Hell Of A Summer (2025) spoiler free review

Come for the summer… Stay forever! Hell of a Summer is a comedy horror film written and directed by Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk in his directorial debut. It premiered on September 10, 2023 at the Toronto International Film Festival, and is set to be released on April 4, 2025 by Neon.

The counselors of a summer camp are terrorized by a masked killer.

Film synopsis

The cast includes Fred Hechinger as Jason, Abby Quinn as Claire, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Mike, Billy Bryk as Bobby, Finn Wolfhard as Chris, Pardis Saremi as Demi, Rosebud Baker, Adam Pally, Krista Nazaire as Shannon, Matthew Finlan as Ezra, Julia Lalonde as Noelle, Daniel Gravelle as Ari, Julia Doyle as Miley, and Susan Coyne.

What was supposed to be a fun-filled summer for Jason (Fred Hechinger), a 24-year-old camp counselor, quickly turns into a bloody nightmare. A masked killer stalks Camp Pineway, intent on killing all the counselors and ruining their summer vacation.

With similar elements to other slasher films like Friday the 13th (1980) and the Scream Franchise, this horror-comedy set at a summer camp lacks originality but still manages to entertain. The jokes and characters based on Gen Z stereotypes can be either enjoyable or insufferable, depending on your sense of humor. If it’s the type of comedy you enjoy, you’ll have a good time in the theater; otherwise, you might leave before the credits roll. The plot leaves much to be desired; most of the deaths happen off-screen, and the majority of characters don’t even fight for their lives. The action doesn’t arrive until the third act, and before that, the deaths lack impact. While predicting who is behind the mask isn’t easy, the revelation feels anticlimactic once it arrives. We’ve seen this before in other slashers, which undermines any possibility of originality.

The acting and soundtrack are also unremarkable turning the film average. But at least it manages to maintain the interest in finding out who the killer is. It’s notable that they decided to play it safe rather than take risks with the plot, but the potential for being a genuine good summer slasher was there.

Hell Of A Summer is now available in theaters.