When Fangoria's Weekend of Horror's hosted the Sleepaway Camp reunion, Robert Hiltzik didn't waste any time announcing that there would be "a return to sleepaway camp". He also stated that it would be a direct "sequel to the original Sleepaway Camp". Later on, he seemed somewhat bitter when he talked about the sequels as being "straight to video tape" movies, which he had nothing to do with.

What's so great about sequels is that when done correctly, they can tell one story with more than one movie. Robert Hiltzik wrote and directed a wonderful movie which told a wonderful story. Fritz Gordon and Michael Simpson continued to tell that story in the two sequels (Sleepaway Camp 2 Unhappy Campers, Sleepaway Camp 3 Teenage Wasteland) which were written by Fritz and directed by Michael. The Sleepaway Camp trilogy successfully tells a story, and for Robert Hiltzik to ignore the sequels is to ignore that story. It's to ignore the story of Angela the way Fritz Gordon and Michael Simpson saw it, and the way the fans know it. It's ignoring the story especially if Angela isn't in Return To Sleepaway Camp, which has been speculated.

The sequels don't ignore the original Sleepaway Camp. Not only by continuing the story of Angela, but by referencing the original Sleepaway Camp several times throughout both sequels keeping the original Sleepaway Camp connected to and through the sequels. The opening credits to both movies credit Hiltzik by stating they are "based on an original idea by Robert Hiltzik". Sleepaway Camp is repeatedly referenced in dialogue, stories, and other obvious similarities.

If Robert Hiltzik made a sequel to Sleepaway Camp picking up where the original left off, it wouldn't make any sense. Fans are already familiar with Friz Gordon's version of what happened, and it would not fit into the series. It would throw the story, and series completely out of whack. If Hiltzik made a sequel to Sleepaway Camp that had nothing to do with Angela and the events that took place in the original Sleepaway Camp, it wouldn't even count as a sequel. Either way, it's a lose lose situation.

In essence, Return To Sleepaway Camp is Sleepaway Camp 5. But if what I've heard is true, and Return To Sleepaway Camp is the same story as the original Sleepaway Camp (having the main character being a boy instead of a girl), then it's nothing more than a remake of the original Sleepaway Camp, having no sequel status or relevance to the series.

And that's a damn shame.

signed.