Hell of a Summer

As one of my most anticipated films of the year, it's genuinely disappointing to be let down by Hell of a Summer. While the movie does a solid job of paying homage to iconic camp slashers like Friday the 13th, Sleepaway Camp, and The Burning, it ultimately doesn't offer much beyond the nostalgia factor. The humor feels relatively mild, and while that could be forgivable if the film leaned more heavily into its horror elements, it doesn't quite succeed in that regard either. Despite a few moments of tension, there's a striking lack of satisfying kills. In fact, out of the entire film, I counted only one on-screen death, which was a missed opportunity for a more engaging horror experience.

That said, Hell of a Summer still has its bright spots. Finn Wolfhard stands out as the film's highlight-marking the first time I can say he's truly been my favorite part of a movie. Though his comedic timing isn't always perfect, his style of humor, which resembles comedian Daniel Avidan (aka Danny Sexbang of Ninja Sex Party and Game Grumps), works well. Wolfhard's dynamic both on and off-screen with Avidan is noticeable and adds an interesting layer to his performance.

In the end, Hell of a Summer is a letdown, but it's not without its redeeming qualities. I've certainly seen worse movies, and I'm willing to give the two first-time directors a second chance, hoping they'll take what they've learned from this project to improve their future work.

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.

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)

The plot of the film is messy and uninspired. Most of the humor in the movie fell flat to me and it doesn't balance comedy and horror much at all. The story could've been told in thirty minutes if you cut out all the random running scenes where they go pretty much nowhere. The villain's costume was cool and some of the kills delivered but most of it was a canoe to nowhere. I still have to give credit to Finn for directing a theatrical release film at 22 years old but I just hope to see him evolve as a filmmaker and try on some different hats when it comes to storytelling. Honestly wait for this on streaming if you really want to see it.

This a Gen Z film and cast try to retry the Camno Horror genre with flat results. Finnland as a director set to create an original retake, was just another imitation.

It features a young cast, but most of characters didn't deliver the humor, that film critics claimed that the film had. Gore effects are minimal with most of killing off screen.

As an independent film, it feels very weak, could have really challenge the genre's tropes. Some critics has compared it's story to Scream and Sleep away Camp franchises.

Other claimed that the characterization hasa modern twist on 80s era antics, I didn't see them.