Bringing back original stars makes this only slightly superior to previous sequels, though that's about the best that can be said about this installment.

Return to Sleepaway Camp is a disaster on almost every level. The lead character is insufferable to the point of derailing anything that was working, of which there is very little, and the 3rd act twist is insulting to one's intelligence.

Gone is the really black humor of the first film. Gone is the insane twist. Gone are the inventive kills. And gone is nearly all of the charm that has kept this franchise alive.

**_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). This one comes in last mainly because it’s so unpleasant. I’m talking about the emphasis on the bullying element that brings to mind “Carrie” (1976), just with the milieu of a summer camp. Unlike “Carrie,” however, the victim of the bullying isn’t much more agreeable than the bullies (although I have a soft spot for his friendship with the frogs in the forest). Bottom line, the flick is just too mean-spirited for its own good. Thankfully, there are a couple of likable characters, such as Petey (Kate Simses) and Ronnie (Paul DeAngelo), but they’re peripheral, particularly Petey; her role should’v…