by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A bunch of good-looking young people travel to a secluded and wooded location away from civilization. Something sinister is about. People starting showing up dead. There is a twist (maybe two). Most importantly, there are some absolutely brutal dismemberments and killings that shock us. Yeah, you probably would have stopped me after that first sentence. Hell of a Summer most likely did not have an interesting elevator pitch. But young star Finn Wolfhard, now jumping into the director’s chair, is great at channeling the modern youth, and found a way to get this tired premise off the ground. Along with his co-director Billy Bryk, he crafted a quietly delightful horror romp.
What point is there in me giving you a plot setup? I would either give you (our lovely readers) absolutely nothing to go off, or I would spoil the whole thing. So here are the cast of characters in front of us: Fred Hechinger plays 24-year-old Jason coming back for one last round of camp counseling. He loves this job far more than any of his fellow counselors, and is the biggest loser of all his peers, which only adds to his charm. Our resident wannabe cool guy Bobby is played by Bryk. The no-nonsense and clever Claire is portrayed by Abby Quinn. She and Jason might just have a little somethin’ somethin’ going on. Wolfhard cleverly assigned himself the part of Chris, the most charming male feminist ever conceived. Playing the wisecracking and fun Shannon is Krista Nazaire. Rounding out the counselors are Insta model hopeful Demi (Pardis Saremi), jock Mike (D’Pharaoh Woon-a-Tai), vegan Miley (Julia Doyle), thespian Ezra (Matthew Finlan), and Ari (Daniel Gravelle).
This is a wonderful group of young people to follow through this classic camp tragedy. I am more than interested in giving it another watch just to watch more of the interactions and little intricacies in each character. This vibrant and diversely talented cast makes the movie for me. The time with them feels genuine and authentic to a group of barely adult morons just trying to get some money, get laid, and get tan over the summer. It makes me yearn for the days of being like this. So props to this full cast. They are incredible individually and collectively.
What keeps us in when the plot starts to turn scary is the delightfully evil cinematography. It feels like there is something sinister around every corner, and the lingering in a darkened room heightens the tension. Not to mention this horror movie full takes advantage of the glorious outdoors. Shots of a roaring fire or two people walking in the woods highlight the talents of cinematographer Kristofer Bonnell. A lot of horror movies of this ilk don’t often take advantage of their beautiful setting, but Bonnell knows how to photograph a campground.
Now about the aforementioned twist: I think my logical brain gets far too involved and trusting in what has been presented in front of us. In other words, I am really bad at predicting twists. But in hindsight, it seems pretty lazy what the twist ends up being. Again, it still worked on me; BUT I did not love it. Our adversary’s motivation is pretty thin.
All in all, that is truly my only critique of this picture. It is an easy and breezy and fun time at the cinema. You could totally enjoy it at home, as well on a dark Friday night with a good group of movie watchers. I hope Wolfhard gets more chances to make movies. He has the “it.” The way he pulled all these actors together to make something this easily relatable and fun — the kid from Stranger Things has a bright future ahead of him.
Rating: Loved It
Hell of a Summer is currently playing in theaters
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