American Horror Story: 1984 – Camp Redwood

By: Kelly Kearney

In its ninth season and “American Horror Story” heads back to an era when feathered haired heroines and masked killers reigned supreme at the box office. In the 80’s low budget slasher films flooded the big screen and Ryan Murphy’s homage to those horror films, ones that many would say defined a generation, feels both familiar and at the same time brand new. The latest iteration centers around an escaped killer targeting a group of young camp counselors in the woods of California. Add an infamous real-life serial killer to the mix and these neon wearing, horny twenty-somethings are in for the summer of their lives…perhaps their very last summer ever.

A Cruel Summer

“If it feels good, do it,” says a teen girl whispering into the ear of another teenage girl in bed. It’s threesome time with two blonde females and one mullet sporting dude. For anyone who knows 80s slasher flicks, sex is always off limits. If you don’t want to die, you’ve got to keep it in your pants. It’s as simple as that. Apparently, these three teens did not get that memo. As the three start to get down to business, a killer emerges from the shadows to slice and dice their good time. The killer cuts the teens’ ears off and adds them to a makeshift necklace full of ears. Not only is this killer unapologetically brutal, he’s also pretty crafty. As the camera pans away from the murder scene, we see the killer has been a very busy maniac. The cabin is dripping with blood and on the floor are a slew of earless dead teens.

After an 80s opener that would make Bananarama weep, we flash forward to 1984 where we meet Xavier (Cody Fern), Montana (Billie Lourd) Ray (DeRon Horton), Chet (Gus Kenworthy) and Brooke (Emma Roberts). The group is decked out in their workout clothes and sweating through their Aqua Net bangs for a group aerobics class. After some pelvic thrusts and flirting between Chet and Brooke, the latter hits the showers where she meets the playful and very interested Montana. The two quickly bond, thanks to their more than friendly chemistry, and it’s not long before Montana introduces Brooke to her friends. The group somehow get on the topic of a recent serial killer in the news who’s been terrorizing Los Angeles with his Satanic crimes. The Night Stalker (A/K/A Richard Ramirez) was a real-life murderer and a repeat character in the “AHS” universe. On the serial killer topic, Brooke imparts some of her wisdom on why hot summers lead to a spike in killings. She claims the spike is due to people sleeping with their windows open. It’s easy access for anyone looking to add killer to their resume. Brooke has done her macabre homework and the group of friends is so impressed they welcome her into their clique. We soon learn that Xavier is a struggling actor who thinks he’s the next DeNiro and considering this takes place in L.A., who doesn’t think that? Besides his method acting, he’s also lined up a gig to work as a counselor for a local summer camp. With The Night Stalker in the news and the Olympics descending on Southern California now would be the best time to get out of the city and commune with nature. He invites his friends to come along since Camp Redwood is looking for counselors. All but Brooke jump at the chance to make some money at what is basically a vacation in the woods. Brooke explains she’s taking a summer class to be a vet assistant, so she passes on Xavier’s invite.

After her workout Brooke goes home where she grabs a bite to eats, takes off her jewelry and heads to bed. In the middle of the night a man enters her apartment and attacks her while she’s sleeping. The intruder demands she hand over her jewelry and as she points to the box where she keeps her valuable trinkets. The man violently tosses her around her bedroom. He leans over her and demands she “swear on Satan” that what was in the box was all of it. Then, he stalks her through the house and introduces himself, “You’re gonna be famous. You’re gonna die by the hands of The Night Stalker.” Before the infamous serial killer (Zach Villa) can finish her off, Brooke grabs a cast iron skillet off the stove and takes a swing at Richard’s head. She struggles to get away from him just as she hears her neighbor banging on the door and asking if she is okay. The cops are on their on their way and that’s Ramirez’s cue to leave. Brooke last sees him fleeing out her window, but not before he promises in Satan’s name that he will return to finish what he started.

Welcome to Camp Redwood

After her harrowing escape from the clutches of The Night Stalker, Brooke decides to join her new friends at Camp Redwood. She can’t stay in LA if she is on Ramirez’s hit list so getting away from the city is a smart choice. The group takes off to camp in a big van where they flirt, do drugs, drink beer and talk about the fun times ahead. The group stops off to at a gas station where they get an eerie warning from the attendant (Don Swayze) once he learns they’re headed to Camp Redwood. “Turn around,” he says. He warns, “Head back to the city. They never should’ve opened that place up again.” As the group pulls away he adds, “You’re all gonna die.”

While high and driving the back roads to camp, Xavier runs over a man (Lou Taylor Pucci) wandering in the road. All the friends pile out of the car to help him, but Xavier thinks the whole thing is a scam. The man has old wounds with dried blood, definitely not caused by his reckless driving. Since they’re in the middle of nowhere, pre-cell phone era, they all agree to take the injured man to camp for help. Xavier is unsure at first, but eventually agrees after everyone promises not to mention how the man got hurt.

When they finally arrive at camp, they’re met by Redwood’s owner Margaret Booth (Leslie Grossman). They immediately show her the injured man, claiming they found him hurt on the side of the road. Booth sends the man to the infirmary where the camp’s Nurse Rita (Angelica Ross) thinks he could be a lost hiker.  Rita promises the new counselors that the man will be alright. That’s when Margaret steps in to show the group around camp. Booth is strict and lays down the rules: no sex and no fraternizing with the campers or each other. Xavier thinks her church inspired rules are ridiculous, but Margaret is a stickler for the wholesome camp experience. She doesn’t vibe with 1984’s post-sexual revolution as it’s pornography or it’s heavy metal filth. She randomly mentions that her husband died and with his inheritance she bought this camp as a safe place for kids to have some innocent fun. She expects all her employees to follow her rules explicitly.

Mr. Jingles

Later that night around the campfire the counselors get an earful from Rita about the history of Redwood. She tells them about the massacre that originally shut the camp down – a slaying that left a stench on Camp Redwood so strong that nobody wanted to work there. As the story goes, A Vietnam veteran named Benjamin Richter (John Carroll Lynch) came home from the war to slaughter his way through the wooded camp. They called him Mr. Jingles and during the war “he liked to kill, he was good at it,” Rita says. He signed up for two tours and during that time he cut off the enemy’s hair to string their ears on it like a souvenir necklace. Eventually, the army caught wind of this and dishonorably discharged him. With his history finding work was tough, but he eventually landed a job at Camp Redwood. Nobody knew why, but one night he lost his mind and murdered an entire cabin full of campers. He attacked ten kids and only one survived. That lucky child was Margaret. She lost an ear but in processing her terror she found God. Mr. Jingles was eventually arrested and Margaret testified against him. He was found guilty, but Margaret spent her whole life trying to escape the memory of that night. It’s why she decided to turn her tragedy into a positive and buy the very camp that almost destroyed her. She’s turned her darkness into light.

Back inside the cabin the injured man from the accident wakes up to realize he, too, is missing an ear. When Brooke goes to check on him, she asks the delirious man if she can call someone for him. He mutters that the phones are down and warns her that “something bad is going to happen.”

The Escape

In another cabin the camp crew meets Trevor (Matthew Morrison) who is their boss and activities director who barges into their pot party. Montana recognizes him from the Jane Fonda Workout video, but Brooke says she loves that video and doesn’t remember seeing him. Trevor is full of himself and not just because his shorts are full of his manhood, something that Montana can’t help but notice. Her interest leads her to sneak away from her friends where she puts the sexy moves on Trevor while skinny dipping.

Elsewhere, at a nearby local asylum for the criminally insane, a female doctor pulls up to find the patients wandering around the grounds. The man in charge (Mitch Pileggi) tells the doctor that Mr. Jingles opened the cells and escaped during the chaos. We flashback to three hours before and find Jingles faking a suicide attempt by hanging. When the orderly finds him Jingles comes to life, kills the white coat, takes his keys, opens the cells and escapes through the crowds of patients. Back to the present where when the head doctor investigates Jingles’ room for any clues, she finds a newspaper clipping about the reopening of Redwood camp. Definitely not a good sign.

Mr. Jingles’ first stop is the gas station on route to the camp. He kills the same attendant who warned the group of friends about the dangers of Redwood. He steals the man’s car keys and heads toward the woods.

…And so it Begins

At camp the counselors, Nurse Rita and Trevor all gather around the TV to watch the Summer Olympics. An argument breaks out between Ray and Chet and in the scuffle, Ray cuts his hand. He leaves the cabin to wash his wound and Brooke follows him to help. The two have a moment while Jingles watches on from wooded tree line adjacent to the cabin. In need of antiseptic, Brooke goes to the infirmary where she finds more than bandages and Bactine. The hiker from earlier is dead…pinned to the wall with a knife! Brooke takes off running (mostly falling) as Jingles casually follows her. She screams for help, but nobody can hear her over the cheers coming from the TV. “He’s here,” she yells “Mr. Jingles” as she barges into the cabin. The whole group goes to investigate, but they can’t find Jingles or the hiker. Was Brooke high and seeing things? There’s no blood or body. Everyone assumes the hiker felt good enough to leave without saying goodbye, but Brooke is traumatized and convinced that what she saw was real. With no evidence of a crime they all head to bed, but later that night Brooke wakes to a ringing payphone outside her cabin. She tells Montana about it because the hiker said the phone lines were down. Brooke goes outside to answer the phone but all she hears on the other end is scratching. That’s when The Night Stalker creeps out from the woods and comes face to face with the girl who got away.