A masked killer terrorizes the counselors of a summer camp.
Picture this: a summer camp staffed by counselors, shadowed by the threat of a murderer—a setup that instantly brings to mind films like “Friday the 13th,” “Sleepaway Camp,” “The Burning,” and “Madman.” In “Hell of a Summer,” Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard take on the roles of directors, writers, and actors, aiming to inject humor into the classic 1980s camp-slasher formula. Their goal is to pay playful tribute to these old-school horror flicks, yet the movie falters, struggling to find its comedic footing or generate real suspense.
The plot revolves around Jason (Fred Hechinger), who begrudgingly returns for his sixth stint at Camp Pineaway as a counselor. Despite swearing he’d never come back, he convinces his fellow staffers that the camp’s owners, John and Kathy (Adam Pally and Rosebud Baker), specifically asked for his help. When John and Kathy are called away for a minor issue, Jason steps into a leadership role—though most of the other counselors barely remember him.
Soon after settling in, the counselors become the targets of a mysterious masked killer. Suspicion quickly lands on Jason, mainly because he always seems to be the first to find the victims. The group turns against him, restraining him and planning to interrogate him for answers. He manages to break free with the help of Claire (Abby Quinn), and the two set out to find assistance. Despite the group’s earlier hostility, Jason chooses to return and try to save them. This decision leads him and Claire straight into a confrontation with the actual murderer, forcing them to uncover the truth and fight for survival.
Supplementary features include interviews with Bryk, Wolfhard, and Hechinger, who discuss their efforts to make the movie feel believable by imagining how ordinary people might react under such extreme circumstances. In reality, however, the acting often tips into caricature, which undermines the film’s claims to authenticity. Although the movie is billed as a comedy—and some exaggeration is to be expected—there’s a noticeable gap between what the filmmakers intended and what’s actually on screen.
The cast delivers adequate performances, with Hechinger channeling a bearded, youthful Tobey Maguire as Jason. The film’s deaths aren’t particularly original, but the killer’s pursuit of fame as a motive adds a chilling layer, especially given today’s conversations about celebrity and violence. “Hell of a Summer” has its moments, but it never quite succeeds as either a horror or a comedy. The characters don’t feel genuine, and the movie fails to live up to its promise as a genre-blending camp adventure. While the filmmakers’ ambitions are clear, the end result falls short. Here’s hoping that Bryk and Wolfhard’s next project will strike a better balance.
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