Sleepaway Camp III - Teenage Wasteland (1989)

My favorite of the series

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 clichés 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. June 19, 2008

teenage wastland

i have to say i did like the second one better but this one was just as good. angela is back and she is ready to kill some happy campers, and not so happy ones. the way it ends makes you want them to make a sleepaway camp 4. i wonder where the leading lady playing angela went to? well if you liked the other sleepaway camps you will like this one too. plus there is all the boobies you can get. April 18, 2008

All this movie needed was a guest appearance from Elmer Fudd

After rewatching the 1st Sleepaway Camp, I was very interested in seeing the sequels. Even though the second didn't impress me at all. I was still neutral coming into this one. The second I noticed the opening scene of a garbage truck chasing some girl in the middle of the street in broad daylight. I had an idea where this one was heading. But my suspicions were confirmed when the cast names where from the Brady Bunch and The Munsters. That's when it was clear I was due for another stupid movie where I'm sure fans will defend this by saying, "well it's suppose to be stupid". If it was suppose to be stupid, then you can have your stupid movie.

Once again Pamela Springsteen returns as Angela delivering a weak performance. She returns to the camp scene killing all of the campers in some unbelievable ways. I understand it was meant to be a horror comedy but this just isn't my cup o' blood.

While watching this I couldn't help but notice the director must be a huge fan of Tom & Jerry and Bugs Bunny. Alot of the deaths were just plain ridiculous and I kept waiting for this to end. Perhaps the powers that be should come together to create Angela vs. Freddy, "Battle of the Overly Stupid One-liners and Cartoonish Deaths".

I really didn't find anything too entertaining about this movie and I could never watch it again. I don't mind too much some comedy horror but this was just too much. If comedy horror is your thing then you'll love this movie. So I recommend this to those types of fans. February 9, 2008

Can You Say "80s Slasher Flick?"

Sleepaway Camp III - Teenage Wasteland is one of those 80s slasher films, and nothing is better than an 80s slasher film!!

I haven't seen any of the other Sleepaway Camp movies, but based on the third in the three-part series, Teenage Wasteland, I am absolutely positive that I am going to love the first two!!

Teenage Wasteland contains barely a plot, but is only about Angela killing the campers and counselors at the sleepaway camp one by one. The deaths are so very great, especially the one with the lawnmower, and the one with the tree and the car. They're very cool and VERY original, which I absolutely love.

The fact that Teenage Wasteland has no plot is actually really cool. It may sound really awful, but it's actually really fun. It's compensated for the fact that there is so much blood, so many deaths that are mind-bogglingly original, and trashy sex scenes make for an amazing film!

I am going straight to the first two Sleepaway Camp movies, because I know they are going to be totally awesome!! January 6, 2008

This series continues to go downhill....

Well, on my recent quest of re-watching and reviewing all the Sleepaway Camps, I almost dreaded re-watching this one. But nonetheless, I felt compelled to at least watch it once more before writing my review. Basically, this sequel is made in the same style as Sleepaway Camp II. More dumb humor, poor acting, and weak plot. Pamela Springsteen reprises her role as Angela Baker aka "The Angel of Death", and I must say, her acting performance was worst than that of Sleepaway II, which is pretty hard to accomplish! Yes, the storyline was pretty lame, but once again, is was the humor in this one that got me again. During almost every kill, Angela had some stupid one-liner to say, which really got on my nerves. Most of the characters were way over-the-top stereotypes, I suppose that was done on purpose, but nonetheless, it was dumb. They even took a jab at the Friday the 13th movies. Someone should have told the director that they did that bit in the Sleepaway 2!!! Not only that, the acting of Pamela Springsteen makes it basically unbelievable that she could brutally murder anyone. In most kill scenes, she looks like she's using the force of a 5 year-old!!! Of course, the movie ends with Angela surviving, and delivering yet again, another dumb one-liner to end the film. I'm not even sure why I'm giving this film 2 stars, I would say it's more like a 1.5, and I'm being a bit generous with that. But since the storyline does at least follow along with the other films and there are a couple of cool kill scenes, I'll be bit more kind on my rating. September 17, 2007

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