By Dan Skip Allen

The slasher genre is one that has been around for about fifty years or so now. It has changed quite a bit since the days of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, “Friday the 13th”, and “Halloween”. Writers and directors have tried to infuse new elements into this tired sub-genre of horror. One of those new visionaries is Jane Schoenbrun (We’re All Going To The World’s Fair, I Saw The TV Glow). They have made a couple of films that are not exactly for everybody, but they are definitely different and unique visions of filmmaking. They have done it again with their latest film, “Teenage Sex and Death at Cap Miasma”. It’s one of the most interesting takes on the slasher genre I’ve ever seen. Like their other movies, people will be talking about it for years to come.

Kris Williams (Hannah Einbinder) is a young filmmaker tasked with turning around a tired franchise, “The Camp Miasma Franchise”. She decides to go to the Pacific Northwest to get acquainted with the area the films took place at and hopefully find Billie Preston (Gillian Anderson), the final girl from the first Camp Miasma film. When she finally meets this woman, she is more than imagined. She offers the young director to stay for dinner, which consists of Kentucky fried chicken and sides that include mashed potatoes and other things. After dinner, they sit and watch the first film in the Camp Miasma franchise. This gives the young filmmaker some ideas on what direction to take the new film in.

This film has a lot to like about it, including the crazy things that Schoenbrun likes to add to her movies. Those are here, but this may be the most straightforward of all her films thus far. Using a meta idea was one of the coolest things she’s done in her career so far. The film is mainly telling the story of these two women, but puts the viewer into the world of the first film as well. Both versions are filmed differently.  The original Camp Miasma movie on DVD has a grainy feeling to it like films back in the 70s and 80s had. Especially horror films. The real world had a digital look, but it was murky, cold, and foggy a lot of the time. This look gave the movie a sense of mystery. The house felt a bit haunted, but the darkness made it feel that way, I think. I love the looks of their films, and this one is no different. 

To add to my thoughts on the look of the movie, the production design was out of this world. There were outside sets that were clearly filmed on a soundstage that showed a winter backdrop, mountains, snow falling, and an icy lake. The look on the outside scenes was gorgeous even though I knew it was fake. That’s a sign of a great filmmaker when they know they’re making something not wholly real, but it feels real anyway. The house had a lot of character to it as well. With movie props from the first Camp Miasma. Costumes and so forth were displayed. I like a movie that makes you feel like you’re in the actual world it’s taking place in. This one definitely does that for sure.

I can’t write this review without talking about the two lead characters. Their relationship was quite fascinating to me. There was an undertone of sexuality between the pair right from the first moment they met. Anderson is using a southern twinged accent, and she’s playing an older veteran actress. She probably got this type of character from classic Kathrine Hepburn or Faye Dunaway roles in the past. She reminded me of some of those characters. Einbinder, on the other hand, is playing a bit innocent and lost in this world. She’s taken under the spell of the Anderson character. Anderson’s character may be attracted to this young, perky woman who is looking for some direction in her life, but specifically for ideas for the movie she’s making. These two were perfect together in this film. I don’t think I would have wanted any other actors in these roles. I’m a big fan of Anderson, but this is my first experience with Einbinder in anything. I’m definitely going to have to watch her in “Hacks” now.

As far as the film within a film goes, I was interested to see where this would go. The killer, which is called the cube head killer, was a bit weird for me. He had the cube on his head, and he wore an environmental jump suit. His weapon of choice to do his killing was a spear with a scythe on the end of it. This is definitely one of the most interesting looking killers in any horror movie I’ve ever seen. The cast of the film was filled with people we’ve seen in other movies we’ve seen in the past, such as Eva Victor, Amanda Fix,(Young Billie Preston) Jack Haven, (Little Death) and Jasmin Savoy Brown. That doesn’t include the cast from the real world. The movie world was pretty straightforward, though. This is one of my favorite casts of the year so far. 

The rest of the cast is filled out by Sarah Sherman, Einbinder’s character agent, Patrick Fischer, a man who appears in some dream sequences, Arthur Conti and Zach Cherry, two others who are in the Camp Miasma film. The real-world characters are oddly weirder than the movie characters. That’s a change from most meta films like this one is. The dream sequences add another whole level to the experience of watching this movie. You know you’re going to get layers on top of layers with a Schoenbrun film. The cast is just part of those layers. 

One of my favorite parts of the movie is the soundtrack. How Schoenbrun uses the music in the film is brilliant. One specific moment is when  “A Long December” by Counting Crows plays over a slaughter sequence in the Camp Miasma movie. This was awesome. Another was towards the end of the movie when “I Love You Always Forever” by Donna Lewis was used. Both of these songs were perfectly used in context to the film. I love it when songs are used to complement a film like these ones did. There was also a score that felt underused, but I noticed it.

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” was a blast. It used so many horror tropes but made them interesting and fun. It had two amazing performances from its leads that brought something to the film. They were intriguing characters. Their personalities and lives fascinated me. The supporting cast from the movie to the real world brought it. The production design was very original, but I felt right for what Schoenbrun was going for. The meta idea worked so well regarding the movie with a movie. Schoenbrun is ⅔ as far as I’m concerned. I loved their last two outings. They are starting to get into a groove. Their voice is really showing up on screen. Especially in the last two films they’ve written/directed. I had a blast with this one, and hopefully, filmgoers will give it a chance. 

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 ½ stars