Warning!! If you have not seen the original Sleepaway Camp (or its sequels for that matter) you may want to stop right here! It is nearly impossible to talk about the Sleepaway Camp series without giving away key elements from the original. I don't want any angry emails so consider yourself warned. Now, Let's go to camp!

Like it or not folks Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers is back, for better or for worse. Long out of print and hard to find, the good folks at Anchor Bay have brought forth the Sleepaway Camp Survival Kit. Included are all 3 Sleepaway Camp films and if you're lucky enough, a 4th bonus disc with production footage from the unfinished Sleepaway Camp 4 project. Today I'll be looking at part 2 in the series and in a few days part 3 and the bonus disc. I won't be checking out the original Sleepaway Camp as it's the same version that's been available for quite some time now (strange edits and all).

This is where I would normally tell you about the story, that is if there really was a story. Well, there's really not much of a story here, so I'll try to sum it up best I can. The gender bending beauty Angela is back, this time to wreak havoc at Camp Rolling Hills (can you get any more generic than that?). Pamela Sprinstein (yup, Bruce's sister) stars as Angela, the "good girl" with the tormented past. Angela is fed up with all of the delinquency at summer camp, and decides to "send kids home" (we all know what that means) one by one. Angela sends kids home when they are caught drinking, drugging, fornicating, or just plain mouthing off. Angela spares no expense as she chops, hacks, slices, dices, slits, and drowns her victims in creative, yet quite often cruel fashion. It's up to the "real good girl" played by Renée Esteves (yup, Emilio and Charlie's sister) to try and put and end to all of this blood drenched madness. Can she do it? Well, I think we all know the answer to that question.

OK. Sleepaway Camp 2 is not a great movie, heck it's not even a really good movie for that matter. The dialogue is laughable and the acting, well, I don't think there's really much acting going on here. Why then are there legions of fans (including me) who were chomping at the bit for this DVD release? The answer to this question is... I don't know. I really don't know. All I can tell you is that I grew up watching these films, reading about them in Fangoria, and I still hold a soft spot in my heart for them. The film itself is really just an excuse to show off some mildly impressive gore effects and a wealth of glorious T&A. Well, actually it's the same two chicks that show us their headlights (AKA Party Hats), but they do it very often. Anyway, by today's standards I'm sure people won't find this film too charming for the first time around but please, by all means prove me wrong. However, true fans will be in Sleepaway Camp heaven, and I really do mean that.

Part of the appeal of this film has to be its campy (sorry, I can't think of any other way of putting it) nature, and the fact that the film itself knows it's campy. It's obvious that everyone had a great time making this film and it shows. It's not meant to be scary, it's just meant to be silly, and silly it is (c'mon, these kids look way too old to be at summer camp). Along with the silliness comes some great memorable moments of gratuitous gore. It had been quite some time since I've seen this film, but I still remembered all the sick shit like it was yesterday. I remembered every kill including the dank cabin in which all of the victims were propped up for display, and one extremely gruesome moment in which the camp "slut" is drowned in an outhouse (full of shit, piss, and leaches). I couldn't wait to see them all again (not the leaches). I make no apologies for any of this and I offer no explanations. Like I said before, if you're not a fan of the series, you probably just won't understand. However, I do hope you will take the time and put forth the effort to try and understand. Please?

Anchor Bay's presentation of Sleepaway Camp 2 is pretty much just as I expected (considering Anchor Bay's track record). The film looks great with nice colors and barely a hint of print damage. There is plenty of grain, which is acceptable considering the low budget origins of the film. This is without a doubt the best that this film has ever looked and fans couldn't have asked for anything more. This DVD is NOT reference quality folks, but for fans of Sleepaway Camp, it's a dream come true.

Audio is presented in an acceptable mono mix. Dialogue is nice and clear with no hiss or background distortion. It would have been nice to have a 2.0 stereo mix, but alas, as it stands now this will do just fine.

Extras are mildly entertaining at best. Included are 3 still galleries, a teaser for Sleepaway Camp 3 (that gives new meaning to the word "teaser" shee-it) and a trailer for Sleepaway Camp 2 that looks more like a promo for retailers. Next up is a behind the scenes reel of footage with selected commentary from director Michael Simpson. The footage is pretty cool as it includes some behind the scenes shots as well as some down time scenes of actors in make-up at the craft services table. Lastly we have a feature length commentary with director Michael Simpson and writer Fritz Gordon (moderated by John Klyza curator of a Sleepaway Camp fan site). The commentary is OK, just moderately entertaining. There are some great points brought up however; it does tend to drag on quite a bit as well.

Fans of the series will want to pick up the entire set ASAP. I managed mine for a measly $24.99, which is a steal as far as I'm concerned. Word of warning; supposedly only Best Buy is offering the 4th disc of footage from the unfinished Sleepaway Camp film with the set. Although I have heard reports of other retailers selling the set with the 4th disc, you'll probably want to be sure before ordering. The packaging itself has a blood burst with the ad saying includes bonus disc. It's not a sticker, it's actually part of the packaging itself. Keep an eye out for it, it's worth it, but more on that later.