The first Sleepaway Camp is the shit. If you haven't seen it and are in the mood for an off-kilter 80s slasher, stop reading this (and certainly don't read anything else Sleepaway Camp-related) and check it out. It's awesome.
Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers can't possibly recapture the same magic as part one, and it wisely doesn't try. Instead, you get a high body count slasher flick where the the killer is identified before the opening credits even roll. Because of this, there isn't anything by way of a mystery, but you get lots and lots of annoying kids getting killed with a variety of weaponry. It's a give and take. So if you are in the mood for some good old 80s killing and lots of dated fashion, Sleepaway Camp 2 will fit the bill perfectly.
It starts with a bunch of campers from Camp Rolling Hills telling scary stories around the campfire. After a couple of typically lame stories, someone tells the story of Sleepaway Camp part one. Some campers don't believe it really happened, and some do. But no one realizes that the killer from that story (named Angela) bears a striking resemblance to their new camp counselor, also named Angela... might they even be one and the same? Our suspicions are confirmed just a few minutes later when Angela stabs a girl to death and cuts out her tongue after she mouths off. And we're off!
Anyways, Sleepaway Camp 2 is sort of oddly structured in the respect that there is absolutely no mystery as to who is the killer. It's unquestionably Angela (Pamela Springsteen - Bruce's sister! - a different actor than part one but definitely similar looking), so you can throw the whole whodunit angle out the window. Luckily, they make up for it with a lot of kills. And Angela is pretty much the main character - which seems a little odd for a slasher. Usually, you end up rooting for the killer anyways, but generally they have supporting role screen time. Here, there's a "nice" final girl camper that Angela likes (she only kills people who are disrespectful and break camp rules), but Angela is definitely the lead. Plus, she makes clever quips and is very matter of fact about what she does, so ends up being kind of likable. Since the kills are really all the film has to offer, Angela almost comes off as a hero since she's the one who facilitates them.
Because of this format, there are a lot of things missing from Sleepaway Camp 2 that you'd usually get in slashers of the era. There isn't a lot of first person-stalking, tension, or extensive chase scenes (there is one at the end, I guess). Everyone just kind of trusts Angela, so by the time she's doing her killing thing the victim is so surprised it's basically already over. You do get a good deal of sex/nudity though, from one character in particular. (Who gets some great lines of sensitive pillow talk - "you don't have AIDS or anything, do you?") Prudish Angela makes sure that she meets the film's grossest (and most memorable) demise.
Really, there isn't a lot of meat on these bones. The only two aspects of the film really worth mentioning are the kills and the performance of Pamela Springsteen as Angela.
Kills: They are not always great, but there are a lot of them. The are very well spaced out too - I'd be interested to know the maximum amount of time that passes without one. I'd guess 10-12 minutes? It's nice how they just keep coming, and you always know that it's just a matter of time before Angela takes out her next misbehaving camper. Because of this, it feels like a decently paced film, even though the only real story is "when is everyone going to find out Angela is a killer?" - or conversely "will there be anyone left to find out?" There is a lot of variety to the kills as well. Angela rarely uses the same method twice, and they always occur in different settings. (As much difference as you can get from a camp in the woods, anyways.)
Pamela Springsteen: She's a lot of fun to watch. It's a solid performance - Springsteen has got the "overly nice but a little crazy" thing down, and has this aw-shucks affability, so you can see why people like and trust Angela. She's got a fun delivery and a good comic sensibility too - her quips made me laugh more often than not, and I loved the scene where a camper is talking to her, and she's just walking around the cabin, deciding just what she should use to kill her... a hanger? A radio? Angela is not necessarily a realistic psychopath, but realism was not a sticking point for mid-80s slashers.
Overall, I had a lot of fun with Sleepaway Camp 2. You don't necessarily have to see part one to get it - but you should, because it's great. The two are very different films, but are both enjoyable. Part one is probably a "better" film (it has a cult following for a reason), whereas this one is just kind of straightforward killing with no other reason to exist. But sometimes that's okay. I'm not sure where they'll go with part 3 (subtitled Teenage Wasteland), but I'll certainly be checking it out soon.
I would recommend this film.
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