Sleepaway Camp is an American slasher film franchise consisting of six films, one of which was not fully completed. The franchise primarily focuses on transgendered serial killer Angela Baker and the murders she commits, largely at summer camps.
The series has developed into two apparent continuities: Robert Hiltzik's, including the original 1983 film, Return to Sleepaway Camp and the upcoming Sleepaway Camp Reunion; and the other, which introduced comedic elements into the franchise, overseen by Michael A. Simpson and comprising Sleepaway Camp II, III and Berserk, which has not yet been picked up for production. Sleepaway Camp IV is the only film not directed and/or written by either. Despite this, Angela is still the focal character of the films.
Contents |
| Film | Year | Director | Writer(s) | Producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sleepaway Camp | 1983 | Robert Hiltzik | Michele Tatosian Jerry Silva |
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| Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers | 1988 | Michael A. Simpson | Fritz Gordon | Jerry Silva Michael A. Simpson |
| Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland | 1989 | |||
| Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor | 2002 | Jim Markovic | Tom Clohessy | Krishna Shah |
| Return to Sleepaway Camp | 2008 | Robert Hiltzik | Robert Hiltzik Michele Tatosian Thomas E. Van Dell |
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| Sleepaway Camp Reunion | 2011 | |||
The "Year" column in the table above lists the year of release; however, Sleepaway Camp II and III were filmed back-to-back in 1988, but the latter was released the following year.
Sleepaway Camp IV began filming in 1992, but was not completed; the footage that was shot on the first day, just over half an hour long, was released as an exclusive fourth disc included with some editions of the Region 1 Sleepaway Camp box set. It was announced in late 2010 that the footage was compiled and improved by the makers and official Sleepaway Camp sequels website creator John Klyza and made into a 70-minute film, with a prospective release date of 2012 with an as-yet-unknown distributor.
Return to Sleepaway Camp was shot in 2003, and initially planned for release in 2006; it was eventually released in 2008 after improvements to its special effects were made.
Sleepaway Camp Reunion was set for DVD release by Magnolia Pictures in October 2011, with a limited 3D release in theaters; however, it is yet to materalise. The script for another sequel, tentatively titled Sleepaway Camp: Berserk, has been co-written by the director of Sleepaway Camp II and III, Michael A. Simpson, with an author named Fred Willard.[1]
The original Sleepaway Camp was written and directed by Robert Hiltzik and released in 1983. The film opens with an idyllic lake setting in summer, and shows a man, John Baker, and his two children, Angela and Peter, swimming around and onboard a boat. Another group of teenagers are motorboating and in a gruesome accident, run over the top of John and one of his children, killing them. The film then shows a shy and quiet Angela, played by Felissa Rose, living with her eccentric Aunt Martha and cousin Ricky Thomas before they are sent off to summer camp at Camp Arawak. After the arrival of the teenage campers, several are murdered by an unseen serial killer. It is not revealed until the ending of the film that the killer is in fact Peter, who survived and was raised as a girl, Angela, his deceased sister's name, by his aunt.
Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers was filmed and released in 1988, directed by Michael A. Simpson and written by Fritz Gordon. It follows another group of teenagers at a summer camp, this time named Camp Rolling Hills. This film introduces Pamela Springsteen as an older, more confident, happy and expressive Angela Baker, named Angela Johnson who, unlike the first film, is shown as the killer within the first few minutes of the film. It features comedic elements, mostly jokes made by Angela as she kills her fellow campers for being "bad" campers, disobeying the rules (e.g. having sex or smoking), simply getting in her way or suspecting her of being psychopathic.
Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland, filmed back-to-back with Unhappy Campers and largely featuring the same crew, follows Angela, who murders a prospective camper named Maria Nacastro and takes her identity and place at a revitalised and reopened Camp Rolling Hills, renamed Camp New Horizons and looking to change its reputation and brand to one of friendship amongst teenagers of different social classes and racial backgrounds. The campers are separated into groups with adult leaders, but Angela/Maria makes her way around the woods, integrating herself into the groups and killing the campers and leaders. Angela shows less of a sense of abandon in killing the campers this time around, some of whom she kills for next to no reason.
Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor was the planned fourth entry in the series and partially filmed in 1992 before being abandoned due to the production company, Double Helix Films, going bankrupt. It follows a "survivor" of the original three films, Alison, who seeks psychiatric help after having nightmares about the camp site. She then travels back to the site after receiving advice that revisiting might help her overcome her problems. After several events (and murders), however, she begins to suspect she may be Angela without knowing it, but the real Angela is revealed near the film's conclusion.
After years of tracking down those involved with the film's production as well as its director Jim Markovic, John Klyza, who runs one of the two official Sleepaway Camp websites, helped uncover and compile additional footage, incorporating scenes from the first three films into flashback sequences and helping expand the initial 34-minute running time of the first day of takes from The Survivor and make them into a full-length, 70-minute completed film. It will reportedly be independently released in 2011 or 2012, but "there will likely not be a specific release date".[2]
The following film in the franchise, Return to Sleepaway Camp, was filmed from September to November 2003,[3] but due to supposedly poor special effects, its straight-to-DVD release was delayed until 2008 in order to have time to improve them. It again features Robert Hiltzik as director and writer. The film follows another, more chaotic camp, Camp Manabe, with an overweight, trouble-making and bullied teenage boy named Alan as its main character. Murders are again committed by an unknown person at the camp, but it is revealed that Angela has made a return in another disguise, a male police officer named Sheriff Jerry who uses an artificial voice box due to supposedly having had throat cancer.
The next film in the series, also written and directed by Hiltzik, is Sleepaway Camp Reunion, initially announced to be released in October 2011 but as yet unreleased. It is set to have a limited release to theaters in 3D and see the return of Angela, Ricky and Aunt Martha.
Another film in the series has been co-written by the director of Sleepaway Camp II and III, Michael A. Simpson. Its prospective title is Sleepaway Camp: Berserk and will reportedly introduce supernatural aspects into the series,[4] but, as it has not yet reached pre-production, it is unknown what its final release date will be or if indeed, it will be greenlit at all.
| Film | Release date (US) | Budget | Box office revenue | Reference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Foreign | Worldwide | ||||
| Sleepaway Camp | November 18, 1983 | $350,000 | $11,000,000 | N/A | N/A | [5][6] |
| Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers | August 26, 1988 | $1,000,000 | N/A | N/A | N/A | [7] |
| Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland | December 15, 1989 | $1,000,000 | N/A | N/A | N/A | [7] |
| Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor | January 4, 2002 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Return to Sleepaway Camp | November 4, 2008 | $4,000,000 | N/A | N/A | N/A | [3] |
| Sleepaway Camp Reunion | TBA 2011/12 | $2,300,000 | N/A | N/A | N/A | [8] |
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