My Hell of a Summer Trailer Reaction
The recently released Hell of a Summer trailer gives an enticing look at the upcoming summer camp slasher. The new movie, which is co-directed and co-written by Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard, will be released on April 18th. Hell of a Summer appeared at the Toronto Film Festival way back in September 2023, but it’s been a long road to get a wide release. Neon purchased the rights last year.
So, what can expect from this movie? It’s clearly intended as a spoof. Not surprisingly, most of it looks derivative of previous summer camp horror films. Then again, some of the early reviews claim that the movie is “surprising” and “inventive”. It’ll be interesting to see what twists the movie will have.
The plot is exactly what you’d expect. A group of counselors are getting Camp Pineway ready when they are targeted by a masked psycho. The main character is named Jason, because of course he is. He’s played by Fred Hechinger. Jason is a free spirited 24-year-old who still loves going to summer camp just as much as he did as a kid. Even his mom thinks this is pretty weird.
After people start to turn up dead, the survivors turn to an ouija board for help. Do they think they’re being killed by a ghost? Unless the trailer is being deliberately misleading (always a distinct possibility), the killer is a dude in a red devil mask. Could this movie have both a human villain and ghosts? The trailer shows Jason, who is already an obvious red herring, being accused by the other counselors.
The 22-year old Wolfhard has never directed a feature film before. 2024 was not a great year for first time horror directors, but maybe 2025 will be better.
It’s been a long time since we had a new Friday the 13th installment, so at this point, I think many fans are starved for any entertaining Friday-style slasher flick. I know I am! Hopefully, Hell of a Summer will fit the bill.
Here’s the trailer:
