Photo Credit: CBS Films/LionsgateWritten by Tom Moore
It’s probably an unpopular opinion, but as a long-time horror fan, the genre needs the return of slasher movies. It has typical character tropes, but these tropes helped re-launch the horror genre to high-acclaim and have given the film industry some of its most iconic characters. Honestly,not every horror movie needs to look like an art-house or indie film to be entertaining and it’s partly why it’s been a while since a great slasher film has hit theaters.
That’s whyHell Festseemed like it could be a promising return for the sub-genre,as its amusement park setting seemed like a great opportunity for some solid scares. Unfortunately, the film lacks much of anything scary and sets the sub-genre’s return very far back.
The film’s premise seems solid at the start,with a group of college students checking out a traveling horror festival filled with scary mazes and creatures. The film actually has some creepy imagery as well,with plenty of masked workers and some inventive mazes. It’s pretty impressive to see the relative scope and imagination that went into this setting.
Unfortunately,the amusement park setting is truly the only trickHell Festhas up its sleeve. The characters are extremely annoying and the lackluster performances really don’t soften the blow. The set of characters are basically one of two types of personalities: highly energetic or could honestly care less. Having these polar opposites together feels incredibly jarring and makes these characters feel bland. Not to mention, they are all driven completely by sex and after they try to set up the two “nerds” to be a couple, I just couldn’t stop groaning with boredom.
These character’s reactions and screams also feel manufactured and don’t feel even remotely genuine. That’s honestly the best way to describeHell Fest, as everything in it feels like a cash grab. The film plays on the recent trend of horror houses and it really shows that is all it has going for it.
Even the film’s serial killer is bland. The killer, or“The Other”as the film refers to him, has zero personality and audiences will have nothing to feel towards him since the film neglects to give him any sort of interesting backstory. Don’t get me wrong, other horror films, likeThe Collector, have their masked assailant shrouded in mystery, but those characters at least have some pretty fun kills and personalities that give audiences a reason to be interested. The Other is given few imaginative kills and is just plain generic.
To say thatHell Festis just another slasher film is a bit of an insult to the sub-genre, as it doesn’t have anything that makes the sub-genre special. It thinks it is imaginative just because of its setting, but it’s just as shallow as its characters. Honestly, if you’re looking for a great slasher film to see in theaters,Blumhouse’sHalloweenis just around the corner and it looks to be a much better watch.
Rating : 2/10
