Campgrounds have been a key location for horror movies throughout film history. There’s something about that specific type of location that brings teenagers — in the midst of their coming-of-age — together and allows whatever inhibitions they may have at that point in their lives to run free. But, of course, something is always lurking beyond the shadows.
“CAMP,” written and directed by Avalon Fast, is a different kind of horror movie set at a camp. For cataloging purposes, it’s billed as a horror movie but really isn’t one up front. The film debuted at last year’s Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, and it looks and feels like a horror movie, but that’s just the packaging for a story about grief’s lifelong impact on a person.
Grief is truly the film’s greatest monster.
During a game of Truth or Dare, Emily (Zola Grimmer) is questioned about her biggest regret in life. She sits, stoic as can be, and admits to a room full of people, “I killed a kid once.” It’s a sentence that takes the air out of the room, and admitting it doesn’t seem to make Emily feel any lighter. She didn’t tell her partying audience in hopes the grief and guilt of the tragic accident would suddenly leave her, but her admission shows the pain is always with her.
Emily’s life has been permanently marked by this accidental, tragic death and things only get worse when her friend Charlie (Giselle Morison) overdoses on drugs Emily was carrying in her purse. How can Emily bear the weight of two inadvertent deaths at such a young age? Knowing her life will never be the same, Emily’s father (Michael Tan) suggests she go to a camp for “damaged kids” to work as a counselor. Maybe the change of scenery and helping others will give Emily a sense of purpose.
The two tragedies are revealed in the opening moments of “CAMP,” before Emily even enters the strange world ahead of her. Once she arrives at the camp, she meets Clara (Alice Wordsworth), Nev (Lea Rose Sebastianis), Hope (Ella Reece) and Rosie (Cherry Moore). They share the camp’s lore, but more importantly, they welcome her into their nightly rituals where they perform witchcraft by way of sacrifices. On Emily’s first night, Clara tells her, “we are putting our wishes out into the universe tonight.”
Any concrete plot in “CAMP” is for the saek of setting up Emily’s arrival at the camp. Once she joins the other four in their witchy rituals, “CAMP” shifts into a stylized movie begging for just a touch more substance. Fast doesn’t spell anything out, because they introduce the film’s themes up front, but “CAMP” sometimes falls into the trap of inviting more questions than it’s willing to answer. As a queer-themed tale of sisterhood and witchcraft, “CAMP” is bound to find a cult audience while also alienating others.
The notion of carrying grief through every step of life is not a new concept in movies, but what Fast does here will resonate. When Emily’s father suggests she goes to the camp to work as a counselor, he thinks he is suggesting something that will help his daughter and reignite her spark. The truth is, Emily will carry her guilt for the rest of her life. Grief — and the guilt associated with her grief, in particular — does not come with an expiration date or gift receipt. What Emily learns from the four counselors is that she can still find community and not hide for eternity because she’s “marked by tragedy.” While it can feel a bit shaggy and shapeless at times, “CAMP” is bound to become a group of friends’ favorite midnight movie.
“CAMP” opens at The Little Theatre on Friday, July 3. Tickets and showtimes here.
Matthew Passantino is a freelance film critic and a member of the Critics Choice Association and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association.
