The slasher horrors of the 80s are often easy targets to ridicule due to the ridiculousness of their premises, particularly the Friday the 13th series. Yet no one has ever approached the popular horrors as a way to deal with the nature of the films, the sexual chaos of the franchise or even how they can become almost obsessive. I Saw the TV Glow writer and director, Jane Schoenbrun, who was brought up with movies like Nightmare on Elm Street, brings us a very meta film with Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, and has produced an often funny, sometimes deep and unusual tale that visually will mess with your head while being incredibly entertaining, thanks to the two leads and a bucket worth of blood.

Kris Williams is a filmmaker hired to reboot a horror series called Camp Miasma. Having watched the series from a young age, she defies the producers who want an origin story to try to bring back the first survivor of the first film, Billy Presley, an actress who became a recluse. Kris is invited to meet her, only to discover she lives at the original camp from the film and is obsessed with the film’s killer, Little Death, and has a dark theory about the murderer.

Schoenbrun’s film questions the sexual politics in these films, especially the way that transgender or queer characters were depicted. Instead of being preachy about it, Schoenbrun allows the film to use the issues to play out in a much more subtle manner, using the killer to be a person confused about their sexuality, and being bullied, leading them to don a sqaure air duct as their mask and a giant spear as their weapon of choice to murdr their victims in the most over-the-top manners possible, almost being cartoonish.

Visually, it plays with the genre, giving you the look of 80s slashers while making you feel like you are in a fever dream, touching on various other horrors, with nods to films outside the slasher world (David Cronenberg’s Videodrome gets a very obvious mention). These nods bring plenty of humour, especially how the Friday the 13th series became almost out of control with the number of sequels it produced.

Yet this is a film that follows Kris Williams on her own personal journey, and the relationship she builds with Billy Presley in these creepy surroundings. These are two people who may seem very different on the outside but who share so much more, particularly their obsession with Camp Miasma. Kris wants to explore much more than the horror but is drawn to Billy’s eyes in the film and wants to capture the thoughts going through those eyes. The producers want something else ( a Zoom meeting with the producers is hilarious and shows the lunacy of the film industry).

The film has two leads that really deliver. Hannah Einbinder, who made her name in the TV comedy Hacks, is terrific as Kris, a woman confused about her own life and longing to have creative control over this new movie. She is a director who is seeking the truth not only in the film she wants to make but in her own life. She also has incredible comic timing, and it works so well in giving depth to her character.

If you wanted the polar opposite to Kris, Gillian Anderson as Billy does that in droves. The former X-Files star is having the time of her life as the slightly deranged recluse, who has a touch of Gloria Swanson from Sunset Boulevard and Bette Davis in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane. She produces the best and creepiest laugh in any movie. Watching her let loose is one of the film’s biggest joys.

Teenage sex and Death at Camp Miasma may not be for everyone, but if you are a fan of slasher horror and want an unusual angle for that genre, you will love the winks and nods to the audience while having plenty of blood splattering for squishy fans and a message about prominent cinema that we never thought we needed. Funny, deep and utterly bizarre.

4 out of 5

Director: Jane Schoenbrun

Starring: Hannah Einbinder, Gillian Anderson, Jack Haven, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Aren Buchholz, Kevin McDonald, Amanda Fix, Sarah Sherman, Dylan Baker

Written by: Jane Schoenbrun

Running Time: 112 mins

Cert: 15

Release date: 21st August 2026