Released in 2018, Hell Fest is a modern take on the slasher subgenre. What’s more, it’s an amazing slasher, introducing to the world a masked killer every bit as terrifying as Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees.
College student Natalie (Amy Forsyth) returns home to visit her best friend Brooke (Reign Edwards), and is surprised to discover that Brooke is now roommates with Natalie’s former adversary, the overbearing Taylor (Bex Taylor-Klaus). Annoyed at first, Natalie chills out when Brooke informs her that not only are the three of them going to Hell Fest, a legendary traveling horror attraction, later that night, but the VIP tickets for the event were secured by none other than Gavin (Roby Attal), who has the hots for Natalie.
Along with Brooke’s boyfriend Quinn (Christian James) and Taylor’s beau Asher (Matt Mercurio), the trio and Gavin head to Hell Fest, hoping it will live up to its reputation as the greatest horror attraction of all-time.
But the six will get more than they bargained for when a real-life serial killer (Stephen Conroy), donning a mask that makes him look like just another park employee, sets his sights on Natalie. And this particular killer never stops until he’s finished the job.
One of the best things about Hell Fest is its setting. Laid out like an amusement park, Hell Fest boasts dozens of rides and mazes to get the pulse pounding. Many of the attractions are damn creepy, as are the actors working them (the haunted school was especially eerie).
More than this, Hell Fest proves the perfect setting for a slasher film because the killer can take someone out and patrons will assume it’s all part of the show! Bloodied carcasses become just another prop. We get a sense of this early on, when Taylor and Brooke tell Natalie about a tragedy from a few years earlier in Orange Grove, when a girl was stabbed to death at a haunted attraction, then strung up, hanging there for days until her body started to stink (the movie’s opening scene features this very murder, the victim portrayed by Cynthea Mercado).
The actors playing the friends / potential targets of Hell Fest have great chemistry together. We really care about all of these characters, and while we accept not everyone can make it out alive, we root for them anyway. Most impressive of all, though, is Stephen Conroy as the killer. Hidden behind a mask the entire time, he moves methodically, never running or even walking at a fast pace. Like Michael Myers in Halloween or Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th sequels, the killer in Hell Fest doesn’t need to rush around. He knows he will catch up with his targets eventually, making those moments when he does all the more intense (a scene with Natalie in a rest room had me on the edge of my seat).
There is also a great reveal at the end of Hell Fest, a final scene so strong it will have you wishing a sequel, perhaps even an entire franchise, was in the works. As of this writing, that doesn’t look to be the case, and that’s a real shame.
A solid horror film and a terrific entry in the slasher subgenre, Hell Fest is sure to become an October staple for genre fans, and will stay one for many years to come.
Rating: 9 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment