The film "Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma" has received a five-star review, hailed as "brilliant! bonkers!" for its "X factor" in the horror spoof genre. The movie is described as the "most lip-smacking morsel yet" in a strong year for next-generation horror, though its distinctive style may not appeal to all tastes.
Directed by Jane Schoenbrun, the film is set against the backdrop of Camp Miasma, a fictional slasher franchise from the 1980s. The original films featured a masked killer known as Little Death, the vengeful spirit of a bullied teenager who was raised as both a boy and a girl and drowned in the camp's lake. The narrative centers on Kris, a filmmaker characterized as a "Sundance wunderkind" and horror aficionado, tasked with rebooting the franchise and making its "problematic transphobic origins palatable to a younger generation." Kris travels to the abandoned summer camp, now buried under snow in a manner reminiscent of "The Shining," to meet Billy Presley, portrayed by Gillian Anderson, the legendary original heroine and the object of Kris's lifelong obsession.
"Every frame is beautifully shot and it's surprisingly funny," the review states, quoting Billy telling Kris, "It's all just play." Schoenbrun is noted for maintaining a firm grip on the film's tone, navigating shifts between a "spot-on slasher spoof, psychosexual fever dream, surreal body horror, gay romance and something I can't even categorise."
Gillian Anderson is praised as "terrific," embodying a "slasher-movie Norma Desmond with an indelibly erotic way with KFC dipping sauce." Hannah Einbinder, playing Kris, is described as being "up for everything" and believable as a Gen Z horror fan who "intellectualises desire almost out of existence." The film is acknowledged for becoming "messy" and "pretentious," and while "not especially scary" with "almost cartoon-like" violence, it is ultimately found to be "funny and marvellously camp – in both senses of the word."
"Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma" joins other notable releases this week, including "Stop! That! Train!" a comedy spoof starring RuPaul's Drag Race finalists Ginger Minj and Jujubee, which garnered four stars. "Coyote VS. ACME," a live-action/animated hybrid starring Will Forte and John Cena, also received four stars, celebrated for its "lunatic fizz" and resilience. Less successful were "Spa Weekend," a comedy with Leslie Mann and Isla Fisher earning one star, "& Sons," a drama with Bill Nighy and Imelda Staunton receiving two stars, and the action thriller "Mutiny" starring Jason Statham, which also received two stars.