Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland

Sleepaway Camp III
Directed by Michael A. Simpson
Written by Fritz Gordon
Robert Hiltzik (characters)
Starring Pamela Springsteen
Tracy Griffith
Mark Oliver
Kim Wall
Kyle Holman
Daryl Wilcher
Haynes Brooke
Michael J. Pollard
Music by James Oliverio
Release dates
  • December 15, 1989
Running time
80 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $465,000

Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland also known as Nightmare Vacation III is a 1989 horror-slasher film and the second sequel to Sleepaway Camp written by Fritz Gordon and directed by Michael A. Simpson. It stars Pamela Springsteen, Tracy Griffith, Michael J. Pollard, Mark Oliver, and Haynes Brooke.

Plot

The film opens with Maria (Kashina Kessler) heading to camp. However, she is chased into an alleyway by a large truck, driven by serial killer Angela Baker (Pamela Springsteen), before being run over. Angela disposes of the body in a trash compactor, before posing as Maria and boarding the bus to Camp New Horizon, which was once Camp Rolling Hills where Angela massacred campers the year before. After arriving, news reporter Tawny Richards (Randi Layne) interviews the many campers who are taking part in "an experiment in sharing", seeing different social classes living together. Tawny soon asks Angela to get her some cocaine, however Angela gives her Ajax cleanser instead, which kills Tawny when she snorts it.

After the campers have settled in, camp councilors Herman (Michael J. Pollard), Lily (Sandra Dorsey) and Officer Barney Whitmore (Cliff Brand), who Angela realizes is the father of a previous victim, split the campers into three groups, who they will be camping with over the next few days. Angela is placed in a group with Herman, Snowboy (Kyle Holman), Peter (Jarret Beal) and Jan (Stacie Lambert). Angela goes fishing with Snowboy and Peter, but soon gets annoyed by them setting off firecrackers and returns to camp, only to find Herman and Jan having sex. Angela impales Herman through the mouth with a log, before bashing Jan's head in. Angela hides the bodies from Snowboy and Peter, who continue to annoy her throughout the day. At night, Angela sets off a firecracker in Peter's face, killing him, before hitting Snowboy with a log and burning him alive, along with the bodies.

The next morning, Angela travels to Lily's campsite, where Bobby (Haynes Brooke), Cindy (Kim Wall), Riff (Daryl Wilcher) and Arab (Jill Terashita) are camping. Angela tells Lily that Herman told her she was to switch places with Arab. As Angela escorts Arab to the other camp, she decapitates her with an axe. When Angela returns to camp, an argument breaks out between Cindy and Riff, before Lily sets the campers out on a trust building exercise. Blindfolded, Cindy doesn't realize that Angela, having grown tired of the girl's whiny and bigoted behavior, has attached her to the flag pole. Angela raises Cindy into the air, before letting her drop from a high height, killing her. Angela covers up her death by telling Lily that she has returned to main camp. In another game, Angela is tied to Bobby, but while fishing he attempts to kiss her, annoying Angela who tells him to later meet her at the main cabin. Returning to camp, Angela convinces Lily to go check on Cindy with her, however Angela buries Lily, up to her neck, in a trash hole, before running over her head with a lawnmower. Angela then waits for Bobby to arrive, who she ties to a tree and precedes to rip his arms off with a jeep. Angela then murders Riff by stabbing him with tent spikes.

The following morning, Angela travels to the remaining camp, where Barney, Marcia (Tracy Griffith), Tony (Mark Oliver), Anita (Sonya Maddox) and Greg (Chung Yen Tsay) are camping. Angela tells Barney she is to switch with Marcia, but Marcia objects. As Barney accompanies Angela and Marcia to the other camp, Angela is forced to fake a leg injury. Barney tends to Angela at the main camp, but Marcia discovers Lily's body, and flees, while Barney discovers Angela's identity, but she shoots him dead. Angela catches up with Marcia in the jeep, and captures her. Angela returns to Tony, Anita and Greg that night and ties them together, telling them they are playing a trust game. However, Angela shows them the body of Barney, and forces them to find Marcia in one of the cabins. However, Angela has set up a booby trap that kills Greg and Anita. Angela decides to let Marcia and Tony live, however while departing, Angela is attacked by Marcia who stabs her numerous times.

After Marcia and Tony summon the police to the camp, Tony is disgusted to discover Marcia already has a boyfriend. Meanwhile, Angela is being driven to hospital in an ambulance, where the paramedics plot to kill her, but Angela instead stabs them to death with a syringe. When the ambulance driver asks what is going on, Angela weakly replies "Just taking care of business." (in a deleted scene Angela sings her rap again and dies).

Cast

Production

Like the first sequel, the third film was shot at a YMCA youth camp in Waco, Georgia. Several sequences of violence had to be trimmed in order for the MPAA to give the film an R rating. Anchor Bay Entertainment included some of this deleted footage on its 2002 DVD release.

Releases

Sleepaway Camp III was released on VHS in the United States by Nelson Entertainment on December 15, 1989.[1]

The film has been released twice on DVD in the United States by Anchor Bay Entertainment. The first release was in 2002 with a single DVD edition,[2] as well as in the Sleepaway Camp Survival Kit.[3] Both these releases are currently out of print.

Anchor Bay Entertainment also released the title on DVD in the United Kingdom on 31 May 2004.[4]

Scream Factory, under license from MGM, will release the film for the first time on Blu-ray disc on June 9th, 2015, along Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers.[5]

Critical reception

Allmovie gave it a negative review, writing "Sleepaway Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland is cheaper, dumber, and more profoundly pointless, light years away from the imagination of the first film and an insult to Sleepaway Camp fans."[6]

References

  1. "Company Credits for Sleepaway Camp III". imdb.com. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
  2. "Sleepaway Camp III (DVD)". dvdempire.com. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
  3. "Sleepaway Camp Survival Kit (DVD)". dvdempire.com. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
  4. "Rewind".
  5. "Scream Factory Unveils Sleepaway Camp 2 and Sleepaway Camp 3 Artwork".
  6. Fred Beldin. "Sleepaway Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland". Allmovie. Retrieved 19 June 2012.

External links