Hell of a Summer review
A better summer camp comedy than a slasher movie.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Hell of a Summer
Directed by Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard
Written by Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard
Starring Finn Wolfhard, Billy Bryn, Fred Hechinger, Abby Quinn, Krista Nazaire, Daniel Gravelle, Julia Lalonde and Matthew Finlan
Hell of a Summer Review
I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out. An old joke from an era where hockey was as much about violence as the talent on the ice. You know…before we learned about brain damage and watched so many of those contracted tough guys die long before their time. Hell of a Summer is like watching a summer camp comedy and then a slasher movie tries to break out but never really manages to in a meaningful way. It’s a pretty good summer camp comedy. As a slasher movie however…it’s a pretty good summer camp comedy.
That doesn’t have to be viewed as negative. Even though you’re reading this on a horror movie review website. Most slasher movies don’t have such a solid foundation of great characters and snappy writing to fall back on when their horror aspects fall flat. Honestly…it isn’t even that Hell of a Summer’s slasher parts fail. It’s that they only succeed (if not exist solely) in service of the summer camp comedy. As if it was engineered from an idea to make a likable camp comedy and thinking “what kinds of wacky things happen at summer camp?” In that regard…masked killer is a fine choice. As long as you don’t bring the expectations of a masked killer hunting camp counselors with you to the movie.
Hell of a Summer opens like a horror film. The owners of Camp Pineway are quickly dispatched by a killer in a devil mask. It was at this point I became concerned with how much effort Hell of a Summer was going to put into its slasher parts. The first kill happens off camera. The second is an admittedly cool bit…with an equal lack of gore effects. The worry turns out to be well founded. Hell of a Summer stages most of its violence off camera…in shadow…or in post-kill reveal. The effects that it uses are fine…but the effort to make them stand out is lacking. This is something you’d generally find in a much lower budget movie. The movie finds some artistic ways around it…usually delivering something entertaining…but the slashing takes a backseat.
The story doesn’t do any better handling its twists and turns either. There’s an obvious mystery aspect to the masked killer story. Hell of a Summer has a decent endgame (more on that in a bit) but shows its hand in an odd way. Just a cut to a new scene and it’s telling you what’s happening with zero build or care put into it. Because that’s the next beat the comedy needed…slasher be damned.
On to that endgame…there is a moment around the end of act 2 where Hell of a Summer presents a brilliant idea. A way to turn the tables on the usual slasher third act completely. To redefine the survivor/killer dynamic in a way that could be a total blast to watch. It should be obvious by the tone in which this was written that the story doesn’t follow up on it in a way befitting the idea. This is the one, true, disappointment in Hell of a Summer. The rest are creative choices made to benefit something that works. There’s an underdeveloped idea in the end, however, that could have been special in any genre.
So, you’re probably asking yourself at this point in a review that sounds largely negative, what does Hell of a Summer have going for it? It’s a genuinely fun movie with a great cast playing funny characters. As a summer camp comedy…this is good stuff. Even the choice to (mis)appropriate a slasher story into the proceedings works for the comedy. The more that the characters have to react to…the better. It feels like a camp you’d like to visit full of people you’d like to hang out with. It’s the hardest aspect of the slasher movie…and the one that Hell of a Summer effortlessly pulls off.
In the end…it’s enough. Hell of a Summer is an enjoyable watch that, honestly, didn’t need to be a slasher movie to work. Yes…having a higher stakes story elevates some of the fun. But the expectations a slasher fan will bring to Hell of a Summer will go largely unfulfilled. And, let’s face it, slasher fans are the most likely group to turn out for it. What they’ll find is a surprisingly enjoyable comedy with a wonderful cast of characters. It also happens to be a slasher movie. Just not a very good one.
Scare Value
There’s a lot to enjoy in Hell of a Summer. A surprisingly small amount of that is slasher related. The movie works well as a light comedy about colorful camp counselors…but doesn’t do anything interesting with the slasher aspect of the story. Still an enjoyable watch. Just don’t expect to feel satisfied if you are a fan of slasher movies.
3/5
Hell of a Summer Link
Buy tickets on Fandango
