A New Jason Lives in Horror Comedy ‘Hell of a Summer’ [TIFF 2023]
Emily Gagne
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If you’re a horror fan and you hear the name Jason, one specific mama’s boy likely comes to mind. Hell of Summer, which had its World Premiere as part of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness program this week, aims to change all that.
Starring Fear Street and The White Lotus Season 1 standout Fred Hechinger, Hell of a Summer is a teen twist on the summer camp slasher formula courtesy of first-time feature directors Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk. Applying what they learned on the sets of Stranger Things and Ghostbusters: Afterlife (in which they both appeared), Wolfhard and Bryk make their first stab at collaborating behind the camera with mixed results.
Hell of a Summer follows, you guessed it, a guy named Jason (Hechinger) who has spent a few too many years working at Camp Pineway, Wolfhard and Bryk’s take on Crystal Lake. Like the iconic horror villain, Jason doesn’t quite fit in with his peers. Only Jason isn’t a little boy, he’s a grown, 24-year-old man. And there’s nothing he looks forward to more than summers at Pineway.
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It’s not to say that Jason is pathetic—he’s actually quite a sweetheart, out to make sure everyone is having the best camp experience possible. But no one else is on his level, the rest of the clichéd counselor crew preferring partying to pitching tents (at least in the literal sense). His outsider status makes him a prime suspect when bodies suddenly start piling up, especially given his archery expertise.
While there are quite a few young actors in Hell of a Summer, including Wolfhard and Bryk as best bros Chris and Bobby, Hechinger is the film’s true star. You are rooting for him every step of the way, even as you are constantly asked to question whether he should be trusted.
Unfortunately, the script isn’t always on Hechinger’s level, with recurring jokes about peanut butter allergies and tofu burgers inspiring more eye rolls than belly laughs. But Bryk is another highlight, his puca shell necklace-wearing himbo bringing the majority of the film’s physical comedy. And there’s a great Ouija board gag that I’m surprised hasn’t been done before.
In the end, Hell of a Summer is more of a comedy than it is a horror film. Most of the kills are off-screen and none of them are scary. But as Baby’s First Slasher Flick, it may just do the trick.
Wolfhard and Bryk aren’t saying anything new with Hell of a Summer, especially with similarly themed movies like The Final Girls and You Might Be the Killer already in the canon. But the Friday the 13th movies weren’t saying much either and I ate them up as a final girl-obsessed teen. I imagine the next generation of horror fans may do the same with this.
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Hell of a Summer
Summary
Fred Hechinger kills it as the lead of Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk’s horror comedy, which is more focused on guffaws than gore.
