Hell of a Summer

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.

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.

Is it horror? No, not even remotely scary. Slasher? Nope, deaths are mild and most of the time off screen. Maybe it's funny? Fail. Dialogue and jokes were cheesy and amateurish. Even the characters were unlikeable. No personality, character development or growth. It was just bad all over. I was hoping for, at least, a funny slasher... but again... deaths were off screen and lacked creativity. And while the music was good, it made no sense. It had an 80s retro sound, but the movie took place in modern times since they all turn in cell phones. Nothing about this movie was good, it made 0 sense and had a cliche plot twist that's been done 100 times.

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.

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.