“Hell Fest” proves the spirit of the “B” movie lives on. It is a fairly unique concept that has a lot of room for exploitation in horror films. It is just a shame that it is living in the shadow of movies that pull off their themes with much more finesse.
“Hell Fest” is about a horror festival that masks a brutal series of killings that seem to revolve around a group of very attractive college students. Each one of them might as well have a countdown displayed above their heads that, upon hitting zero, will give them the spontaneous urge to leave the group for a bit and get murdered.
In horror films, characters do not usually take center stage, as it is less about the heroes and more about the murderer. Sadly, in “Hell Fest”, the killer is what one might find at a dollar store for serial killers, the Michael Myers pack to be precise. The similarities are almost uncanny – a quiet man in a jumpsuit and a spooky plastic mask. He even recreates several scenes from “Halloween” by chasing after his fleeing victims with nothing but a New Yorker power-walk. The only difference between him and Myers is the audience knew why he was after the hero. The masked man in “Hell Fest” simply decides that he was not into making any friends tonight.
Then again, it is also fair to assume he is quiet so he does not have to take orders from the same writing that dominates the rest of the film. While not awful, every line of dialogue seems to serve no of purpose once the exposition is finished. A lot of it is just small talk; characters do not emote – they simply say things. This would be the best use of the term “one-dimensional.” Right next to the aforementioned timer, their heads could have one word to describe who they are: brave, tough and dumb.
While Amy Forsyth (Gwen Strickland, “Rise”) does a reasonable job as the film’s lead, the same cannot be said for Reign Edwards (Leanna Martin, “MacGyver”) as her resident dumb best friend. Perhaps the script was simply extra cruel to her, but she does not seem to be working with the same flow as the other actors, as if she were simply spliced into the movie.
That being said, “Hell Fest” does have some redeeming qualities. The atmosphere is spot-on. It really nails that sense of being at a traveling festival, right down to the smoke effects and costumes on the workers. The characters even react very naturally to the environment, attempting to predict scares and toying with the actors in costumes. It even manages to be very creepy with lingering shots. It always ends with the nasty man jumping out from behind the camera, but it can tend to be somewhat frightening at times, way more so than other films this season.
Audiences could do a lot worse than “Hell Fest,” and there is a lot to love. If any of the issues above are not deal-breakers, one might be able to enjoy the simple slasher for what it is. There is no deep meaning or moral to the story, as it is about a man who enjoys stabbing people and a group of young adults trying to not be stabbed. But that is how horror films have been for a long time. It is dumb, but it is dumb fun.
Image from CBS Films via YouTube.com
