Sleepaway Camp III - Teenage Wasteland
by Michael A. Simpson
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Haynes Brooke, Mark Oliver, Michael J. Pollard, Pamela Springsteen, Tracy GriffithDirector: Michael A. Simpson
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 80 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-08-20
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Movie Reviews of Sleepaway Camp III - Teenage Wasteland
Movie Review: My favorite of the series
Summary: 4 Stars
At first most people will probably see Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland has yet another slasher movie in the seemingly never ending slashers of the 1980s. But Sleepaway Camp III has a lot more going on than people might realize and is one of the smarter slasher flicks to come out in the 80s. Upon its release the slasher film was all but dead. And all creativity was pretty much dead. There were a few filmmakers still trying to get that one last film out, but none of these flicks were making much money anymore with the exception of the major franchises, but 1989 even saw the franchises take a major hit in box office numbers.
But where those movies failed is where Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland succeeds. Many people miss the point of the Sleepaway Camp sequels. I often hear was that supposed to be scary? It was more funny than scary. Yes people that were the point of the sequels! The makers of the Sleepaway Camp sequels were making more of a parody of the slasher genre. While movies like Scream get praised for that the Sleepaway Camp sequels are ignored.
Slasher flicks often have what one can say a morality tale; even if that wasn't the intention of the filmmakers it seems like you have sex you die, take drugs you die, stuck up you die. If you're obnoxious you die. The only person to normally survive these movies is the innocent virginal girl. And that is what the Sleepaway Camp sequels play up to. Both Sleepaway Camp sequels are really a lot smarter than people give them credit for.
I thought the first Sleepaway Camp was alright, the main reason for the cult status is due to the ending. If not for that I doubt the original would be as remembered as it is. But I just love Sleepaway Camp II and III. Both are just so much fun. Check your brain at the door and just enjoy the ride.
Writer Fritz Gordon delivers one hell of a funny screenplay. First up all the characters are pretty much named off characters from West Side Story, The Brady Bunch and the Munsters so right there that should clue you in that this is a spoof more than a straight up horror flick. Slasher flicks are so well known for their sex, nudity and obnoxious characters and Fritz Gordon nails that big time.
All the characters are very obnoxious with the exception really of a couple of them. But you see that was the point, all of that was the intention. Fritz Gordon writes a very clever spoof, but due to the slapstick comedy it gets lost on too many viewers and they take the movie too serious.
Director Michael Simpson doesn't try and play these scenes straight. He knows what he has to do and boy does he ever deliver. The running time is only about 77-minutes so there really isn't a slow moment. Simpson plays up to all the slasher clich?s and spoofs them. Also Simpson and Gordon seem to do the impossible and actually create original kill scenes.
Most of the movie is shot during the day with the final act taking place at night. Most horror movies work best with a nighttime setting, but in Sleepaway Camp III is the exception. Since the movie wasn't meant to be the typical horror flick the mostly daytime scenes actually work quite well. Michael Simpson gets the job done here all of his scenes play out well. He knows what then audience wants and he delivers that. You get nudity and gore that's what the slasher movie is all about.
Pamela Springsteen returns as Angela Baker and again knocks it out of the ballpark with a really funny and very entertaining performance. Angela is pretty much the anti-hero. The viewers will be rooting for her all the way through. In most horror movies when you are rooting for the villain that normally means the makers didn't do a good job on the characters, but Angela was the anti-hero and we are meant to cheer for her. It might sound weird that we wanna see Angela kill the characters off, but it works well. I can honestly say Angela is by far my favorite character in a slasher flick. Not so much the original Angela played by Felissa Rose, who was very good in her installment, but for me it's Pamela all the way.
Angela after dispatching one of her victims always has a one-liner, which might be a bit silly, but again that's the point. Angela is often over-looked among the Iconic horror movie killers, but she is by far my favorite.
As I stated the kill scenes are original; we get one girl tied to a flag pole and raised up than dropped right on her head. I just love Angela's line as she raises her up when the victims asks why, Angela says, "Because you're a cheerleader, a fornicator, a drug taker, a nasty snotty bigot and besides that... you're real nice."
We also get a firecracker up the nose, a girl getting rundown by a garbage truck, one guy tied to a tree with a rope and the other part of the rope tied to a truck, which results in him getting ripped a part and the and what might be my favorite death by lawnmower. If people watching these crazy over the top kill scenes still don't understand this movie isn't meant to be taken serious well I don't even know what to say.
I also love the characters in Sleepaway Camp III all of them are so much fun. Bobby Stark played by Haynes Brooke was one of the best, when asked what his favorite movie is he replies with, "Ones that make America look great, like Rambo Part III, Great movie." Riff played by Daryl Wilcher is another great character. Everything he says is pretty much a four letter word, but it's really funny.
The tradition of Sleepaway Camp is in every movie there is some kind of decapitation. And I love the part when Angela says, "It seems every year I'm at camp someone loses their head." It just little things like that is what makes me love the Sleepaway Camp sequels.
The character of Barney Whitmore played by Cliff Brand is the more serious character. He's the father of one of the characters killed by Angela in Sleepaway Camp II. The guy is hell-bent on wanting revenge on Angela, and when he realizes Angela is at the camp you expect this big showdown. But Angela takes him out rather easily; some people complained about that, but remember these movies are about Angela. She may be the killer, but she's also the heroine in a sense.
Though Sleepaway Camp III also does have a bit of a twist, Marcia played by Tracey Griffith isn't so innocent like we thought she was. I thought that was an interesting twist considering most of these movies rarely offer a twist on the final girl.
Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland may not go down as one of the Iconic horror films, but when it comes to just sheer fun you'll be hard pressed to find one more than Sleepaway Camp III.
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