The second installment of the Sleepaway Camp franchise takes place a number of years later and it finds Angela all grown up and all girl as she underwent surgery to make it so. Despite all her long hours with various doctors over the years, they never quite cured her of the murder bug and now she is at it again, killing more kids and counsellors alike at a new summer camp. If someone fails to live up to her ideals, their time upon the Earth is numbered and it is not too soon after Angela nearly murders everyone that she simply decides to finish them all off.
Pamela Springsteen, sister of Bruce, does a good job as the maniacal Angela. There are a few times where she was a little cheesy due to the incredibly bad dialogue by Fritz Gordon and Robert Hiltzik and it really hampered the movie at times because people simply do not talk like that. Surprisingly though, Springsteen makes the role her own by imbuing the character with more than a little fanaticism that made Angela truly scary. The way she goes about killing off the members of the camp is almost methodical at times and the more she kills, the more out of control she eventually gets. There are moments where she is so annoying that you wish someone would strangle her instead, yet in some weird and twisted way, it adds a little charm to her character and the film in general.
For a slasher movie, this one serves it up in a more standard fashion than the first film with a little more blood, some really varied methods of killing and a little nudity just to round it out a bit. The scares in this movie come from Angela herself more than the actual kills as we know just who and what she is when the picture opens. Springsteen is so good that the tension is immediately present and is felt throughout the rest of the film as we wait for her to strike, knowing that it is guaranteed to happen, just not when.
While most sequels do not even come close to being better than the originals, this one does but it is that ending in the first film that really drives it home there and that type of scene is missing from this movie. There is no shock ending here – just an expected one. So while the second Sleepaway Camp was a good film and there is a lot to be entertained by, specifically Springsteen, one big moment could have pushed this film into greatness.
3 out of 5
Categories: Horror, Movies and Film
The Telltale Mind 
Love it!
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Cheers!
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There’s so much I love about this movie. Valerie Hartman (Ally) is incredibly beautiful and isn’t afraid to show it off frequently (she’s not a nice girl, after all).
It’s a little early for the self referential movies that got popular in the mid to late 90s but I think it does a nice job in that respect while still serving as an actual slasher. I found that too many movies in the 90s were condescending to the genre, and that’s okay if you’re not really into slashers anyway. I don’t mind poking a little fun at the genre, but there has to be love there too or it’s just not for me.
It’s sort of like making fun or your own family. It’s okay within the family, but it’s offensive if someone from the outside tries to get away with it. Sleepaway II is definitely a family member in this regard,
That said, if you love the tone of the original, I can completely understand disliking this radically different movie.
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I agree with you on all points. It did make fun of other slashers, and it was kind of funny, but it worked because I think they were smart about it. And yes, there was definitely a different tone to this one and it is hard to say what would have happened if they kept to the serious nature of the first one, but c’est la vie.
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