Return to Sleepaway Camp – 2008, US, 86m. Director: Robert Hiltzik.
Shallow Grave – 1987, US, 89m. Director: Richard Styles.
Whispers – 1990, US, 100m. Director: Douglas Jackson.
RETURN TO SLEEPAWAY CAMP (2008) This “official” sequel to the 1983 slasher classic bypasses Sleepaway Camps 2 and 3 and brings back original director, Robert Hiltzik—but it’s all the more disappointing when Return to Sleepaway Camp ends up being just a cheap and uninspired remake. Campers are turning up murdered at Camp Manabe—and all the victims are part of a bully squad who’ve been making camp hell for the local black sheep (Michael Gibney), an obnoxious slob who, quite frankly, deserves every whupping he gets. The bloodshed is revealed to be the work of Angela (Felissa Rose), back to continue where she left off in the first film by punishing the popular troublemakers and rule-breakers. Moronic characters, juvenile humor, and cut-rate gore effects abound. The only thing Return to Sleepaway Camp will have you longing for is the fast-forward button. Felissa Rose deserves much better. D– (Not currently streaming.)
SHALLOW GRAVE (1987) This tongue-in-cheek slasher opens with a spirited tribute to cinema’s all-time greatest slashing—the shower scene from Psycho—when a pretty coed is prank shish kebobbed in the shower by her rowdy classmates. Moments later, the four women pile into a convertible and head south for a fun-filled spring break. Unfortunately for our spunky protagonists, they take a wrong turn in a backwoods Georgia town where they end up being witnesses to a murder committed by the psychopathic sheriff (Tony March). The film then turns into a semi rip-off of Macon County Line as the women try to escape before becoming the sheriff’s next victims. After a terrific first act, Shallow Grave stumbles when the screenplay (by George Edward Fernandez) becomes unsure of what to do with the characters. Fortunately, the film’s final act is suspenseful enough to grab the viewer’s attention and maintain it until the bleak ending. An imperfect but entertaining little B-movie. B (Currently streaming on Tubi.)
WHISPERS (1990) Writer Victoria Tennant is repeatedly attacked by a maniac (Jean LeClerc) who seems to have supernatural ways of defying death. The local police think she’s crying wolf, but good cop Chris Sarandon believes her and tries to help. She finally kills the psychopathic stalker, but Tennant finds herself in a living nightmare when LeClerc returns from the grave, sending her and Sarandon down a rabbit hole of Satanic cults and a lot of other uninteresting mumbo jumbo that never gels into a cohesive plot. The script is based on a Dean Koontz book, and Whispers is so proud of its literary inspiration that it flagrantly states as much in the opening credits with the title “Dean Koontz’s Whispers“—although I highly doubt the author would have approved. Sarandon gives a good cop-in-distress performance, but Tennant is stiff and wholly unsympathetic. A bloodless bore with very little redeeming qualities besides the odd joke or two. D (Currently streaming on Tubi.)