Return to Sleepaway Camp

2/14/2026

**_The writer/director of the first film returns for an unpleasant sequel_** This was shot in Sept-Nov 2003, 21 years after the original movie was filmed, yet it took five years to add special effects and get distribution, which explains its late 2008 release date, direct-to-video. It’s technically better than the first film since mastermind Robert Hiltzik had twelve times as much money with which to work. As of this writing, these happen to be the only two movies he’s made. “Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers” (1988) remains the most entertaining flick in the series, followed by the initial 1983 one and “Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland” (1989). That’s my order of preference anyway. Hiltzik incidentally had nothing to do with II and III (or the unfinished ‘film’ noted below).