By Eileen Fortner, Staff Writer

[Neon; 2025]

Rating: 7/10

Summer is just around the corner—maybe even a slasher summer! Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard have just released their first feature film, Hell of a Summer. Set at a summer camp just before the kids arrive, the film features the counselors fighting for their lives. It is an all-around hilarious take on the traditional summer camp slasher. 

With this film being set in the present day, there was a worry about how they would handle the presence of phones and social media within the film. That being said, the phone issue was combated by simply taking the counselors’ phones away! And that eventually led to their demise. However, with one character giving up her phone a little too easily for someone who was obsessed with being an influencer, there was bound to be a twist. A twist that was just simply a perfect read on Gen Z and their obsession with fame and clout. 

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From the very beginning of the film, the cinematography was foreshadowing future events to come perfectly, though sometimes that makes the twists in the film easier to see. It worked for a funny teen slasher. 

Many complaints about this film is that there was a lack of on-screen kills, but they fail to point out that the set up of the kills were amazing. 

Two things that could have been wildly improved are the on-screen fight scenes and the bad slideshow editing in spots, even though the on-screen fights being bad kind of added to the comedy of the film. It needs to be said, though, that this film had no big-name songs on the soundtrack; rather, there was just one amazing ’80s horror movie-inspired score, and it worked out perfectly. 
Overall, I would say that the screenwriting is all-around hilarious and clever. Billy Bryk shared on the @hellofasummermovie Instagram that one of their main inspirations was the film Wet Hot American Summer, and it could not have been clearer. When it comes to summer camp horror films, it’s hard to take them seriously because I have yet to see one that does not hit a cliche. But when you add elements of a coming of age and comedy, it’s easier to enjoy them.