Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma Is a Camp Slasher That Left Me Cold
Director Jane Schoenbrun trades in the late night TV of the 90s for the camp slashers of the 80s in their newest feature, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. After premiering the film at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section and earning early praise, distributor Mubi is releasing the film into select theaters. At its heart, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma acts as an examination of all the slasher films that have come before– movies like Sleepaway Camp, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. While I was pretty high on Schoenbrun’s last features, especially I Saw the TV Glow, this newest feature failed to resonate with me.
Within the movie itself there’s a horror franchise of Camp Miasma films that followed a very similar path to Friday the 13th. The first one was a smash, but sequels to the franchise proved that the series' signature villain, Little Death, had become stale. Enter Kris (Hacks’ Hannah Einbinder) a “Sundance Wunderkind” director that has been given the chance to rejuvenate the Camp Miasma brand. Being a huge fan of the series herself, Kris decides to go back where it all started and invite original final girl Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson) into the project. Similar to the recent Halloween reboots where Jamie Lee Curtis was involved; this is mentioned in the movie by Billy Presley who insists she’s no Jamie Lee Curtis.
Schoenbrun is among the highest profile trans directors working today (The Wachowski’s, who were responsible for The Matrix franchise, are probably still the most well known). I mention this because Schoenbrun brings a lot of their own life experiences into their films and it's very apparent that Kris, who is queer, is a stand-in for Schoenbrun. Add in the fact that the Camp Miasma films were famously transphobic and you begin to understand why Schoenbrun was drawn to this story– it allows them to examine a hurtful stereotype that has haunted horror movies for decades as they’ve traditionally villainized trans people.
While Kris is growing increasingly interested in Billy Presley, Billy’s performance in the original Camp Miasma is frequently referenced. Amanda Fix plays young Billy and her time in Camp Miasma is about what you’d expect from a camp slasher of the 80s– all the camp counselors are trying to get laid and there’s a particularly scary legend that is a great deal more real than myth. Billy Presley simplifies why Camp Miasma was so successful to Kris– it was always about sex and fluids. One actor in this sequence I was surprised to see was Eva Victor, who is unrecognizable as the camp DJ. There’s plenty more familiar faces, but really the story revolves around Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson.
If you are afraid of slasher movies, don’t worry too much about Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. While there’s still plenty of fluids, the tone of the movie is far less sinister than your typical horror movie. Schoenbrun is no doubt having fun, Little Death reminds me of the characters they created in I Saw the TV Glow, but there’s also an attempt to call out the treatment of trans characters in horror movies and examine where people might find their pleasure. I wish Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma resonated with me more, but I’m still excited about what Schoenbrun does next. [C-]
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