Rating: NR | Runtime: 80 minutes
Release Date: September 10th, 2024 (USA)
Studio: Cranked Up Films
Director(s): Quinn Armstrong
Writer(s): Quinn Armstrong

Now this is what I was anticipating from Quinn Armstrong’s “Fresh Hell” trilogy after loving his previous project Survival Skills. Right from the beginning of Dead Teenagers we can see something is amiss when Mandy (Jordan Myers) readies herself in the mirror before catching a strip of masking tape on the frame that says “Camera 1”. It gives her pause, but not enough to ruin the mood. She’s about to go for a walk with Ethan (Angel Ray), after all. Nothing can distract her from the possibilities love might bring on this glorious spring break vacation.

That’s not the only oddity either. There’s also a steel light stand in the woods. And a weird cable running along the side of the cabin … just like the weird cable found and forgotten during both The Exorcism of Saint Patrick and Wolves Against the World. Because despite all three of these films working as standalone pieces, they do connect courtesy of the main set. So, where the first deals in the ghosts of victims and the second in the bloodlust of monsters, Dead Teenagers zooms out to turn the craft of filmmaking into its unknown force haunting those on-screen.

Mandy doesn’t know it know it, but she can sense it. Echoes of Pastor Pat and Louis flash before her eyes either via moments from their respective films or behind-the-scenes sessions wherein they can also, maybe, see her. It’s as though the place itself holds the memories of the other productions shot there. Visions to infiltrate the minds of those currently on set despite them not knowing they’re on set. Because we’re watching Mandy, Ethan, Jamie, Ben, and Nicole. Not Myers, Ray, Maya Jeyam, Tony White, and MaryCharles Miller. They are simply living their lives as characters in this film, slowly discovering the emptiness behind their words.

That’s when their own monster arrives (Chris Hahn’s Torch). And also (as stated in the synopsis) where he dies. The question becomes whether he was supposed to perish in that instance or at all. Because what’s the point of a monster if you’re not going to let it kill anyone? No one is paying money to watch a slasher where the only blood comes from the killer’s own decapitated head. So, it’s no surprise that this beat proves to be a crucial point in the existences of both the characters and the actors (if you can even separate the two when the former don’t realize they are the latter). Everything that happens afterward is therefore presumably off-script.

Those who’ve seen Survival Skills will know this is only the start as the line between reality and fiction blurs until reality is completely dissolved. These teens try to get things back on-track if only to jumpstart time itself, going through the motions in ways that prove the writer’s words are sacred regardless of intent. Some attempt to cheat that rule to the detriment of others (blood will be spilled—more than twice the first two “Fresh Hell” films combined) while others look to become the writer themselves. It proves an ingenious thrill ride through the fourth walls of previously shattered fourth walls.

All the actors are great with over-the-top melodramatic moments and those full of the bone-chilling dread of confusion and uselessness. Jeyam’s Jamie is the type who wants control and has no qualms putting ideas into the heads of those like White’s Ben, someone who will skip like a scratched CD if not given the necessary input to push through. Myers is the most memorable (save Beau Roberts’ scene-stealing cop) due to Mandy becoming de facto lead and she doesn’t disappoint once the world around her starts switching on the fly—a feat that gets the pulse pounding thanks to Armstrong and crew’s impeccable production design and editing.

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A scene from DEAD TEENAGERS; courtesy of Cranked Up Films.