Sleepaway Camp Movies in Order & How Many Are There?
If you are into camping horror stories, then you have certainly heard of Sleepaway Camp movies. Still, as there are multiple movies, we have decided to make this article and let you know exactly how many Sleepaway movies are there and what is the best way to watch them in order.
The franchise primarily focuses on serial killer Angela Baker and the murders she commits, largely at summer camps.
Now, that you know about what the Sleepaway Camp franchise is about, let us tell you how many movies are there and what is the best way to watch Sleepaway Camp movies in order.
How many Sleepaway Camp movies are there?
Sleepaway Camp consists of five films, one of which was not fully completed. Robert Hiltzik directed both the original 1983 film and Return to Sleepaway Camp, while Michael A. Simpson oversaw Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers and Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland, which introduced comedic elements into the franchise; Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor was directed by Jim Markovic.
Let us now see in short how they look in order by release date.
- Sleepaway Camp (1983)
- Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988)
- Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989)
- Return to Sleepaway Camp (2008)
- Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor (2012)
Now, let us tell you what is the best way to watch Sleepaway Camp movies in order and what are they about.
Sleepaway Camp movies in order
The best way to watch Sleepaway Camp movies is by chronological order, and that order is a bit different than the one by release date. So, let’s check it out, and find out what are Sleepaway Camp movies about and how they connect to one another.
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
The idyllic vacation of a father and his two kids is interrupted by a horny young man who leaks control of his speedboat. As soon as she sat down at the steering wheel, it took her 10 seconds to wade into the crooked waters and cross the happy family splashing in the water with the speedboat.
A few years later, Richie and his cousin Angela go to summer camp, where very soon strange accidents begin to happen, i.e. murders.
Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988)
After the events and crimes of her predecessors, Angela was treated for several years, both by electroshocks and by religion, she underwent an operation and now she is a girl who got a job in a similar summer camp.
Angela and TC are educators at the camp; while TC is a little more tolerant of teenage mischief Angela enforces discipline. The problem arises very quickly because steel discipline turns into bloody discipline and Angela brutally punishes every transgression without the right to a remedial exam…
Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989)
The film opens with a scene where the garbage truck driving Angela, steps on a girl who has gone to summer camp. Angela now joins the young student campers even though she is much older than them. With different documents, a different name and a different hairstyle, no one recognize that it was she who committed all those crimes that are still being talked about, plus – the parent of one of the murderers is a camp teacher and a policeman.
It doesn’t take long until Angela picks up where she recently left off: the murders are lined up like on a conveyor belt, more often than before, with the same level of wit but with the same non-explicitness, for some reason thanks to censorship. Since the campers are divided into three groups and go deep into the forest to spend some time in tents, Angela’s job is made somewhat easier…
Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor (2012)
In 1993, four years after the third film, Allison Kramer (Carrie Chambers) is plagued by gruesome nightmares that revisit a campsite. Unable to recall the actual occurrences due to a forced mental block, she seeks the help of a psychiatrist in overcoming her insomnia.
After numerous visits and hypnosis, Allison’s psychiatrist tells her that she is seemingly a survivor of a camp massacre that occurred over a decade ago. Her disbelief of the whole situation inclines the psychiatrist to advise her to return to the site for an afternoon, in hopes that if she were to see the scene of the crime, she would remember and overcome them.
Return to Sleepaway Camp (2008)
Return to Sleepaway Camp was recorded back in 2003, but due to certain production problems, it was released on DVD only five years later.
The director of this film is Robert Hiltzik, the man who also directed the original, and in the meantime engaged in unknown activities unrelated to directing. He set the action of this film in the same or a similar camp to the former camp, and in the camp, he placed a bunch of kids and their teachers.
Just like always, the murders start happening and just like always we don’t know who is doing the killing until it is revealed in the surprise finale. Just like before…
Do you need to watch Sleepaway Camp movies in order?
The best way to watch Sleepaway Camp movies is by chronological order, as we have stated above. So, the movies are mostly connected by their main villain, Angela Baker, and summer camps. Not a lot else is really connected.
Will there be more Sleepaway Camp movies?
There are some talks about a prequel Sleepaway Camp movie, but nothing is currently officially confirmed. In an interview with Bloody Disgusting, Felissa Rose, star of the 1983 slasher film Sleepaway Camp, said she hopes for a prequel to the classic horror movie to be released soon.
