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SLEEPAWAY CAMP II: UNHAPPY CAMPERS (Anchor Bay Entertainment DVD) aka Nightmare Vacation II Rating: Tag-line: None, on this release. Death Toll: A suitably high 19 - assuming the final death, of course. Cutting Remarks: This 1988 sequel reinvented the original as a horror-comedy. Those things are usually terrible, but in this one the dark humour is actually amusing. This is largely down to star Pamela Springsteen, who plays Angela. Now a camp counsellor - although quite how she got out of her psychiatric ward is unclear - with a sunny demeanour and a set of morals which must be adhered to, she sets about killing those who disappoint her. Rather ludicrously, she explains each one away as having been sent home. As you can imagine, by the movie's close she's pretty much 'sent home' everyone on the site.          For a horror-comedy, this doesn't skimp on the violence and gore, and as if to prove it, was cut by two minutes upon its UK release. Like the first movie, the kills are quite inventive - among them death by lavatory - and there's a brilliantly unexpected decapitation scene. Always a pleasure.          Renee 'Intruder' Estevez does a fair job as the goody-goody Final Girl, and Springsteen positively shines. Compared to the first movie, the ending here is lousy, but as a rock 'n' roll slasher movie it's a notch above. Most Memorable Demise: That head-chop. Whoah! Look Out For: Counsellor CJ's remarkable '80s porn-star mullet. Killer Quote: "Let this be a lesson to you" - Angela, shortly before immolating some unlucky girl! Release Date: Out now, as an individual DVD or part of the three/four-disc Sleepaway Camp Survival Kit box-set. DVD Details: This has the same lovely widescreen presentation as the other Sleepaway... re-releases, but offers more extras. There's an audio commentary, featuring Director Michael A. Simpson, writer Fritz Gordon and John Klyza, who runs the excellent www.sleepawaycampfilms.com site. There's also a behind-the-scenes 13-minute featurette narrated by Simpson, which is fun but strictly for fanatics. There's also an incredibly short teaser trailer for Sleepaway Camp III, the theatrical trailer for ...Unhappy Campers and still galleries. Very nice. [Check it out at Amazon US on its own, or as part of the excellent Sleepaway Camp Survival Kit.] [Check it out at Amazon UK as part of the Sleepaway Camp Survival Kit.] [Reviews Menu] [Home] © Copyright Slasherama 2002-present