Our favorite camp killer (yes more than Jason), Angela Baker, is back in the third installment of the SLEEPAWAY CAMP series and once again, it’s so bad it’s good! So here’s the thing with sequels - for the most part, you know the identity of the killer in advance so the true creativity and originality must come in the way each victim meets his doom. I won’t spoil any of the kills that await you upon viewing SLEEPAWAY CAMP 3, but let’s just say that I appreciate the time, thought and creativity put into them. And that’s not the only thing you’ll enjoy about this movie.
Under new management, the camp we’ve learned to know and love reopens under the name Camp New Horizons. It’s an experimental camp which brings together rich and poor campers so that they can learn from each other’s differences. How noble! Despite its effort to become a melting pot, this movie manages to create the most stereotypical characters possible. So as we are introduced to the Spanish gang-member, the black kid who listens to rap music, the Asian kid who plays with fire crackers (Anti-Defamation League, where are you?), we see one suspiciously older camper wearing sunglasses and a Pat Benatar wig. Hmmm, could it be a certain girl whose name starts with “A”? Perhaps, but in this one she uses the pseudonym Maria. So subtle.
My favorite campy theme throughout the movie is how lazy the writers/producer/director got with Maria’s reason for killing. Basically, if it is time for a camper to die, he/she will either do or say something completely out of character that will upset Maria. Like clockwork, that person proceeds to get slashed by Maria. C’mon guys, don’t mess with a chick who looks 30 and wears a Pat Benatar wig – something is clearly wrong with her!
Most random scene in the movie goes to the elderly camp leader who sneaks into the tent of the hottest camper and hooks up with her. The movie essentially turns into a Cinemax soft-core porn for roughly thirty seconds as the old man rounds second base with the hotty camper. This guy looks like Bilbo Baggins – how the hell does he get a hot camper wearing a thong?! Must be a good buddy of the director.
While the movie itself isn’t actually scary, perhaps the most chilling scene for me occurs in the first minute as a girl takes off her shirt revealing two small, misshapen breasts. On the left breast is written “Milk” and on the right breast “Shake”. Funny, but what a waste of nudity! C’mon people! Nudity is the third rating element mentioned in this movie after Adult Situations and Drug Use, please don’t waste it on small misshapen breasts!
The SLEEPAWAY CAMP series is a great example of the “it’s so bad, it’s good” theme. The campiness of the movie, the creativeness of the kills and Maria’s (Angela’s) one-liners all give this movie the necessary fuel to make it an instant classic. Don’t miss the trilogy.
