Beyond the Occult: How Director Avalon Fast Captured ‘Sacredness’ and ‘Magic’ in Her New Film ‘Camp’
With her sophomore feature, Camp, Canadian writer-director Avalon Fast solidifies her reputation as one of independent horror’s most visually distinctive new voices. Released in theaters by prominent genre distributor Dark Sky Films, the movie centers on what Fast playfully describes as a wonderfully specific subgenre: "A bunch of girls in the woods doing weird stuff." Moving beyond the traditional trappings of standard survival slashers, Camp blends a dreamy aesthetic with deep-seated themes of adolescent friendship, queerness, and the occult, offering audiences a singular, slow-burn cinematic experience that prioritizes mood and sensory texture over conventional jump scares.
Filmed on location in a remote, densely forested environment, the production of Camp relied heavily on its natural surroundings to cultivate an atmosphere of isolated mysticism. Fast and her creative team sought to evoke the inherent "sacredness" and "magic" of the wilderness, utilizing natural light, shadow, and ethereal camerawork to elevate the film’s witchcraft-centric narrative. This organic, highly collaborative approach mirrors the DIY filmmaking ethos of Fast’s 2022 breakout debut, Honeycomb, which was shot on Vancouver Island. With Camp, Fast refines this hands-on methodology, transforming the logistical challenges of a remote shoot into a powerful visual asset that emphasizes the characters' disconnect from the modern world.
The acquisition of Camp by Dark Sky Films—a distributor renowned for championing boundary-pushing indie genre cinema—underscores the growing market appetite for alternative horror. By centering queer perspectives and female camaraderie within a supernatural framework, Fast’s latest project aligns with a modern resurgence of feminist folk horror. Rather than treating its witchcraft elements as a source of pure terror, the film positions the occult as a medium for self-discovery and intimacy. This thematic depth, combined with its striking lo-fi visual palette, positions Camp as a compelling entry in contemporary cult cinema and marks Avalon Fast as a director to watch.