What happens when resurrecting a dead slasher franchise becomes an obsession with the woman who survived it?
That's the twisted setup behind Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, the new psychological horror film starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson, which begins its limited theatrical release today.
And despite having one of the most wonderfully ridiculous horror titles I've heard in a while, this isn't simply another summer-camp slasher.
There's something much stranger happening here.
The story takes place around Camp Miasma, a fictional long-running slasher franchise that has seen better days. After years of cheap sequels and a dwindling fanbase, someone finally decides it's time for the inevitable resurrection.
Enter an enthusiastic young queer filmmaker, played by Hannah Einbinder, who's hired to direct the next installment.
There's just one person she desperately wants back.
Bring Back the Final Girl
Rather than simply casting another group of disposable teenagers and letting the killing begin, the director becomes fixated on bringing back the final girl from the original Camp Miasma movie.
Played by Gillian Anderson, the former star has since become a mysterious recluse, distancing herself from the franchise that once made her famous.
Naturally, our director decides to pay her a visit.
Probably not the best decision.
What begins as an attempt to resurrect a fading horror franchise develops into an increasingly obsessive relationship between the two women. Desire, fear, fascination, and filmmaking begin colliding until both descend into what the film describes as a state of psychosexual mania.
So if you're walking into this expecting two hours of teenagers getting picked off at summer camp, you might want to adjust those expectations.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma appears much more interested in exploring the people behind the slasher movie.
A Slasher Movie About Making a Slasher Movie
That's probably the part of the premise that has me most curious.
Horror has spent decades establishing the rules of the slasher. We know the masked killers. We know the irresponsible teenagers. We know the final girl.
This time, the final girl herself becomes the obsession.
There's also something fun about the idea of a fictional horror franchise being dragged back from the dead after years of increasingly bad sequels. Considering how often real horror franchises have gone through that exact cycle, there's plenty of material here to play with.
But underneath the meta slasher setup is a much darker relationship.
The director's fixation on the actress begins consuming both women, eventually pulling them into a blood-soaked spiral of desire, fear, and delirium where the line between professional obsession and something much more intimate starts disappearing.
And pairing Gillian Anderson with Hannah Einbinder for that story certainly has my attention.
Anderson obviously needs little introduction to horror and genre fans after years of investigating everything imaginable on The X-Files, while Einbinder comes to the film following her acclaimed work on Hacks.
Together, they're stepping into something considerably bloodier.
Camp Miasma Opens Today
Produced by MUBI and Plan B, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma runs approximately 1 hour and 52 minutes and is rated R.
The film begins its limited theatrical release today, August 7, giving horror fans their first opportunity to enter the strange, obsessive world surrounding the Camp Miasma franchise.
If you're looking for a straightforward summer-camp body count, this may not be that movie.
But if the idea of slasher nostalgia colliding with filmmaking, obsession, sexuality, psychological horror, and one very mysterious final girl sounds interesting?
Camp Miasma might be worth the trip.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is now playing in select theaters.
Just remember...
Sometimes the final girl survives for a reason.
