed and later they sneak off to listen to heavy metal while partying with Maddog 20/20 (god, this brings back memories!). The next morning one Shit Sister is passed out with a bottle in her hand while the other one is laying next to her topless making out with some guy. Of course, Angela find them and completely burns up one so that the other one can stare at her sister's charred course while being bar-be-qued alive. The Shit Sisters are these amazing stoner characters that only the eighties could create. It's too bad they had to die so early in the film.
Another counselor that is incredible is Ally, "the slut." It wouldn't be an eighties slasher without a little nudity and Ally finds any reason to show off her boobs in the film: sleeping topless, screwing a camper in the woods, having a camper "go down" on her while standing up on a toilet, swimming in a white t-shirt after taking off her bikini top, etc. It will be her character that Angela will save the cruelest murders for. In a truly disgusting scene, Angela forces her into an outhouse toilet where she dies covered in leeches as Angela explains how she's a shitty person, pissed away her life, and was a leech on everyone. Hell hath no fury...
What's also great about the film is that it is not just Angela removing "sinners." She murders two boys using a Freddy Kreuger glove just for attempting to pull a prank and kill others who might tell on her. This lets the viewer know that nobody is safe in the film. Instead of the killings being obvious (of course the slut and the stoners will be killed) anybody, including "the virgin" can be killed.
The movie is so much fun! It's got some great killing scenes, over-the-top characters, nudity, and a villain that is so much to root for. There is third movie in the franchise made by the same people and filmed only six months later that I am looking forward to seeing.
Angela is back at it again! Everyone's favorite transgender camp slasher is killing campers in this sequel to the infamous Sleepaway Camp. Whereas Sleepaway Camp was a gritty slasher (with an incredible ending) this sequel adds a lot of dark comedy typical for sequels (look at Evil Dead II or even better the entire Nightmare on Elm Street franchise... damn Freddy got silly!). Like Evil Dead II, the comedy really works in this sequel creating a really fun continuation of the original film. The new actress who plays Angela is great and she delivers some of the cruelest deaths yet in the series.
The movie follows Angela, who in the first movie murdered a dozen camp members before revealing that she was born a boy (if you haven't seen the ending of the first movie, do yourself a favor and watch it). Angela has just escaped her mental institution and has taken up a job as the lead camp counselor at a camp full of misfit counselors... the campers themselves are a pretty well behaved bunch. Angela has also changed her last name to Johnson as a disguise (also a penis joke in reference to the ending of the last movie. Get it?). As the counselor's engage in behaviors Angela disproves of (sex, drugs, y'know... the horror movie no no's) she takes it upon herself to "weed out the bad" kids.
There are so many things that I love about Pamela Springsteen as Angela. First, she is just super cute! This really plays when juxtaposed next to the cruel and brutal murders that she inflicts on the teenagers at the camp. Next, I like that there is no secret about who is murdering all the campers. Most slashers have either an unknown murderer (like the first Friday the 13th movie) or a murderer in hiding (like the latter Friday the 13th movies), but this one let's you know from the beginning that yep it's Angela doing all the killing, no secrets here. This might also be the reason for the move toward comedy, without the mystery of an unknown killer, comedy is a good alternative. Third, I love how Pamela's Angela is so matter of fact in her murdering of teenagers. She goes about murdering the campers with the same lack of emotion of someone making a sandwich.
Like many of the 1980s horror movies, there is a pattern to the victim characters in the film. There are usually, the stoner, the slut, the jock, the joker, and the virgin. And this movie is no exception.
Sleepaway Camp II fully embraces the heavy metal of the 1980s with a rock n' roll soundtrack and metal head counselors. Most notably are the Slote Sisters, who are lovably called the Shit Sisters by their fellow counselors. The Slotes represent "the stoner" characters and we immediately identify them as murder victims. The Shit Sisters make their first appearance giggling while high in bed and later they sneak off to listen to heavy metal while partying with Maddog 20/20 (god, this brings back memories!). The next morning one Shit Sister is passed out with a bottle in her hand while the other one is laying next to her topless making out with some guy. Of course, Angela find them and completely burns up one so that the other one can stare at her sister's charred course while being bar-be-qued alive. The Shit Sisters are these amazing stoner characters that only the eighties could create. It's too bad they had to die so early in the film.
Another counselor that is incredible is Ally, "the slut." It wouldn't be an eighties slasher without a little nudity and Ally finds any reason to show off her boobs in the film: sleeping topless, screwing a camper in the woods, having a camper "go down" on her while standing up on a toilet, swimming in a white t-shirt after taking off her bikini top, etc. It will be her character that Angela will save the cruelest murders for. In a truly disgusting scene, Angela forces her into an outhouse toilet where she dies covered in leeches as Angela explains how she's a shitty person, pissed away her life, and was a leech on everyone. Hell hath no fury...
What's also great about the film is that it is not just Angela removing "sinners." She murders two boys using a Freddy Kreuger glove just for attempting to pull a prank and kill others who might tell on her. This lets the viewer know that nobody is safe in the film. Instead of the killings being obvious (of course the slut and the stoners will be killed) anybody, including "the virgin" can be killed.
The movie is so much fun! It's got some great killing scenes, over-the-top characters, nudity, and a villain that is so much to root for. There is third movie in the franchise made by the same people and filmed only six months later that I am looking forward to seeing.
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