When a group of camp counselors arrives at Camp Pineway to start a new summer season, they find themselves stranded and stalked by a masked killer. Written and directed by Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk, Hell of a Summer is a loving homage to the campy horror of ‘80s slasher flicks.
Leading the pack is Jason (yes, his name is Jason…at a summer camp), played by the movie’s MVP, Fred Hechinger. Overly enthusiastic, Jason is 24 and probably (definitely) far too old to still attend Camp Pineway as a counselor. But he loves the place and is eager to cling to his youth before starting adulthood as a lawyer. He’s one of the only likable characters, desperately trying to hold the place together, even as the counselors are being picked off one by one. You root for Jason, even when you suspect him of being the killer, and Hechinger delivers with on-point comedic timing and vulnerability. He is by far the movie’s strongest performance.
The rest of the characters aren’t overly memorable, but they lean into the proper archetypes – the jock, the loser, the popular girl, the loner, etc. They all make the same stupid decisions you see in ‘80s horror movies, and there are very few you actively root for to survive. That being said, the cast has some fun chemistry, and it’s very clear they’re having fun.
But if you watch Hell of a Summer for some gruesome kills, you will probably be disappointed. The gore is pretty mild, as most of the violence happens off-screen with that all-too-familiar cutaway blood splatter. For it being a rated R film, it could have gone harder on the violence, but at the same time, I can see why it held back.
Instead, Hell of a Summer focuses more on the humor than the horror, poking fun at slasher cliches and the ridiculousness of these characters being thrown into this environment with absolutely no survival skills or common sense. The movie’s tone is playful, and while not all of the humor lands, it still delivers enough laughs to make it worth a watch.
I will say that a significant reveal halfway through the movie crushes the momentum and lessens the suspense considerably. It’s probably the movie’s biggest flaw, stealing its potential to be a really good slasher flick.
All in all, I found Hell of a Summer to be more silly than scary – which I assume is what they were going for – and if you enjoy horror-comedies that don’t take themselves too seriously, you might want to give this one a watch. It has just enough charm and nostalgia to make it entertaining, even if it doesn’t exactly reinvent the machete.
