Hell of a Summer

I saw the trailer for this film some months ago and it looked pretty good. As the horror fanatic I am, when I noticed that this film was out, I went ahead and watched it... It was not good at all.

The plot is the most generic thing that you can think off, a slasher in a camping in the middle of the woods. It also decided to throw away some Scream elements in there, which wasn't ideal, only making the film more predictable. The deaths are extremely bad and lack any sort of creativity. Also, for some reason, every one of them except two or three including the opening sequence are off screen. I mean, if you are going to make a bad slasher film, at least try to have some good kills, if not, it loses a lot.

The humor is flat, and the ending is predictable too. There's just nothing going for this, don't watch it.

I went to the theaters to see this one when I was bored on a Monday. I just got back from the theaters before writing this one. This movie isn't good

So basically, the movie is about a masked killer who terrorizes a bunch of counselors at summer camp. Our protagonist is Jason, a 24-year-old manchild who keeps going to summer camp after he's outgrown it. There are about 10 counselors (or thereabouts, I think)

The biggest issue is that none of the counselors are likable. In a failed attempt at humor, the filmakers make nearly all of the counselors annoying idiots and/or detestable jerks. Rather than charming or fun-to-hate, these characters are just plain irritating and not fun to watch. I rolled my eyes or grew impatient at some of the low-IQ dialogue or character actions

The movie is a comedy/horror, and it truly fails at both ... none of the movie's comedy hits the mark. The jokes are lazily written and delivered. All of the jokes are either juvenile / crude stuff or a simple "hey, look how dumb or rude these characters are." I did not laugh or smile at any time during the film.

Likewise, the movie's horror falls just as flat. The masked killers don't appear enough in the movie, and the big reveal about the killer's identity and motivations feels random and unsatisfying. I actually think the film should have tried one or the other -- go all the way as a slasher film, or go all the way as a comedy in the vein of Scary Movie. It seems the film tries to play both comedy and horror, with the effect that it achieves neither

The movie's one redeeming quality centers on the characters Jason and Claire. Unlike all the other characters, they're not annoying; and the scenes where they're alone might be the most watchable portions of the film; their relationship is nice to see. The actor who plays the Jason character is smooth. With some good writing in a better film, he might've given us something worth seeing.

3.0/10.

Hell of a Summer is a playful entry into the "camp slasher" genre, written and directed by Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard. Rather than leaning into the darker, grittier aspects of traditional slashers, this film feels more like a tongue-in-cheek homage-a lighthearted parody that embraces the tropes with full self-awareness. While some moments initially felt like weaknesses, they ultimately came across as intentional nods to genre clichés. It's not a horror film that takes itself too seriously, and that's part of its charm. Despite some of the criticism it's received, I had fun with it-and sometimes, that's all you need. Video review available on my YouTube channel.

It now makes more sense to me why it took until 2025 to release this 2023 movie. It's just not good. Below average in every category. End of review.

Fine, I'll say more. I normally enjoy the horror-comedy tone they were going for, but the comedic attempts at their best only made me smirk. The cast is extremely weak. The dialogue and story is as basic as it gets.

There is a decent opening scene with a cool kill. But then the kills are offscreen. Why? This is a slasher. I ended up quitting the movie after 45 minutes (about halfway through). But apparently most of the kills are offscreen. Just a baffling decision.

(1 viewing, 4/22/2025)

This movie was sooo bad...the jokes were fIat. The story was bad/cheap...there were no onscreen kiIIs or gore...yes there was no gore or kiIIs...all offscreen with a couple or aftermaths and one onscreen kiII...easily could be PG without the cursing...the two best scenes are in the trailer...you are better off watching All five sleepaway camp movies...yes even the last two horrible sleepaway camp films made...also the kiIIer outfit is so bad...its like devil mask from Scream Queens...VERY BASIC....if you were expecting friday the 13th, the burning or sleepaway camp throwback...you will be sad...this was a comedy that should be on HULU...I saw Scream boat and even that awful super B movie was more entertaining than this...This movie simply does nothing at all except tell fIat jokes...out of the 100 jokes they told in this movie, onIy about 5 of them landed.