It's that time of the year again, the leaves are changing, the air is becoming crisper and cooler, and the sounds of blood curling screams can be heard in the air. Yes, it's Halloween time and with it comes tonight's review on the latest Horror movie to grace the silver screen. Tonight, looks to be a joyful slasher film, where MTV meets thriller as a group of teens try to take on some lunatic force once more. Yes, it's time for Hell Fest, and yours truly is here to give you some thoughts on your movie going pleasures. Let's get started!
Movie: Hell Fest (2018)
Director: Gregory Plotkin Writers: Seth M. Sherwood (screenplay by), Blair Butler (screenplay by) Stars: Bex Taylor-Klaus, Reign Edwards, Amy Forsyth
LIKES:
Acting: Not award winning, but still okay, the teenage cast of Hell Fest may be slightly annoying, but the direction and acting have led to characters seemingly likeable. While not much past screaming and acting like teenagers, the group gets applause for making me believe in their terror and being the teenagers, they were designed to be.
Surprises: It's a straightforward movie, but Hell Fest did it's best to keep you on your toes as to what would happen. A blend of fake outs and take outs, the thrills will keep rearing their ugly heads in the 90-minute run time. As such, you'll be happy with trying to get an idea who will not survive the night, so kudos to that.
Fast Pace: A predictable movie like this needs to have as many antics going for it to make it worth the trip. Fortunately, the pace is fast, ever moving, and loaded with enough gimmicks to keep you entertained for the already lower run-time. So those with short attention spans should be okay on this aspect.
Funny: Face it, the stereotypes today can be very humorous if relevant or poked at in just the right manner. Hell, Fest accomplishes this tasks, making sure to work their charm into the movie to help alleviate the stress of the horror. A clever pun, good delivery of lines, and some well-time jokes are balanced well into this mix.
The Setting: My favorite aspect of the movie though is the special effect work, more so in regards to making the world come to life. Hell Fest's prop department really brought the themed event to full life in all its terrifying glory. The mazes are impressively detailed, a variety of themes to please most fans of the scary theme park ordeals. Wardrobe accomplished their task of making a beautiful display of nightmarish costumes, again in a variety of styles to play on the fears of the main characters, extras, and the audience. As for the sound effects and light shows that Hell Fest has, again, it's an impressive piece of work that integrates you into the experience first hand, and perhaps the most fun aspect of the movie.
DISLIKES:
More Character Development: I know I expect too much from this genre or type of movie, but a little more background information, depth, or something else would have been nice to see in this movie. Our crew is having fun with you, but a little more resourcefulness and brains, or some personality could have helped hook me into caring about the characters a little more. As I said, it's MTV looks, but a little more internal work is in order.
Predictable: The movie doesn't try to deviate too much from the linear presentation it tries to throw. The trailers have presented the movie well, but sadly the linearity and unoriginality don't win it points for a higher score. If you just want the straight and narrow though, you've got a real winner in this film again.
Trailers reveal too much: Yep, you heard right, the movies once again suffer from too much advertising. Hell Fest had much revealed in the confines of the public messaging service, and if you have seen enough commercials, you're going to lose the magic this movie wants to bring. Because of this the predictability goes up and the scares go down. Speaking of which...
Not Scary At All: Because of the ludicrous presentation of the teens, edging back on the scares, and the trailers, the movie is actually not that fear inducing. Yes, the villain is certainly creepy, the camera work helping a lot on this and there are some cringe worthy kills. However, Hell Fest relies too much on the jump scares, with obvious set up and ploys so deliberately laid out that one would have a hard time trying to ignore it. Nevertheless, this movie is not going to be much for the fans of the truly terrifying, and most likely worth a skip.
The VERDICT:
Overall, Hell Fest is a fun installment into the horror genre that brings laughs and cheap thrills to the mix. While there are certainly creepy aspects to the film and the setting/costumes are perfect for creating the place where horror and fun come together, it lacks that bite that good horror movies know how to execute. Still, it is a fun experience and worth checking out as a group, but if you really want the nightmare inducing thrills and the nightmare inducing images, this movie most likely won't creep you out.
My scores are:
Horror: 7.0-7.5 Movie Overall: 6.5
Movie: Hell Fest (2018)
Director: Gregory Plotkin Writers: Seth M. Sherwood (screenplay by), Blair Butler (screenplay by) Stars: Bex Taylor-Klaus, Reign Edwards, Amy Forsyth
LIKES:
Acting: Not award winning, but still okay, the teenage cast of Hell Fest may be slightly annoying, but the direction and acting have led to characters seemingly likeable. While not much past screaming and acting like teenagers, the group gets applause for making me believe in their terror and being the teenagers, they were designed to be.
Surprises: It's a straightforward movie, but Hell Fest did it's best to keep you on your toes as to what would happen. A blend of fake outs and take outs, the thrills will keep rearing their ugly heads in the 90-minute run time. As such, you'll be happy with trying to get an idea who will not survive the night, so kudos to that.
Fast Pace: A predictable movie like this needs to have as many antics going for it to make it worth the trip. Fortunately, the pace is fast, ever moving, and loaded with enough gimmicks to keep you entertained for the already lower run-time. So those with short attention spans should be okay on this aspect.
Funny: Face it, the stereotypes today can be very humorous if relevant or poked at in just the right manner. Hell, Fest accomplishes this tasks, making sure to work their charm into the movie to help alleviate the stress of the horror. A clever pun, good delivery of lines, and some well-time jokes are balanced well into this mix.
The Setting: My favorite aspect of the movie though is the special effect work, more so in regards to making the world come to life. Hell Fest's prop department really brought the themed event to full life in all its terrifying glory. The mazes are impressively detailed, a variety of themes to please most fans of the scary theme park ordeals. Wardrobe accomplished their task of making a beautiful display of nightmarish costumes, again in a variety of styles to play on the fears of the main characters, extras, and the audience. As for the sound effects and light shows that Hell Fest has, again, it's an impressive piece of work that integrates you into the experience first hand, and perhaps the most fun aspect of the movie.
DISLIKES:
More Character Development: I know I expect too much from this genre or type of movie, but a little more background information, depth, or something else would have been nice to see in this movie. Our crew is having fun with you, but a little more resourcefulness and brains, or some personality could have helped hook me into caring about the characters a little more. As I said, it's MTV looks, but a little more internal work is in order.
Predictable: The movie doesn't try to deviate too much from the linear presentation it tries to throw. The trailers have presented the movie well, but sadly the linearity and unoriginality don't win it points for a higher score. If you just want the straight and narrow though, you've got a real winner in this film again.
Trailers reveal too much: Yep, you heard right, the movies once again suffer from too much advertising. Hell Fest had much revealed in the confines of the public messaging service, and if you have seen enough commercials, you're going to lose the magic this movie wants to bring. Because of this the predictability goes up and the scares go down. Speaking of which...
Not Scary At All: Because of the ludicrous presentation of the teens, edging back on the scares, and the trailers, the movie is actually not that fear inducing. Yes, the villain is certainly creepy, the camera work helping a lot on this and there are some cringe worthy kills. However, Hell Fest relies too much on the jump scares, with obvious set up and ploys so deliberately laid out that one would have a hard time trying to ignore it. Nevertheless, this movie is not going to be much for the fans of the truly terrifying, and most likely worth a skip.
The VERDICT:
Overall, Hell Fest is a fun installment into the horror genre that brings laughs and cheap thrills to the mix. While there are certainly creepy aspects to the film and the setting/costumes are perfect for creating the place where horror and fun come together, it lacks that bite that good horror movies know how to execute. Still, it is a fun experience and worth checking out as a group, but if you really want the nightmare inducing thrills and the nightmare inducing images, this movie most likely won't creep you out.
My scores are:
Horror: 7.0-7.5 Movie Overall: 6.5