After five years stuck in film purgatory, Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk’s directorial debut “Hell of a Summer” was released in theaters on Friday, drawing on the classic summer camp horror genre of the 1980s.
Originally written in 2019 by Wolfhard and Bryk after meeting on the set of “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” their slasher-horror movie is at home in genre with the likes of 1983’s “Sleepaway Camp” and 1980’s “Friday the 13th.”
While the aforementioned movies are nearly impossible to beat, “Hell of a Summer” works as a love letter to the genre with a modern spin.
Before going into a more in-depth discussion about the film, I think it is important to acknowledge two things: I love horror movies, and I am a summer camp counselor.
On paper this movie was made for me. It was directed by two prominent young actors from my generation, in a genre I love and a setting I am all too familiar with.
So you can imagine my excitement and bias during my watch. It was not perfect, but it was fun, campy and made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions.
The plot follows a group of camp counselors preparing for the impending summer season at Pineway Camp for a staff bonding weekend. However, they soon realize a masked killer is on the loose, killing off the counselors one at a time.
The biggest strength of the film is its ensemble. While small, the cast highlights up-and-coming actors like Fred Hechinger as the mid-20s permanent camp counselor Jason Hochberg and his fellow counselor Claire, played by Abby Quinn, who unexpectedly returns to one more summer at camp after a nasty breakup.
Jason’s arc is a highlight of the film, as the older counselor struggles to connect with his coworkers who were once his campers. He is constantly reminded that he is too old to be at camp, even though it is the only thing that makes him happy.
They are joined by their fellow counselors, each filling the role of a stereotype — a love interest, a jock and his beauty queen girlfriend, a film nerd trying to get his manuscript read, a theater nerd, an overbearing environmentalist and a goth girl who packed a Ouiji board, for some reason.
Wolfhard and Bryk also appear as Chris and Bobby, best friends returning to camp for their first year as counselors. As the film’s writers, directors and lead actors, the two were able to balance the group dynamics of teens, interacting and speaking in a shockingly real way.
Throughout the film, the group cracks jokes at inappropriate times, yells over one another in times of stress, all while sounding exactly like any other person in my generation.
The conversations flow naturally as the characters become more panicked and begin to levy accusations at one another, picking Jason as the most obvious suspect due to his age and obsessive devotion to the camp.
I couldn’t help but laugh as the characters creatively insult the poor man while trying to restrain him as he argues that he’s “only 24.”
As an audience member, you can tell the movie was made with passion and love for the horror genre, feeling similar to a coming-of-age story where the surviving staff members fight to survive. The film is heartfelt, humorous and a more than welcome addition to the slasher camp genre.
