Hell Fest

I felt like this film should have came out in October but close enough I guess. I actually really liked the trailer for this. Amusement park themed horrors have a lot of potential. They don't happen that often but they can be so much fun. Look at The Funhouse, that's a solid horror film. Anyways, I wanted to satisfy the horror itch with this slasher. Overall, its not the greatest thing ever but it was a fun flick. It shows off the horror themed park very well and has enough action to keep it afloat for an hour an a half.

The film is about a group of friends who get VIP tickets to a traveling amusement park named Hell Fest. The horror theme park has levels of madness where the scares increase if the visitor dares to go there. Unbeknownst to the group a deranged masked killer sneaks into the park and starts stalking the group namely the lead character, Natalie. Its hard for the group to decipher what is real and what isn't as everything in the park is filled with scares and attacks.

I thought the visuals of the park were nice. You feel like you are actually vicariously living through the park and the scares. There are bright lights, creative monsters, and rides, its all very atmospheric. The character's are terrible. Some are underdeveloped and others are just super annoying. You root for the killer in all honesty. The film has a lot of cheap expected scares and at times skimps on the gore. I was okay with that because slasher's of the past sometimes feel that way.

This is not going to be a super memorable slasher film but I do appreciate the theme of the film and was satisfied enough with the end product. The Hell Fest slasher killer doesn't exactly have a great presence and he falls into regular horror killer tropes but I was entertained with this mindless flick. Its what was needed. A decent enough intro into this upcoming month of horror.

6.5/10

Okay, when you do have teens as leading role then this flick is supposed to be for teens. When I look at it from their point then this is to notch. Story is recognizable for them, it contains falling in love, it contains suspense and it contains horror.

As an adult I look at it in some other way. The story do looks great and it should be watched around Halloween. I was into it from the first moment, which had a great opening, until the end. It never bored me and the suspense was all over the movie. Naturally as a horror geek I do look from that point. It do has one gory killing. It's a bit of a slasher, open ending. Was it good, yes, I enjoyed it. Was it bad, not at all, maybe their could have been more killings or red stuff. Is this it, well, it's above mediocre but one that you will forget shortly after seeing. Not for the gorehounds but for those easily being scared.

Gore 0,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

First let me start off, the set design and costumes were amazing. Some of the horror mazes in Hell Fest were extremely creepy. Unfortunately, the plot is a typical generic slasher movie, full of cliches. Nothing really original about this movie. I found two of the characters to be obnoxious and I was waiting for them to be dispatched by the killer. This is the kind of movie where you just turn off your brain and just go with it.

This movie was entertaining enough for what it is... a slasher flick. I'm not sure slasher type movies would ever earn 10 stars because there's usually not much acting, just a lot of screaming and running. LOL.

HellFest was a good flick to see in the theater. The misleads were fun, the graphics and style reminded me of 80's horror. You don't expect to see an Academy Award winning movie, you expect to have fun. And this was a fun ride.

I would recommend seeing this movie if you like campy, fun, slasher-horror movies. Not sure why it would only get 1-2 stars,...you saw the trailer and knew what to expect for the most part.

The eponymous Hell Fest setting is certainly the most impressive part of this film. We are treated to a number of fascinating backdrops, costumes, and effects as our characters travel the seemingly massive horror park. Some of the kills are done quite impressively with practical effects. Finally, the villain has a very nice understated design, and their "reveal" or lack there of I quite liked.

Unfortunately, there's quite a few parts that left me and other viewers frustrated. We have usual cliches of our victims acting painfully stupid. We have oddities such as when the park begins to evacuate, they don't think to turn on any of the lights or shut down the rides.

Very close to a great Halloween flick, but a few eye rolling cliches really hold it back.