Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		0.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.5

Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

My colleagues Jeff Kauffman and Ken Brown delivered full coverage of Michael A. Simpson's Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989) for two prior US Blu-ray releases. Jeff reviewed Scream Factory's 2015 "Collector's Edition" while Ken wrote about Sandpiper Pictures' 2024 BD-25 early this year. For their opinions of the film and evaluations of the discs' a/v presentations and bonus materials, please consult the linked reviews above.

Angela loves poking in others' tents.

Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Scream's latest "Collector's Edition" is housed with a slipcover featuring the same artwork from the theatrical poster and home video ads. The 1.85:1 presentation is struck from a 4K restoration of the 35 mm interpositive. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray is encoded with Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible).

The UHD boasts a similar coarse grain field as what appears on the 4K of Sleepaway Camp II but the grain here is not as thick. The overall image looks a little better than it does on the Unhappy Campers UHD possibly because there are not as many nighttime scenes where the grain takes over darker areas of the picture. I would also say that contrast in the evening scenes for Teenage Wasteland are a little better depending on placement of light sources. Daylight scenes appear fairly bright. My screen captures for day scenes are perhaps a little darker than what I saw in-motion while viewing the 4K on my QLED. The DV/HDR10 grade brings out highlights quite well on occasion, especially when sunlight appears anywhere in the shots and behind the characters. (It accents Marcia's auburn hair in Screenshot #12.)

I don't have either Scream's 2015 BD-50 or the recent Sandpiper disc, but upon reading Jeff and Ken's critiques of those transfers, both seem to be sourced from the same master that Anchor Bay used in the early 2000s. In fact, I would place a safe bet that AB used the film's interpositive. AB's DVD is interlaced and I have deinterlaced it. I also upscaled the image from 480 to 720. You will notice an identical tiny white speck in the lower left of Bobby's (Haynes Brooke) neck as seen in Screenshot #s 26 (AB) and 27 (Scream). The AB sports several white speckles and artifacts during the first reel (the prologue and inaugural scene at Camp New Horizons). There are similar print-related defects that pop up periodically throughout the rest of the film. Fortunately, Scream has expunged a majority of them, even the smaller ones. For instance, there's a white speck visible on the white banner in frame grab #32 (AB) which is gone in #33 (on the Scream). In addition, I spotted a speckle along a steel leg on the kitchen cart behind Angela (Pamela Springsteen) in capture #34 (AB), which has been removed in #35 (Scream). In terms of detail, the 4K wins decisively over its predecessors. For example, look at how much more detail there is amongst the sky and clouds during sunset in Scream's transfer (#39) compared to the less detailed image on the AB (#38).

The feature on the UHD takes up 46.5 GB of space. It sports a mean video bitrate of 80.2 Mbps while the whole disc averages 83.6 Mbps.

Screenshot #s 1-23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, & 39 = Scream Factory 2025 4K Ultra HD BD-100 (downsampled to 1080p)
Screenshot #s 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, & 38 = Anchor Bay 2002 DVD (deinterlaced and upscaled to 720p)

Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scream has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono mix (1649 kbps, 24-bit). It sounds very similar to Anchor Bay's Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track, which I also listened to in full. There's a solid bass presence coming from the score when the large truck revs through downtown Atlanta. The source music emanating from boomboxes blaring late '80s hip hop exhibit some fine dynamic range and high pitches. There are pops and sizzles from firecrackers lit off. Overall, it's a solid monaural presentation without any inherent flaws evident in the audio master used for this disc.

There are optional English SDH for the feature.

Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Scream's roster of extras includes pretty much all items from the Anchor Bay DVD as well as the workprint version and retrospective program from the 2015 CE. Scream has added a short legacy piece and two recent interviews with crew members conducted by Ballyhoo's Daniel Griffith. The UHD is missing a 2016 interview with Mikel Koven which can be found on the 88 Films and NSM Records Blu-rays.

• Audio Commentary with Director Michael A. Simpson, Writer Fritz Gordon, and Moderator John Klyza (2002) - this feature-length track with Simpson, Gordon, and Klyza is much better than the one the trio recorded for Sleepaway Camp II. For one, Klyza seems better organized with his talking points and discussion topics. The moderator highlights several differences between the scripts he perused and what ended up in the finished film. Simpson talks at length about his battles with the MPAA. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Return to SLEEPAWAY CAMP III (2025) (6:25, 1080p) - a pretty brief look back at the making of the film with counselor Jeff Hayes, author of SLEEPAWAY CAMP: Making the Movie and Reigniting the Campfire. Hayes gives a brief history about how Teenage Wasteland originated and some fun facts about the actors during the production. He also shares some anecdotes regarding the film's original creative intentions courtesy of screenwriter Michael Hitchcock, whom he interviewed. Hayes additionally details some of the cuts imposed by the MPAA and explains possibly why they were made. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Weeding Out the Bad: Inside the Stunts – An Interview with Stunt Coordinator Lonnie Smith Jr. (2025) (8:44, 1080p) - Smith shares several of his experiences as a stunt coordinator in both TV and film productions. The main focus here is on the garbage truck stunt he performed in downtown Atlanta for Sleepaway Camp III. Smith also discusses working with various actors on the second film. He explains how he wanted them to handle props certain ways and direction he gave two actresses for a fight scene. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Angela's Greatest Hits: Inside the Sleepaway Songs – An Interview with Songwriter/Performer John Altyn (2025) (9:11, 1080p) - Altyn talks about his interest in music at an early age and his fondness for punk rock. Altyn gives a terrific story about how his song "Nightmares" piqued the interest of Robert Shaye, which led to a meeting between the two at New Line ca. 1985. He describes how his ballad "Out of Control" came to be used in Sleepaway Camp II. Altyn spends the rest of the interview discussing his musical contributions for the third film. In English, not subtitled.

• A Tale of Two Sequels – Part Two: "New Victims & New Horizons" (2015) (26:13, 1080p) - a program produced by Red Shirt Pictures that features interviews with director Michael A. Simpson, cinematographer Bill Mills, editor John David Allen, special make-up effects creator Bill Johnson, art director Frank Galline, the aforementioned Jeff Hayes as well as actors Mark Oliver, Sandra Dorsey, Kim Wall, and Daryl Wilcher. Each supplies recollections of notable scenes they worked on or appeared in during shooting. Some of the participants share their memories of Michael J. Pollard, who wasn't all that different from his character of Herman. All interviewees speak in English, not subtitled.

• Behind-the-Scenes Footage (8:29, upscaled to 1080i) - archival video footage of the prologue, which was shot in the southeast section of downtown Atlanta. Director Simpson provides commentary on this city sequence. We see footage of Simpson, the hair and makeup people, DP Bill Mills, stunt coordinator Lonnie Smith Jr., and other crew members. Simpson orients the viewer well with what was going on while filming the first part of the film.

• Sleepaway Camp III Workprint (from VHS) (1:24:49, upconverted to 1080i; Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) - the workprint has been encoded as a 16.3 GB file.

• Deleted Scenes (18:47, upscaled to 1080i) - this deleted clip reel comprises just under a dozen extended scenes containing gore shots that the MPAA later mandated be taken out. The reel also includes some snippets that don't appear in the finished film. This compilation is extracted from the workprint. It contains production audio with dialogue but without score and sound f/x, each of which would be added in post. The material is VHS quality.

• Home Video Trailer (2:39, upscaled to 1080i) - Nelson Entertainment's videocassette trailer for Teenage Wasteland presented in 1.33:1.

• Tony Lives! Short Film (2015) (1:10, 1080i) - a short film by Jeff Hayes who catches up with Tony (Mark Oliver) 26 years after the events at Camp New Horizons. In English, not subtitled.

• Still Gallery (4:03, upscaled to 1080p) - a slide show of 46 distinct images from the production of Sleepaway Camp III. A majority of these are behind-the-scenes photos of director Simpson with his cast and crew at the shoot's various locations (including the city scenes). There's also stills of Nelson Entertainment's home video ads and a Variety review. While the pics have been upscaled to 1080p, they still appear low-res and soft. (The unit photographer probably didn't have an expensive camera.)

Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sleepaway Camp III's ultra-tight budget, short shooting schedule, and hurried production are contributing factors to a ho-hum narrative that never feels fully fleshed out. For one, there needed to be an additional prologue with a backstory that could have anchored the prologue used in the film. Several of the characters are poorly written insomuch that it makes Angela's dispatching and trash cleanup all the more easy. Inconsistent direction and spotty scripting cause some of the characters' mind-boggling choices. The overall tone of the film feels flat. The third installment is a step down from the first two films, which it lags behind in the series in terms of quality and entertainment value.

While the movie is mediocre, the transfer on Scream Factory's 4K UHD is excellent and a notch above the 2160p presentation for Unhappy Campers. The two recent interviews are informative and solid additions. The disc is RECOMMENDED to fans of the series.