TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA – Review
How’s this for a real “major meta” movie? This new release truly has some big “retro roots”. Among the ‘reboots” and “re-imaginings” comes a surreal commentary on the horror icons of the past forty-plus years (no Drac or Frankie-types lurking about). So, much like 2024’s I SAW THE TV GLOW, this is a contemporary spin on pop-culture nostalgia and its impact on a couple of “lost souls”. While the focus then was a kid-friendly horror-fantasy cable classic, this new flick dives into the “slasher” classics. And yes, it’s by the same filmmaker. They’ve got a unique spin on those tropes while exploring TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA. And don’t forget the s’mores…
The movie opens with a jaunty history of the “Camp Miasma” franchise with its signature “mad killing machine”, “Little Death”. There are the posters, the VHS tapes of all its sequels, and the “merch”: dolls and even an arcade video game. Show biz trade newspapers touted the franchise’s success and eventual downfall due to declining box office. But Little Death won’t stay buried. Cut to today, as indie film festival “wunderkind” director Kris Williams (Hannah Einbinder) decides to do a big studio film. She plans to “reanimate” the “zombie IP” that is the dormant Miasma series. She explains during a call to her partner that this will be a “redo” to “course correct” the “un PC” origin of the dual-gender identity of LD. Oh, and Kris wants to persuade the star of that first film to appear in this new story. However, that actress promptly retired and left the cinema life after being that classic flick’s “final girl”. Kris has tracked her down in the Pacific Northwest. It turns out that actress lives in the shuttered old kids’ camp location of Miasma. Of course, the former star, Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson), is quite eccentric. Surprisingly, the two bond quickly while watching an old 16 mm print of the first Camp film. Due to a snowstorm, Billy implores Kris to stay in a guest room while they work on the new script over the weekend. An intense attraction blossoms between the two, while Kris slowly discovers that everything she saw in those movies could somehow be real.
After completing her outstanding work on the acclaimed HBO show “Hacks”, Einbinder gets a chance to carry a feature film as the confused and conflicted Kris. She’s the ultimate horror “superfan” who wants to revive those thrills from childhood while dealing with complex relationship issues (she’s polyamorous, but her desires aren’t met), as she is drawn to her shadowy “dream lover”. As the object of Kris’ darkest dreams, Anderson is compelling and enigmatic as the sultry siren revisiting a twisted, nostalgic journey. Though Billy could easily be shown as a silly “Tinsel Town” reject (a mix of Norma Desmond and Baby Jane Hudson), Anderson draws us in as part of the overall mystery of the camp (like Laura Palmer, she has “secrets”). The cast showcases several great character actors. SNL’s Sarah Sherman is a hoot as Kris’ agent who seems to care more about her squash games. Dylan Baker is an irritated studio chief, while Kevin McDonald, Eva Victor, Zach Cherry, and Patrick Fischler pop up as part of the original Miasma ensemble.
Writer/director Jane Schoenbrun delivers a meticulously recreated pop culture mythology around this imaginary movie series, even including a phony Fangoria magazine award (that publication even printed a cartoon by yours truly back in 1984). Those riffs are indeed fun as Kris references many actual franchises, from Jason and Freddy to the more obscure SLEEPAWAY CAMP, with its problematic gender politics. Aside from the creation of media and merch, the art direction gives the story an otherworldly dreamscape, using garish painted backdrops for several outdoor sequences at the camp. Those dreams turn to nightmares with the introduction of the movie “stalker” Little Death, whose mask is a square indoor heating/cooling vent (much like Spidey’s “V-Max”). LD usually kills with a spear, unleashing a geyser-like gusher of gore into the night sky. And while those horror parody scenes are fun, Schoenbrun uses them to dive deep into the sexual psyche of Kris and Billy, resulting in a wild finale that has us questioning what is real and what is being created via their dark fantasies of desire. The end result is quite impressive, though many viewers may be confused prior to that final fadeout. Like TV GLOW, this will spark lots of discussions and interpretation debates after the cinematic chaos of TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA.
3 Out of 4
TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA is now playing in select theatres
