Hell Fest

Hell Fest (2018)

48% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 29 reviews)

Runtime: 89 minutes

Directed by: Gregory Plotkin

Starring: Amy Forsyth, Reign Edwards, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Christian James, Roby Attal

From: Several different companies

If only more people liked this or gave it a chance...

I get if someone doesn't care for the movie; Lord knows there are plenty who didn't, judging from sites like this and CinemaScore. Personally, I thought this was a lot of fun and while it doesn't have all the hallmarks of an 80's slasher, I was definitely reminded of one and this not doing so well at the box office probably means in the future we'll continue to get the same old same old at the box office when it comes to the genre... including PG-13 crap like The Bye Bye Man and other movies I understand are putrid, such as Truth or Dare and Slender Man.

The plot is rather straightforward and in fact they don't waste much time at all in getting to the titular Hell Fest. It is a traveling carnival which visits various wooded areas during the Halloween season. A group of friends attend this event one night and unfortunately for them, a masked killer is after them. Admittedly, you don't know too much about any of the leads as there isn't a lot of characterization with them aside from stereotypes-although that certainly can be said about many slashers from the past-such as the nice lead girl, the dude the lead girl has a shine to, the horny male characters, and a punk rock girl who is rather brash and is incredibly blunt.

Among the kills are only two moments that could be described gruesome (although they were definitely impressive) and unlike most 80's slashers you don't see any breasts... otherwise this did feel like one of those films. For me this had many assets. The cast was at least fine; those that were led to believe due to the advertising that Tony Todd would have a big role... he doesn't. Lead girl Natalie is definitely likable as someone who is too busy due to school/work and I am sure many can relate; Amy Forsyth did a swell job with the role. Hell Fest itself looked awesome with its rural setting and colorful haunted houses, along with all the costumed wonders scaring the patrons at any and all opportunities. The aesthetic and mood were great.


Mix in entertaining horror setpieces and like I said I wish this movie would have fared better in the court of public opinion. What they did with the villain and their identity was a neat twist; it certainly led to a chilling finale. Maybe this will earn more fans once it reaches disc and streaming.