Hell of a Summer
Directed by Billy Bryk, Finn WolfhardWhen 24-year-old Jason Hochberg arrives for counsellor weekend at his beloved Camp Pineway, his biggest problem is feeling out of touch with his teenage co-workers. Little does he know; a masked killer has murdered camp owners John and Kathy and is preparing to strike again.
Hell of a Summer Ratings & Reviews
- OliviaApril 11, 2025I want to watch it for free
- Catalan4lifeMay 30, 2025Pretty slow and boring. Some decent parts.
- jackmeatMay 22, 2025My quick rating - 5.0/10. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like if Scream, Wet Hot American Summer, and a PG-13 afterschool special had a lovechild—and then immediately abandoned it in the woods—you’d probably still end up with something slightly more frightening than Hell of a Summer. More fitting words for this are "competent" and "average," which I doubt are anything any aspiring creator is shooting for. We meet Jason Hochberg (Fred Hechinger), a 24-year-old man-child who returns to Camp Pineway as a counselor, even though he clearly hasn’t matured past camper. Jason’s main struggle is connecting with the teen staff, who all seem like they walked off the set of a bad TikTok series. And if you thought Jason Voorhees was the biggest threat to summer camp, well… buckle up. Hechinger’s portrayal of Jason is so whiny and awkward that it makes you want to root for the killer just to shut him up. I know I was. And maybe that was the point? If so, bravo, Fred—mission accomplished. If not, well, somebody needs to apologize to the audience. Directors Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard (yes, that Finn—Stranger Things’ resident spooky kid turned indie auteur) attempt a meta-slasher send-up with a retro 80s vibe, but forget one crucial thing: slashing. The kills mostly happen offscreen, probably because the killer was too embarrassed to be seen with this script. And when you do get some action, it’s over quicker than Jason’s ability to hold eye contact. Instead of gore, scares, or even suspense, the film serves up a buffet of overcooked personalities. Every character is a walking cliché: the jock, the shy girl, the try-hard, and of course, the guy who makes you question why you’re watching this at all. There’s a twist reveal, but it’s delivered with the subtlety of a whisper in a hurricane. Blink and you’ll miss it. Don’t blink? You’ll wish you had. Wolfhard’s involvement both behind and in front of the camera is the biggest flex here, but even he seems like he’s doing a high school project that accidentally got picked up for distribution. The movie wants to be Scream but lacks the self-awareness, the blood, the boobs, and, frankly, the budget. There’s a nostalgic slasher flick buried somewhere beneath all the shrieking and pointless dialogue, but it’s been smothered by an unwillingness to commit to the genre. It’s like ordering hot wings and getting a plate of unseasoned tofu sticks. Yes, technically still food, but why? In the end, Hell of a Summer doesn’t just pull its punches—it never bothers to throw them. It’s too timid to be scary, too clumsy to be funny, and too focused on Jason to be tolerable. The only real horror here is realizing this might be the new generation of slasher films. The filmmakers are 25 & 22, so they do have plenty of room to grow.
- ZokkiieSeptember 26, 2025Kinda messy and all over the place. A few funny bits, but mostly felt like it dragged and didn’t really know what it wanted to be. Not terrible, just nothing special.
- Connor Is SwagSeptember 21, 2025I don’t really feel like this movie was meant to be a “horror” horror movie. I feel like it was meant more to be comedy, and people misunderstood it. I was laughing my ass off most of this movie. I will admit though, I was really tired, and I get giggily when I’m tired
- NirupamMay 21, 2025Hell of a bummer that most of the kills in this were offscreen. The film is funny though, it got a bunch of laughs out me. I just wish that it delivered on the “slasher” aspect. A horror comedy still has to do the horror part well, y’know. I think Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk should just do a straight up comedy film next.
- scarlettatsuhiroSeptember 1, 2025Not bad but also kinda mid , good enough to add into your slasher - serial killer movie playlist
- BrendanB84August 24, 2025Turned it off when I realized I was staring at my phone for 39 minutes. Boring
- Allie TranMay 2, 2025It was a lot of fun and parts of it made me cackle pretty hard. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of the twist and felt a bit disconnected from the characters, and the humor was also a bit inconsistent, this was still a great debut for first time directors stepping into the horror comedy scene and I found it funny.
- CallumAugust 21, 2025Your average run of the mill ten summer slasher film
- JamieLettuceApril 10, 2025Average unfortunately. The movie offers nothing new in terms of retro camp slasher. Leans more into the comedy in the horror comedy realm. Some funny dialogue but the lack of cool or gory death scenes was a miss. Better as a streaming watch than a theater watch.
- niclasnjJuly 13, 2025Not enough stupied teens getting killed, easy to predict the murderers
- Kevin WardJuly 1, 2025-you think they’ll have weenies? -what? -you think they’ll have weenies? -why aren’t you saying hot dogs? Has its moments, and I’m beginning to love Fred Hechinger, but otherwise this was kind of disappointing. Kills too few and far between and the humor has more misses than hits.
- ricomckeeMay 26, 2025Starts out like it could be something special from some actors who have been in enough horror and scare shows to know what to do and what to avoid. Unfortunately, they don't. The great idea unravels quickly to be a rip off of much better B movies and this ends up being forgettable before it's even ended.
- ozzdoggMay 14, 2025Even the actors couldn't bring this terrible story to life
