Hell Fest is a slasher flick set in a horror-themed amusement part of the same name. It is directed by Gregory Plotkin, whose only other feature-length directorial work was Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension. Amy Forsyth stars as Nat, with Reign Edwards as her best friend Brooke, and Bex Taylor-Klaus as Brooke's roommate Taylor. Nat has been away at college for a long time, and drops by Brooke's house to catch up over Halloween. Brooke convinces her to go with her and Taylor to Hell Fest, and when they get there they meet up with some of their guy friends Gavin, Quinn, and Ash, played by Roby Attal, Christian James, and Matt Mercurio, respectively.
I loved the group-of-friends-at-a-theme-park setting, as it reminded me of whenever I'd go to Six Flags or Universal with my friends, so it was instantly relatable at that front. There's a scene early on where they're mapping out their plans for touring the park, and a good few scenes where they're just running around having a good time, which all felt very realistic and fun. It took me a bit to warm up to Nat, as she plays the pessimistic, perpetual-downer kind of person, but she does get better as the movie goes along. Gavin was the exact opposite as the handsome, yet shy and awkward, adorable guy crushing on Nat, and I instantly loved him. I also have to mention Bex Taylor-Klaus, as she will be a very polarizing part of this movie. I absolutely love Bex. I originally saw her as the character Sin in the TV show Arrow, and I quickly became a big fan of hers. I think she's awesome, and she was a big part of the reason I went into this movie in the first place. She plays a kid who is just infatuated with all things horror and has a ridiculously good time at this park, to the point where I'm sure a lot of people will find her extremely annoying.
The Hell Fest park itself is simultaneously the best and worst idea for a theme park ever. I've personally been to a few haunted houses, but nothing on the scale of a full-blown amusement park. The beginning of the movie, and some scenes throughout, make it look like it'd be a blast to visit with a good group of friends. However, its very theme also easily makes it a nightmare for security and guest safety, which this movie, as a slasher film, obviously dives into head first. The movie takes a lot of familiar horror cliches, but for the most part uses them well. The jump scares are earned by default as the group is, of course, in a horror park, so there are always going to be actors and animatronics jumping out at them. I like to make predictions during a scary movie to see if I can figure out how things turn out, and while I was right about some things here, I was pleasantly surprised about a lot of others. I appreciated how smart and resourceful Nat grew as the movie went on.
There was one stand-out scene in particular with a ride that reminded me of the Haunted Mansion from Disney World mixed with a bit of The Mummy from Universal. I won't spoil what happens, but I thought it was a very well done scene with some shots that were creepy, and still also really sad and thought-provoking. I found a lot to enjoy about this movie, but there were a few things that didn't quite make sense to me, and I think could mostly be chalked up to occasionally poor editing.
On the whole, though, I was very satisfied with Hell Fest. I thought it was a lot of fun, and while it doesn't have the best competition (looking at Slender Man and The Nun), it might be the best horror movie to come out this year.
Review of Hell Fest
