Hell Fest (2018)

I went into “Hell Fest” (2019) with no real expectations. A podcast I now follow that focuses almost exclusively on the horror genre gave it solid recommendation but when I checked the user ratings on the IMDb, the general average really among all demos was about 5.5 – 5.7. So right at average. For me, that was about how I ultimately felt after it was over, although I did like the realistic—if unsettling as intended—twist at the end where the killer approaches a happy daughter he gives a little toy from the amusement park as she says with great joy, “DADDY!!!” 

That is all too chilling and anyone who has followed BTK can see how all too close to non-fiction the end truly is. And if you are a serial killer—at the end, the killer opens a locked cabinet with a few masks with pictures on one of the doors and “trophies” laid out inside—what better place to lurk, stalk, and prey upon your choice of victim fodder than a massive amusement park? And disguised as what I learned was called “The Other”, it is quite this anonymous costume, with a mask featuring a distorted nothing-face. So the killer has quite an advantage. 

And the final girl of the film, a well-cast Amy Forsythe, fits a certain profile for the killer, the sweet pretty face, long straight brown hair, just in college, and of a certain height. We never really know why exactly this type is who he prefers to stalk and eventually knife in the gut, but nonetheless Forsythe’s Natalie is the one he truly wants to finish off by night’s end. I think fans of horror haunts and “setpiece houses” (that pull from genre terrors that have peppered horror particularly since the 70s) will perhaps enjoy the aesthetic and Halloween season aficionados will especially groove to a lot of the backdrop that is almost exclusively the film…only a brief scene at Natalie’s bestie, Brooke’s (Reign Edwards) apartment, at the beginning keeps us away from Hell Fest, the amusement park with Tony Todd’s iconic dark voice telling patrons about what they are about to enter and in each ride what lies in wait for them. 

The friends of Natalie and Brooke don’t fare so well: Scream Series fans will recognize Bex Taylor-Klaus’s Taylor narrowly escapes a beheading but not the blade, Natalie’s potential beau, Gavin (Roby Attal) isn’t able to flee a mallet that crushes his head like a melon, Natalie’s beau, Quinn (Christian James) tries to help Taylor and the blade is waiting for him, and Taylor’s beau, Asher (Matt Mercurio), can’t push away a hypodermic needle right pressed in the eye. Telling security about The Other does Natalie no good because the location the gang ultimately lands is a VIP section of Hell Fest where the workers in various ghoul costumes can grab and touch the patrons that sign waivers and enter in. 

“Hell Fest” is not really as effective as something like “The Collector” but it summons the spirit of one of my favorite films from the 80s, Tobe Hooper’s “The Funhouse”. I definitely felt those vibes, for sure. You get plenty of amusement park/haunted house atmosphere, and that is a plus in its favor to me. I guess the problem is that “Hell Fest” doesn’t necessarily do anything all that different and plays it to the slasher genre vest really close. There is just so much familiarity and few real standout setpieces. 

It really is about the place itself and that ending that sets it apart. Maybe that is why the critical response from horror fans—I don’t really take into account what those in the critical community might say about it—was rather so-so. Overall, it wasn’t a bad time, though, for me. It’s colorful and macabre, pits our girls up against quite a difficult situation, allows Natalie to use her wits when it does seem there is nowhere left to turn (the hiding within a white-mask/black-cloaked gathering of mannequins, and using one of the trap-door scare gimmicks to surprise the killer are bravura examples of clever, in-the-moment smarts) while Brooke must distract the killer, and ultimately it is their refusal to go down without a fight that allows them to escape. 

Although I was a bit hit or miss with the idea that the killer could get up and leave without much trouble considering Natalie stabbed him with a pointy knife right in the upper torso—he would suffering from some type of serious bleeding but seems quite okay when at home—the twist at the end was clearly telegraphed for significant shock value. He’s done this before and undoubtedly will do so again. 2.5/5

*There is a masterful and disturbing kill where Natalie doesn't realize a girl the killer has pinned down inside a funhouse is really about to be stabbed, even telling The Other to "get on with it". Natalie tries to shake it off, but even when she sees a similar gag pulled off and the trick was revealed she just let it go. Natalie's divisive relationship with Taylor is emphasized throughout, as the latter has a mouth on her so often cracking wise and would have fit right in any post-Scream late 90s soft slasher.