Camp Miasma: A seductive confrontation of classic horror

If you’ve seen the trailer for Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, then you may be under the impression that it’s a new-age slasher horror. However, I think that deception is the point of the message. I went into the film not completely sure of what I was going to watch, other than knowing Gillian Anderson would be glorious (and oh, she was). Her Southern drawl is spine-tingling if I do say so myself.

Director Jane Schoenbrun’s proven expertise in inventing fictional media for her works is yet again shown off here. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021) featured an invented online game, and I Saw the TV Glow (2024) a TV horror show.

We are introduced to the fictional ‘Camp Miasma’ franchise, which began with an 80s slasher, and was subsequently rebooted to death

In this film, we are introduced to the fictional ‘Camp Miasma’ franchise, which began with an 80s slasher, and was subsequently rebooted to death. Kris (Hannah Einbinder), an up-and-coming film director, is brought in to ‘make woke’ the franchise, so it will be more palatable for modern audiences.

Kris seeks out Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson) in the run-down camp – which was the original Miasma film’s set – to persuade her to join her new project. In the process, Kris uncovers elements of the original film which may be more real than she thought.

Kris’s job is to undo the damage of the previous, more problematic entries in the film series and give her modern audience new, appealing horror. With this, Schoenbrun satirises filmmakers’ attempts to modernise previously successful franchises.

The film goes beyond parody and treads the line between dark comedy, serialist gore and sexual exploration

It is interesting, though, how the film goes beyond parody and treads the line between dark comedy, serialist gore and sexual exploration. We follow Kris as she tries to understand the background of the original film and the secluded actress, while confronting her own issues with sexuality.

‘Classic’ slashers often intertwined female sexuality with horror elements, likely to appeal to male audiences. However, as the horror genre is just as enticing for female audiences, we must question: what happens to the young female psyche when we see our bodies so sexualised, then cut up, possessed, or kidnapped?

This stereotypical combination, a feature of the original fictional ‘Camp Miasma’ film, is overtly acknowledged by Schoenbrun as the film refuses to ignore the problematic elements of earlier horror films such as Psycho (1960), Dressed to Kill (1980), Sleepaway Camp (1983), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).

Film even verges on parody at some points. However, I do not think the film is insulting to its source material

Every element and theme of early-80s slashers is included here and then turned up to the max. Once you see the excessive product placements and gore, you’ll know what I mean. This means the film even verges on parody at some points. However, I do not think the film is insulting to its source material. Kris, the director, grew up on the ‘Camp Miasma’ film and their supposedly terrible reboots. She loves the films and idolises Billy.

Really, the film is quite fourth wall breaking. You are sat watching a woke slasher ‘reboot’ about a woke reboot of a slasher. Even the name, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, is campy and over the top. You’ve got the top three themes sat there in the title, and the film certainly delves into them, but in a way that subverts what you’d expect from a parody film.

Along with the messages of the film, the art direction of the film is breathtaking. It combines an unexpected amount of physical media elements into the scenery of the camp. The landscapes almost mirror those of a Bob Ross painting, which only makes the camp feel cosier and more intimate.

Horror movie lover or not, I beg you to see this movie just to see if you can draw your own interpretation.

★★★★★