Described as Friday The 13th meets Meatballs the Sleepaway Camp franchise started out as a small film that quickly became a cult favorite. Made for a meager 350,000$ back in 1983, the original Sleepaway Camp was released on only 85 screens in and around New York and it still managed to finish in first place on its opening weekend, beating out Amityville-3D and Barbara Streisand's directorial debut, Yentl. Since then the film has gone on to spawn two sequels and has now been released on a four-disc box set from Anchor Bay Entertainment.
The nicely packaged box set, it's made to look like a first aid kit, is entitled Sleepaway Camp Survival Kit and it contains all three films along with a bonus fourth disc which features production footage from the unfinished fourth film in the series, Sleepaway Camp IV:The Survivor.
The first Sleepaway Camp is set at Camp Arawak where a serial killer is on the loose. Nobody would of suspected quiet little Angela Baker to be the killer, but then again they do say that the quiet ones are the ones that you have to worry about the most.
The film is presented in a widescreen format that is enhanced for 16X9 televisions and comes with an english 2 channel Dolby Digital audio track. No subtitles have been included.
Anchor Bay isn't known for skimping on the extras when it comes to horror movies but unfortunately for Sleepaway Camp all that's included is an audio commentary track and the film's theatrical trailer.
The audio commentary track is by writer/director Robert Hiltzik, star Felissa Ross(she played Angela Baker) and moderator Jeff Hayes. Jeff Hayes is the webmaster for the official Sleepaway Camp website(www.sleepawaycampmovies.com), his comments are kept at a minimum. Robert Hiltzik and Felissa Ross however spend the whole lenght of the audio commentary track reminiscing, with maybe only a comment or two on the making of the film. It might not be informative but it's fun to listen to.
Aside from the lack of extras, the only problem with this disc is that the film is a bit grainy. There's also some visible scratches in a couple of scenes. The graininess however is hardly worth mentioning.
The second film, Sleepaway Camp II:Unhappy Campers, is set at Camp Rolling Hills five years after the events that took place in the first film. Now a camp counselor, Angela(played by Bruce Springsteen's sister Pamela) is back at her old tricks again.
The film is presented in a widescreen format that is enhanced for 16X9 televisions and comes with an english 2 channel Dolby Digital audio track. No subtitles have been included.
The special features are a lot better this time around. They include an audio commentary track, behind-the-scenes footage and outtakes, a teaser trailer for Sleepaway Camp III, a trailer for Sleepaway Camp II and still galleries.
The audio commentary track by director Michael A. Simpson, writer Fritz Gordon and moderator John Klyza, webmaster for the official Sleepaway Camp sequels website(www.sleepawaycampfilms.com) is more informative than the audio commentary track on the first film. Although it's mainly anecdotal they also discuss their favorite death scenes from the film, compare the original script to the finished film and talk about the characters.
The behind-the-scenes footage(13:20), which is narrated by director Michael A. Simpson, is a welcome change from the standard behind-the-scenes featurettes that are included on most DVD's. Instead of giving us cast and crew interviews, very little behind-the-scenes footage and scenes from the film we get only behind-the-scenes footage. The footage includes the rehearsal of a scene(the guitar wire murder), the creation of the make-up effects, lunch on the set and a decapitating look at the abandoned cabin scene. And although this featurette is called "Behind-The-Scenes And Outtakes" there's no outtakes included.
There's also an easter egg included on this DVD. For those of you who don't know, easter eggs are special features that aren't listed and you have to go looking for them. To access it go to the extras section, press enter where it says commentary, highlight the words main menu and press the right arrow button on your remote. If you've done this correctly you'll get to hear the song "More Love" by the band Ravenstone while information on the band is listed on the screen.
Rounding off the extras on this disc are three still galleries(Behind-The-Scenes & Artwork, Abandoned Cabin Scene and Make-Up Effects), a teaser trailer for Sleepaway Camp III and a trailer for Sleepaway Camp II.
This is a better transfer than the first film. There's only a minimal amount of grain, during night scenes, and no visible scratches. The behind-the-scenes footage is rather grainy, the trailer for Sleepaway Camp II could look better and the teaser trailer for Sleepaway Camp III should of been included on that disc instead. Overal however fans should be pleased.
Sleepaway Camp III:Teenage Wasteland, the third and final film in the series, stars Pamela Springsteen as Angela Baker once again. As she returns to Camp Rolling Hills, now renamed Camp New Horizons, she discovers a whole new group of campers and counselors waiting to be slaughtered.
The film is presented in a widescreen format that is enhanced for 16X9 televisions and comes with an english 2 channel Dolby Digital audio track. No subtitles have been included.
The special features include an audio commentary track, behind-the-scenes footage and outtakes, deleted scenes from the director's cut, the film's trailer and still galleries.
The audio commentary track by director Michael A. Simpson, writer Fritz Gordon and moderator John Klyza, webmaster for the official Sleepaway Camp sequels website((www.sleepawaycampfilms.com) is the most informative audio commentary track out of all three films. The three discuss the casting of the film, where the characters names come from and their problems with the MPAA among other things.
The behind-the-scenes footage(8:26) is once again narrated by director Michael A. Simpson, but unfortunately this time we the only scene we get behind-the-scenes footage from is the opening murder scene. And once again no outtakes have been included.
The best extra on this disc, and in the whole box set for that matter, is the inclusion of the extended death scenes from the director's cut(18:40). The only thing that could of made this better is if they would of restored the scenes into the film, either that or if the would of included both versions of the film on this DVD.
Like on the Sleepaway Camp II DVD this DVD also contains an easter egg. In fact in contains two. To access the first egg go to the extras menu, the word commentary should already be highlighted, now press the left arrow button on your remote to hightlight the words on Pamela Springsteen's t-shirt and press enter. If you've done this correctly you'll be able to see a news report on the film. You can also access this egg by pressing the up arrow button on your remote once you've highlighted the word commentary or you can highlight the words main menu in the extras menu and press either the down or right arrow buttons on your remote.
The other easter egg is hidden in the extras menu as well. Highlight the word commentary and press enter. Now there's four ways you can go from here. You can either highlight the word on and press either the left or up arrow buttons on your remote or you can highlight the words main menu and press either the down or right arrow buttons on your remote. This easter egg is a still of the poster to the unfinished Sleepaway Camp IV:The Survivor.
Rounding off the extras on this disc are three still galleries(Behind-The-Scenes & Artwork, Garbage Truck Scene and Make-Up & Gore Effects) and the film's trailer.
I can't really complain about this disc. The transfer has no visible flaws and the extras are great, although the behind-the-scenes footage is a bit grainy.
Back in 1992 another sequel to Sleepaway Camp was proposed. Sleepaway Camp IV:The Survivor, written by Tom Clohessy, was to be directed by Jim Markovic and star Carrie Chambers, John Lodico and Victor Campos in the lead roles, but unfortunately the project was abandoned during shooting. As an extra bonus they decided to include the footage that was shot along with the trailer for Sleepaway Camp IV:The Survivor on a bonus fourth disc that is only available in the Sleepaway Camp Survival Kit. The footage(33:45) is rather repetitive because it consists of take after take of several scenes, none of them containing any gore. As for the trailer it's mostly made up of footage from the first three Sleepaway Camp films. This isn't something that you'd watch over and over again but it's still a nice addition for completists. Also worth mentioning is the sixteen page booklet which is only available with this box set.
While it is true that all three films are available seperately fans might want to pick up the Survival Kit instead. Why? Aside from the bonus disc the Survival Kit is also cheaper than buying all three films seperately. And don't worry you won't be disappointed.