Angela Baker, now a reformed camp counselor, resumes
her killing spree when the campers start misbehaving. HORROR
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Sleepaway Camp II:
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Sleepaway Camp took a swing and left its mark on the slasher genre with a flick that is still talked about to this day. Its ending is the stuff of legend and has been both embraced and despised by the queer community. What could a sequel to this movie possibly offer up? How about poking fun at not just itself but stalwarts of the subgenre like Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface? Yep, the cover art of this movie shows a model (not actually Angela) carrying iconic pieces from the aforementioned mass murderers on her way back to camp.
The film opens with campers doing what campers do: telling scary stories by the fire. One camper, Sean, tells the story about a young girl who murders other campers at a camp just an hour away. That camp? Camp Arawak. The killer? Angela Baker. Set five years after the events of the first movie, Angela has become something of an urban legend. Her confinement to a mental institution, gender reassignment surgery, and inevitable escape leaves the possibility that she might still be out there. What these campers don't know is that Angela is back and she's hiding in plain sight! This might be my favorite movie of the entire series as it's totally self-aware and relishing in the fun because the secret's out as far as the audience is concerned and we're all along for the ride as Angela is now a counselor at Camp Rolling Hills. She's not wasting any time either as we see Angela knock off her first camper within the first 10 minutes of the movie; cutting the tongue out of a would-be tattle tale camper who was going to attempt to get Angela in trouble. This time around, Angela is on a crusade against all the 'bad' campers, pretty much picking up where she left off in the first film but doing so with much more of a 'moral' compass guiding her this time around. As Angela dispatches campers in increasingly creative and brutal ways (I will use the Joe Bob descriptor 'Outhouse Fu' for my favorite kill if you know what I mean, and I think you do), she tells the manager of the camp, Uncle John, that she's been 'sending them home' for breaking rules. Where the first Sleepaway Camp functioned more like a mystery as to the identity of the killer, this time around we are in a full-blown horror/comedy that is fully aware we all know who's doing it so we're assaulted with more mullets (award going to the character T.C. for most 80's mullet in an 80's movie), more boobs, more sex, and more violence this time around with Angela reaching Freddy Krueger-like levels of one-liners. And what summer camp experience wouldn't be complete without an official camp song? That's right, we also get Pamela Springsteen outshining her brother with her playing guitar and singing "I'm a Happy Camper" which is used throughout the movie to great effect. One pair of sisters, affectionately called 'The Shit Sisters' (because they are always getting shit-faced) have their own version they sing while getting stoned before Angela catches them and 'sends them home'. Aside from the anti-queer slang and AIDS phobia (which was a harsh reality of the 80's), this film is a good time from start to finish and I always enjoy it whenever I watch it. Another entry in the list of party movies I have got to compile at some point because I'm sure that I have used that phrase to describe quite a few movies I have reviewed for the site. You really can't go wrong with this movie so learn the lyrics and put on your Happy Camper face, or Angela will get you! |