VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Heff2001 Ummm. Errrr. Uhhh. Okay, so I only kept watching to see how Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten and Paul DeAngelo would do at reprising their roles. Sadly, for them and everyone else in the film, they were stuck in a pile of crap so deep their talents couldn't shine through anywhere. Tiersten, who was a standout in the original and seemed to have natural acting chops, has nothing to go on. What was Hiltzik thinking? Our hero of the first film has grown up to be an obnoxious backhoe operator with a bad attitude and the apparent IQ of a mosquito? Huh? That actually describes everyone in the film: obnoxious and stupid. There's not a hint of character development. Everyone is so unlikable, you want them to get killed off as soon as they make their initial appearance. They're loud, can't stop screaming, personality conflicts to the hilt. The only saving grace would have been if Teirsten's clothes fell off somewhere along the way. But no! LOL. Seriously. It's like watching a train wreck in slo-mo. If there was an "in" joke, it flew over my head by a mile.And what was that last, post-credit scene supposed to be? Jeez, Louise. Why?Hiltzik, please, we know there's talent there. Make another film ASAP and be redeemed!

happyendingrocks For fans of the semi-infamous cheeseball slasher gem Sleepaway Camp who were perplexed why the creators of its two sequels (I refuse to count the unfinished slop bucket of footage that was later turned into a feature-length to bilk a few more bucks out of devotees) largely ignored their source material and handed over the franchise to Pamela Springsteen, a "proper" follow-up which re-teams the original director with a couple of returning cast members is a truly exciting prospect. Regrettably, though Return boasts a few bits of inspiration, this reunion is more irritating than exhilarating.The trip down memory lane here is by far the most enjoyable aspect of this misguided reprise, and even though the acting chops of the cast members who were present at Camp Arawak actually seem to have gotten worse in the last two decades, it's still fun to see Johnathan Tiersten (Ricky) and Paul DeAngelo (Ronnie) ham it up again. But that where-are-they-now? update isn't enough to build an entire movie around, and sadly little else about the film offers fans much to get excited about here.The biggest problem with Return is that it blatantly attempts to match the accidentally humorous approach of the previous Sleepaway Camp outings, which isn't something that can be willfully duplicated. The earlier SC's were enjoyable precisely because they were so endearingly dumb, but setting out to make a deliberately stupid movie, which we can only assume was the game-plan here based on the results, doesn't produce that same spark of quirky ineptness. The film tries way too hard to mimic the joyously cheap thrills of a mid-'80s slasher flick, but it is a pale imitation at best, and the evident self-awareness here simply doesn't gel with the spirit the film is desperately trying to conjure.While the references to the first Sleepaway Camp should be the main focus here, we're instead forced to endure the unbearable saga of a ridiculously unlikeable camper named Alan, who is teased and tormented mercilessly throughout the film and has a "secret place" in the woods where he cuddles with frogs and tells them all about his troubles. Alan's plight is probably supposed to generate our sympathy, but since he's constantly either whining or shrieking and is actually far more unpleasant, hostile, and aggressive than any of the one-dimensional teens who target him, we're sort of left to deduce that he pretty much deserves everything that happens to him. This blubbering sap is relentlessly exasperating, and his virtual omnipresence renders most of the movie nearly unwatchable. The impetus for his placement as the focal point of the plot is allegedly to lure us into believing that he is committing the murders to punish his transgressors for their sins, but even though the killer is concealed by a hooded sweatshirt, the first time we see the perpetrator it's completely obvious that the only way Alan could be under that cowl is if he had the supernatural ability to instantly lose about 150 pounds on command.A few decent gore spurts liven things up a bit, but there aren't nearly enough of them, and while there are dozens of potential victims on hand, the body count here is woefully paltry. The death scenes themselves strive to be grandiose and original, but most of them are so utterly impractical that they end up being silly. One kid meets his demise after a sharpened pole is thrust up through the floorboards of his cabin; the makeshift weapon misses him the first time, which prompts this obtuse lad to conjure the brilliant hypothesis: "Hey, that deadly spear almost impaled me! If I press my face up against that hole in the ground it came from, maybe I can see what's going on down there..." A few of the methods of dispatch require such intricate machinations and deft execution that they rival some of the torture devices in the Saw series. The boldest of them would take a least a couple of hours to orchestrate, but our killer is somehow able to rig these sophisticated death traps in a matter of seconds without anyone being the wiser.Granted, I know something like Return To Sleepaway Camp isn't supposed to inspire deep thinking. However, while I respect the ingenuity that went into, say, the bed of spikes murder, all I could think about when it happened was how long it would take for the killer to hammer what looks to be at least 100 nails through a bed frame to even set the contraption up. I was also fascinated that they had the foresight to predict that the intended victim would come back into the cabin alone despite leaving with a group of girls, and that not only would she immediately lay down on the bottom bunk in a perfect position for the killer to leap onto the overhead mattress and drive the spiked platform down upon her, she would also somehow fail to notice the black-clad lunatic perched up in the rafters about ten feet above her head.The telegraphed twist ending is so patently obvious that you'll have it figured out the first time the involved character is introduced, which unfortunately happens a few minutes into the movie. Still, if your driving force for seeing this is a fondness for the first film, the finale is a mirthful wink to the original that's worth sticking around for. You should also linger through the credits, since there's a fairly nifty final coda afterwards.Though I haven't praised too many aspects of Return To Sleepaway Camp, I don't want to leave the impression that it's entirely without its charms. I'm certainly not sorry I watched it, and while it's definitely the weakest of the quartet, the novelty value of the reprised characters is high enough to warrant a look for ardent fans of the series. Just try not to punch your television every time Alan comes on screen.

christophermurray52 Wow, okay, I got Sleep Away Camp via netflix and felt minutes of my life wither away.. I sat in utter shock that I made it through that entire DVD sack of crap. However, I decided I would try and watch Return To Sleep Away Camp considering it was made in 2008 (figured time, advancement in technology and what not) would make it better.. Um, nope. I feel Like Alan (the mentally challenged kid in this flick that you just want to die).. I feel like the directors and producers just made fun of me through this whole flick.. The acting is putrid! And every one of the characters you want dead as soon as they speak or even appear on the screen.. I think the best acting came from the frogs in the woods..The movie offers nothing.. It offers no scares, the directing is a joke, the entire plot is so laughable. I mean come on, what camp anywhere in the United States has counselors who help torture mentally handicapped campers? They all help beat him, make fun of him and route the other campers on to torture him.. The other counselors stand around and laugh at him..There is a cop that for some reason they found necessary to have lost his larynx to cancer and has to speak via some kind of machine (like the character in south park) but it is SO annoying you hope the cop gets his head blown off instantly. And, this cop is such a good cop he does no investigations in to the disappearance of a cook and a camper, the counselor is fried to death is a huge vile of boiling grease, and a camper has gasoline pumped in to his stomach and he is set on fire.. apparently no evidence of any kind is left in either of these murders, even though the camper blew to pieces. It is just so bad, I am not sure how anyone could say this is good? And, as much as you hate Alan, he falls for everything time after time after time, and you just want him dead.The acting is just so God Awful I don't even know what else to write.. Just please save your life and don't watch this horrible flick...

bob_meg I only recently saw the original Sleepaway Camp maybe half a year ago and overall was not very impressed. I can see why it's garnered such a vehement following --- it has all the required elements, down to an ending that truly is pretty freaking well-done in its depravity --- but it's at best a B-tier copycat to slashers of the era that had better actors and plots. SC was always kind of a local Summer Stock production set in Jersey...and that's not a total knock.That said, I have to admit that this 2008 (released) direct-to-video sequel by Hiltzik is a nice tongue-firmly-in-cheek constantly-winking in-joke. It's also somewhat of a genius move as it excuses the director from bringing any sort of commercial appeal to the outing at all. it's nothing more than a love letter to the fans who gave him a (sort of) career.Is that so wrong? Well, not really, if you know what you're getting yourself into.I wasn't expecting horror and didn't get it. What I did get was an almost chaotically paced hybrid of Porky's and a parody of the original Sleepaway Camp. It's so off-the-charts amateurish and intentionally bad at times that it's like a car crash...it's fascinating. One of the most original things Hiltzik does with this film is take absolutely nothing seriously except for the Legend of Sleepaway Camp.That means the head counselor, played by NY vet Vincent Pastore, can cut in bits and pieces of Sorpranos shtick when he's not winking at the camera (yo, can you believe I'm IN this s***?). It means the lead "protagonist" (ha!) can be the Most Annoying Fat A**hole Kid in History, and that the deaths can cross the line into rip-roaring teen exploitational torture porn. Deaths this sick can't possibly be taken seriously, and Hiltzik knows it.The casting of Michael Gibney for the role of Alan is interesting for its almost snuff-film like sadisticness. If you get off seeing a fat kid tormented to the point of hysteria, this one's for you. But then again, it's probably why he's portrayed as such an over-the-top dickweed. Angela (Felissa Rose) had it easy by comparison in the original.Occasionally Hiltzik will surprise you. Casting Kate Simses as Petey was a good move considering her uncanny resemblance to Rose, and the ending, though not terribly original, may somewhat surprise you in its sheer South Park-esque audacity.Just don't go in expecting a serious legitimate film, and you'll have a good time. Kinda.