- Directed by Gregory Plotkin
- September 28, 2018
A group of teens seeking scares go to a horror themed amusement park soon realize the frights are most assuredly real.
Hell Fest while short on scares is a bit of a throwback to horror films of old. It is a weird premise with a themed killer. Here all the killings take place in a Halloween oriented attraction which plays on the urban legend of death occurring at one not being noticed. Who doesn’t think that it might be possible to hide a murder in a horror theme park? It’s an interesting idea that they play up for all it’s worth. They create a world where you can understand why those involved didn’t quite get what was happening to them until it was too late.
What also helps the story in this movie is that the victims are actually likable. These aren’t obnoxious and superficial kids who were designed to die by their stupidity but rather likable characters with just enough intelligence though not that well drawn out. Then again this is a slasher movie and not a deep character study. What we get is just enough to understand who they are and tell the difference in our memories.
As scares go you won’t find anything really in this. There is an adequate level of gore but it is mostly a bloody mess. Rather this film’s selling point is a sense of uncertainty. They build up a world where you don’t necessarily know if what you’re seeing is an attacker or just part of the environment in which the victims currently are. The killer here blends in with the environment by dressing/being a part of that environment. He could be anyone or anywhere or not there at all.
Natalie (Amy Forsyth), our final girl, is intelligent without being too smart for her age though as with most teenagers in horror movies she looks a touch too old to be graduating high school. You get a pretty good idea of the film’s resolution via Natalie though they do not hang a lantern on it or anything.
In the credits the killer is called The Other (Stephen Conroy) and he roams around looking like one of the staff. His face is never shown-not even in the finale when we learn a touch about him. And that in particular is a nice twist and makes him all the more disturbing. Not only could he be anyone at the park, but he could be anyone anywhere.
The sense of uncertainty of where or who The Other is propels the movie. You never know who he is or where he will show up. He wears a costume just like all the other park staff and it appears he is actually employed there. Despite the premise, the give it an ever increasing sense of plausibility as the movie continues along.
Most importantly it does not look cheap. They did not reach beyond their grasp nor did the cut corners. The knew what they had an squeezed the most out of it and made something enjoyable.
Hell Fest is a slasher film with an interesting premise and a nice ending. It’s nothing mind blowing but it is entertaining. This is a must see for horror fans but not so much for the general movie goer as it is aimed at the horror lover.
