What to Watch After Camp Miasma

The most obvious place to start after watching Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is with Sleepaway Camp. It is heavily referenced within Camp Miasma and had the heaviest influence on its lore and themes.

One of the more cult ‘80s slasher franchises, just like the fictional franchise of Camp Miasma, Sleepaway Camp has come under fire for its portrayal of its killer reveal, with many arguing that the movie is transphobic. Sleepaway Camp is a clear inspiration for Jane Schoenbrun’s Camp Miasma thesis, and an understanding of the 1983 movie will make it easier to decode Schoenbrun’s messaging.

Another key influence on Camp Miasma is the entire Friday the 13th franchise. During the opening titles of Camp Miasma, the history of the fictional series is played out on screen via snippets of footage and newspaper clippings. The story that unfolds bears a striking similarity to the history of the Friday the 13th series, most specifically its fondness of a subtitle and the courage to embrace its wacky side, a la Jason X.

With 12 movies in existence, that presents a lot of screen time to digest, but for the film most directly tied to Camp Miasma, start with Friday the 13th: Part VI - Jason Lives. The plot here sees previous Jason Voorhees survivor Tommy Jarvis return to Crystal Lake to ensure the killer is dead, only to unwittingly resurrect him. This is mirrored in Camp Miasma as it is Kris’ arrival that stirs Little Death back to life. 

In Camp Miasma, newly-hired film director Kris has an idea to reboot the franchise by bringing back the original final girl of the series, Billy Preston. During her pitch, Kris mentioned David Gordon Green’s Halloween, which notably brought back Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode.

The movie rewrote the history of the Halloween franchise, skipping over all the events after the first sequel, including Curtis’ return and demise in Halloween H20 and Halloween: Resurrection. The movie was a sound one and kick-started a new franchise, whilst at the same time inspiring other franchises, such as Scream, to return. 

Gillian Anderson features in Camp Miasma as Billy Preston, the former actress that Hannah Einbinder’s Kris has come to convince to return to the movie franchise. Like Billy, during her younger years, Anderson achieved fame by starring as the final girl of The X-Files, Dana Scully. A re-watch of the show after seeing Anderson shine in Camp Miasma is a given, but there is one episode in particular that pairs nicely with Jane Schoenbrun’s new movie – the Season 6 episode, ‘Milagro’.

The plot sees one of Mulder’s neighbours, author Philip Padgett, become obsessed with Scully. His obsession leads him to start writing a story involving her, but events on the page soon start happening in real-life. The episode plays with some very similar mechanics and ideas to Camp Miasma, making it excellent post-movie viewing. 

Hacks might be more comedic than Camp Miasma, but it does star Hannah Einbinder, making it the perfect next step for those only just being introduced to the star.

In Hacks she plays Ava Daniels, a comedy writer called in to help reinvent Las Vegas legend Deborah Vance (played by Jean Smart). Initially the two characters are at odds, but as Hacks progresses, the two women come to learn a lot from one another and the bond of their friendship begins to strengthen them. In some ways it is a similar dynamic between Kris and Billy, in that a young up-and-comer meets a world weary starlet — just with a more sapphic spin. 

During Camp Miasma it is revealed that Kris was hired due to her gender and sexuality. With the franchise marred by transphobic and anti-queer accusations, Kris is something of a token hire by the studio in an attempt to smooth over that controversy.

Bringing in a female director to appeal to a new audience, and demonstrate a studios 'progression, is a very real trick, with Sophie Takal’s Black Christmas a prime example. Her interpretation is very different to the 1974 original as it sees a group of girls face down with an evil fraternity rather than being picked off by a nuisance caller. 

Speaking at a live-read presentation of the movie Secretary in which Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson portrayed the lead roles, Jane Schoenbrun shared that the film was a big influence on Camp Miasma’s creation. They revealed that their research for the movie was split into two sections: slashers and sex on screen.

Secretary fits into the latter category as it follows a young woman and her boss embarking on a highly inappropriate BDSM working relationship. For Schoenbrun, it is Secretary’s ability to cover some really dark narrative aspects and some taboo practices in a joyful and non-demeaning way that makes it stand out. 

Although Camp Miasma got most of its slasher components from films such as Sleepaway Camp and Friday the 13th, when it came to the design of killer Little Death, Schoenbrun went in a different direction. Rather than merely wearing a simple hockey mask like Jason, or Ghostface mask as seen in Scream, Little Death wears what appears to be a massive box on their head. It's an unusual image, but one that immediately has gamers thinking of Pyramid Head from Silent Hill.

As the name suggests, the creature wears a triangular covering on its head, that although odd, is also unnerving. In addition to the game series, Pyramid Head is a feature of the movies. Technically, he features more in the Silent Hill sequel, Revelation, but the first is the better movie, so that’s the best place to get a glimpse of the imposing character. 

Although technically a horror, Camp Miasma is unashamedly a queer movie. Queer characters in horror historically have either been kept in the dark, or only included for laughs. Thankfully, in more recent years this representation has diminished and there have been some great genre movies with queer protagonists.

While most of you will have heard of movies such as Jennifer’s Body and Titane, a more underseen gem is Hypochondriac. Based on the true-life breakdown of writer and director Addison Heimann, Hypochondriac finds a potter losing the use of his arms and control of his mind after a surprise message from his institutionalised mother.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is Jane Schoenbrun’s third feature film. If this is your first entry into Schoenbrun’s work then a dip into previous films We’re All Going to the World’s Fair and I Saw the TV Glow are vital homework.

Of the pair, I Saw the TV Glow is the most similar to Camp Miasma as it explores the power of nostalgia, this time tied to a fictional ‘90s TV series that bears an uncanny likeness to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Starring Jack Haven (who appears in Camp Miasma as Little Death) and Justice Smith, I Saw the TV Glow is a stunning and mesmeric coming-of-age science-fiction story that delves into gender identity and taking ownership over one's destiny.