User Reviews

This movie was entertaining enough for what it is... a slasher flick. I'm not sure slasher type movies would ever earn 10 stars because there's usually not much acting, just a lot of screaming and running. LOL.

HellFest was a good flick to see in the theater. The misleads were fun, the graphics and style reminded me of 80's horror. You don't expect to see an Academy Award winning movie, you expect to have fun. And this was a fun ride.

I would recommend seeing this movie if you like campy, fun, slasher-horror movies. Not sure why it would only get 1-2 stars,...you saw the trailer and knew what to expect for the most part.

Pro - -> Liked the premise in a theme/scare park -> The villain has a frightening presence, great mask -> Filled with action from the beginning

Con - -> Didn't care about any of the characters/potential victims -> Very little clarity about the killer and his motivations -> Was too predictable

I think it is worth a watch for horror fans, better as a rental than seeing it in the cinema.

First let me start off, the set design and costumes were amazing. Some of the horror mazes in Hell Fest were extremely creepy. Unfortunately, the plot is a typical generic slasher movie, full of cliches. Nothing really original about this movie. I found two of the characters to be obnoxious and I was waiting for them to be dispatched by the killer. This is the kind of movie where you just turn off your brain and just go with it.

Watchable, but without any creativity. An extremely unsatisfying ending. The ending made it seem like they were making room for a sequel, but a film like this needs no sequel. It's questionable if it even should have been made in the first place.

October is upon us again! This means that along with the beautiful autumn colors that emerge, the spooky season of Halloween also returns. Along with the jack o' lanterns, fun size candy, and parities, this is also when the often popular haunts come to town. These haunts cater to those that want something genuinely scary, as if they've stepped into their favorite horror movies...without the serial killers of course. I've only been to a few and have had more laughs then fears. This is because I more appreciate the haunts in a similar way a stage show is pulled off.

So why are there dedicated fans that keep going further with mazes where they tough you (yes, they can do that)? Again, it's a part of the Halloween atmosphere that a part of the escapism people desire. We already know were going to survive the night, but we love to see if our internal suspension of disbelief can activate and put us in the fear we want. I can understand it can be too intense for a lot of people, but again, it's all a part of the season. It's nice to see a movie like Hell Fest to set a slasher within a haunt park.

A young college student Natalie (Played by Amy Forsyth) is visiting her former roommate Brooke (played by Reign Edwards) and classmate Taylor (played by Bex Taylor-Klaus). Not only are they going to the haunt park Hell Fest, but their meeting up with friends, including Gavin (played by Robby Attal) who got everyone V.I.P. passes (which means no line waiting). Along with the various people coming in, they see that Hell Fest of full of scare actors, several mazes to explore and even an entire land called "the Deadlands" where the actors are allowed to touch and go further with their scares.

The problem? An unnamed person enters the park and into the mazes and starts randomly killing off guests. Our heroes don't see anything wrong until this guy acquires a mask and starts to stalk them around. At first they dismiss him as a really good actor, but when friends start disappearing, they got more uneasy. Even when they try talking to security (who tells them that he can arrest someone for doing their job), they don't seem to have a lot of options. The further they get to the Deadlands, the more they feel like they've descended into hell.

So by reading this, you can already tell that Hell Fest follows a lot of slasher tropes that we've seen before; the group of college kids, unresponsive authority, walking along somewhere, killer with a mask, and such. This will definitely not appeal to those looking for a new kind of horror movie (like Hereditary). This seems to be more proud that it's trying to be a typical slasher. Because of that, I didn't mind it. A lot of it has to do with it's setting and atmosphere.

Hell Fest is full of theme park-like Halloween imagery that looks really cool. I was afraid they would try to pull off haunt mazes that only Hollywood effects teams were capable of. Instead, each maze has the right balance of over the top gory, but also over the top fakery. This feels like something that would be built at Knott's Berry Farm or Universal Studios. Part of me really wants to visit this place...without the killing of course. Even the scare actors seems spot on with some coming up to them at random points, and some in full makeup hosting scary shows about guillotines.

Story is minimal as the what's served is an excuse to show off the park. The main actors like Amy Forsyth and Bex Taylor-Klaus do fine in their parts. Their interesting enough that we'd want to visit the park with them. Even when they are eventually chased by the killer (I swear, I don't even think they gave him a name), we do want to see them survive. Also like a lot of slashers, without giving anything away, it does tease for a potential sequel in a trope manner we've seen before. I'd, however, would love to see this continue.

I'll give this seven tickets to Knott's Scary Farm out of ten. Hell Fest may be a typical slasher, but it's so atmospheric, that those that have been to these haunts will probably like it fine. It's hard to phrase it or be critical as it's also short, running no more then eighty-five minutes. It's a fun watch. So see it and understand it's all a prt of the show.

I felt like this film should have came out in October but close enough I guess. I actually really liked the trailer for this. Amusement park themed horrors have a lot of potential. They don't happen that often but they can be so much fun. Look at The Funhouse, that's a solid horror film. Anyways, I wanted to satisfy the horror itch with this slasher. Overall, its not the greatest thing ever but it was a fun flick. It shows off the horror themed park very well and has enough action to keep it afloat for an hour an a half.

The film is about a group of friends who get VIP tickets to a traveling amusement park named Hell Fest. The horror theme park has levels of madness where the scares increase if the visitor dares to go there. Unbeknownst to the group a deranged masked killer sneaks into the park and starts stalking the group namely the lead character, Natalie. Its hard for the group to decipher what is real and what isn't as everything in the park is filled with scares and attacks.

I thought the visuals of the park were nice. You feel like you are actually vicariously living through the park and the scares. There are bright lights, creative monsters, and rides, its all very atmospheric. The character's are terrible. Some are underdeveloped and others are just super annoying. You root for the killer in all honesty. The film has a lot of cheap expected scares and at times skimps on the gore. I was okay with that because slasher's of the past sometimes feel that way.

This is not going to be a super memorable slasher film but I do appreciate the theme of the film and was satisfied enough with the end product. The Hell Fest slasher killer doesn't exactly have a great presence and he falls into regular horror killer tropes but I was entertained with this mindless flick. Its what was needed. A decent enough intro into this upcoming month of horror.

6.5/10

While the idea of the movie is cool, it just becomes a by the numbers horror movie. Characters make bad decisions, lazy jump scares, subpar acting, and worst of all, it's not scary. The sets are nice though.

Honestly enjoyable. The premise isn't wholly unique, and eventually you just want the killer to hurry up and start piling up the bodies, but it was fun watching the main characters go through the theme park and at many time you may feel that you're actually going through a haunted house/maze as well.

But the movie is almost exclusively just jump scares, with little tense or suspenseful moments, and towards the end it falls into the pitfalls/tropes of the genre (he killed our friends so let's just give him a quick tap on the head and keep on running!) You can't help but shake your head and reminisce about the first Scary Movie while watching this.

Overall, it did surpass expectations and was entertaining.

You don't see me writing a review for The English Patient! So please stop trying to ruin my horror!

Today's "my opinion matters" generation is constantly trying to sway the masses by dropping cheap stabs (pun intended) at a film like this, saying it had bad acting and they didn't care about the characters. I'm not sure if anyone informed you, but this is a SLASHER film. You're supposed to turn off your brain and enjoy the ubsurdity of it, put yourself in their shoes and scream at them when they make poor decisions.

If you're going to watch a horror movie, put down your cell phone, stop tweeting, shut the lights off and WATCH it. Not occasionally look up from your Instagram feed and decide "it's not scary enough." Hashtag till your heart's content AFTER the movie is over, dork.

Hell Fest did it's job and did it's job damn well. Is it Casablanca? No. But it delivered on scares, atmosphere, a damn decent body count and definitely bent the normal slasher rules which was a welcome change.

To hell with the horror haters. Well done, Hell Fest.

Okay, when you do have teens as leading role then this flick is supposed to be for teens. When I look at it from their point then this is to notch. Story is recognizable for them, it contains falling in love, it contains suspense and it contains horror.

As an adult I look at it in some other way. The story do looks great and it should be watched around Halloween. I was into it from the first moment, which had a great opening, until the end. It never bored me and the suspense was all over the movie. Naturally as a horror geek I do look from that point. It do has one gory killing. It's a bit of a slasher, open ending. Was it good, yes, I enjoyed it. Was it bad, not at all, maybe their could have been more killings or red stuff. Is this it, well, it's above mediocre but one that you will forget shortly after seeing. Not for the gorehounds but for those easily being scared.

Gore 0,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

I would have spent more on the script than the set design. The setting was surprisingly good for a low budget movie, but come on, that dialogue? Nobody talks like that. If I were any one of the six, I would have offed the other five before getting to the main gate.

Please, do not watch this movie. The only positive thing about this film is the set design. The rest is absolutely lazy filmmaking full of jumpscares and dialogue which sounds as if it came from someone who never spoke to a different human being. It ruined a decent premise and is just a huge waste of time. Please do not watch this piece of dull garbage.

When I saw the trailer it immediately reminded me of a throwback to the 70s 80s slasher films of before with a new age twist and my impressions were correct.

The story revolves around a group friends attending a huge event called hellfest on Halloween. A serial killer who has killed before at hellfest returns and targets them slowly stalking and killing his way towards his prey.

Its not super original but again its more of a simplistic throwback like Halloween (1978)

By far the best actor in the movie is Bex Taylor Klaus she carries this movie with her energy and solid acting chops. Tony Todd is reliable as always. I thought Christian James did a good job as well. The cast has some qwerky dialogue which is a nice touch helps the characters feel more realistic but they re under developed and more simple like again in friday the 13th or halloween.

The film starts a bit rough after the intro but gets its bearings and becomes stronger as it intensifies and by the end its on point. The color palette is very Argentoesque and the environment is great. While it does have pop up scares its expected with the haunted rides and houses.

The very end of the film is ok. It should have stopped 2 mins before it did and it would ve been better but I understand what they were going for.

While other critics may crap on this movie like Chris Stuckmann did I think its misplaced or they came in with expectations that were far too high for this horror film. Im a huge film buff and horror fan and I think overall this film knew what it was and didnt try to be anything different.

Its a solid film and for those expecting a fun ride enjoy hellfest. For those expecting a citizen kane or exorcist level horror film probably skip this one

The synopsis for 'Hell Fest' is one of the best I've read in a long time. "A masked serial killer turns a horror-themed amusement park into his own personal playground, terrorizing a group of friends while the rest of the patrons believe that it is all part of the show." If that doesn't sound like a fun horror movie to you then I don't know what will. Sadly though, the actual film can't live up to the expectations. The actual product is a rather dull, "seen it all before", snoozefest if I'm perfectly honest.

The entire film takes place in a horror amusement park where characters jump out at people constantly. At first this is mildly amusing, however very quickly it becomes tedious and annoying. It is simply an easy cop-out for the director to find a jump-scare every couple of minutes. None of which are in any way effective. Then there's the actual masked killer. He really didn't do a lot for me. The mask wasn't that intimidating and I didn't like any of the characters enough to care about their fate.

What could have a been a claustrophobic, clever and original horror movie turned out to be quite the opposite on all three fronts sadly. You won't find anything in 'Hell Fest' you haven't seen a thousand times before. It's not an unwatchable movie by any means. It tries its best from start to finish, but it just never really finds its niche. Look elsewhere for a better horror film.

There's really nothing to write home about with Hell Fest. It gets the job done, but just barely. It's just a little bit smarter/scarier/more interesting than most of these films, but just enough to get an E for effort.

If Hell Fest has anything going for it, it's the cast. There are fairly likable people instead of the usual shrill stereotypes one usually sees in these movies. I did root for them and that's not something I can say for a lot of modern horror films.

Some of the effects are pretty decent including one incredibly nasty piece of Fulci-esque eye trauma, but something does feel a bit uninspired about most of the murder set pieces and, since the story itself is nothing special, it might have helped to get a bit more creative with these scenes.

While there are isolated moments of tension throughout, Hell Fest is never truly scary or shudder inducing. The killer's get up doesn't help things much. It's just not very haunted and scary. This might dull things a bit.

If Hell Fest stands out for anything, it's the unorthodox ending that might have a lot of people scratching their heads. It's certainly an interesting choice and one that might get people thinking.

This movie was boring and slow and never delivered. The kills were all super predictable and not inventive. I'm a huge fan of the horror genre and I wouldn't even rent this one when it comes out at Redbox, that's how bad it was. You never expect Oscar winning performance when it comes to horror but this gave me more of a badly made Netflix B title movie vibe. You keep expecting it to pick up and get more exciting or scary and it never does. The idea of it had so much potential but it fell completely flat. This was a huge missed opportunity. The only reason I didn't give it 1 star is that they had a good idea for the ending although it was poorly executed as well. To sum it up - save your money and rent it later so you won't be upset you wasted your money.

Here's a movie with endless potential with an ability to scare the crap out of you. And it just fails to deliver I did like the ending only because you don't necessarily see that all the time but the movie itself didn't deliver on scares it didn't deliver on even goriness I'd say. It is mediocre is it worth paying for no. The acting was OK the writing was also OK if you wanna see it see it if you don't I don't think it's gonna hurt your soul all in all I think alphas could have been Done much better.

Such a low budget predictable movie. Bad acting, poor storyline, not worth a minute of your time. Feels like they had around $50 to spend on a movies for Halloween so they decided to bring that ugly story alive. AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!!

I probably can't add much more here, but I felt I had to step in to push aside the haters. I love a good slasher flick and this film really hits the spot! Great costume design and soundtrack too! Highly recommended.

Hell fest is a movie about a murder who resides in a haunted amusement park. While not exactly an original concept, it was an entertaining way in looking at it. My biggest problem with the movie was the acting. There was many moments throughout when I didn't feel the acting was believeable the beginning in particular. I also disliked the antagonists mask. I feel they could have gone with a cooler looking mask. Overall I enjoyed the movie for what it was. A fun slasher. I really liked the kills and suspense throughout the movie which is why I give it a 6

The best part of this film was the interesting Hell Fest theme park, which looked like a lot of fun. The worst part is everything else.

It's that time of the year again, the leaves are changing, the air is becoming crisper and cooler, and the sounds of blood curling screams can be heard in the air. Yes, it's Halloween time and with it comes tonight's review on the latest Horror movie to grace the silver screen. Tonight, looks to be a joyful slasher film, where MTV meets thriller as a group of teens try to take on some lunatic force once more. Yes, it's time for Hell Fest, and yours truly is here to give you some thoughts on your movie going pleasures. Let's get started!

Movie: Hell Fest (2018)

Director: Gregory Plotkin Writers: Seth M. Sherwood (screenplay by), Blair Butler (screenplay by) Stars: Bex Taylor-Klaus, Reign Edwards, Amy Forsyth

LIKES:

Acting: Not award winning, but still okay, the teenage cast of Hell Fest may be slightly annoying, but the direction and acting have led to characters seemingly likeable. While not much past screaming and acting like teenagers, the group gets applause for making me believe in their terror and being the teenagers, they were designed to be.

Surprises: It's a straightforward movie, but Hell Fest did it's best to keep you on your toes as to what would happen. A blend of fake outs and take outs, the thrills will keep rearing their ugly heads in the 90-minute run time. As such, you'll be happy with trying to get an idea who will not survive the night, so kudos to that.

Fast Pace: A predictable movie like this needs to have as many antics going for it to make it worth the trip. Fortunately, the pace is fast, ever moving, and loaded with enough gimmicks to keep you entertained for the already lower run-time. So those with short attention spans should be okay on this aspect.

Funny: Face it, the stereotypes today can be very humorous if relevant or poked at in just the right manner. Hell, Fest accomplishes this tasks, making sure to work their charm into the movie to help alleviate the stress of the horror. A clever pun, good delivery of lines, and some well-time jokes are balanced well into this mix.

The Setting: My favorite aspect of the movie though is the special effect work, more so in regards to making the world come to life. Hell Fest's prop department really brought the themed event to full life in all its terrifying glory. The mazes are impressively detailed, a variety of themes to please most fans of the scary theme park ordeals. Wardrobe accomplished their task of making a beautiful display of nightmarish costumes, again in a variety of styles to play on the fears of the main characters, extras, and the audience. As for the sound effects and light shows that Hell Fest has, again, it's an impressive piece of work that integrates you into the experience first hand, and perhaps the most fun aspect of the movie.

DISLIKES:

More Character Development: I know I expect too much from this genre or type of movie, but a little more background information, depth, or something else would have been nice to see in this movie. Our crew is having fun with you, but a little more resourcefulness and brains, or some personality could have helped hook me into caring about the characters a little more. As I said, it's MTV looks, but a little more internal work is in order.

Predictable: The movie doesn't try to deviate too much from the linear presentation it tries to throw. The trailers have presented the movie well, but sadly the linearity and unoriginality don't win it points for a higher score. If you just want the straight and narrow though, you've got a real winner in this film again.

Trailers reveal too much: Yep, you heard right, the movies once again suffer from too much advertising. Hell Fest had much revealed in the confines of the public messaging service, and if you have seen enough commercials, you're going to lose the magic this movie wants to bring. Because of this the predictability goes up and the scares go down. Speaking of which...

Not Scary At All: Because of the ludicrous presentation of the teens, edging back on the scares, and the trailers, the movie is actually not that fear inducing. Yes, the villain is certainly creepy, the camera work helping a lot on this and there are some cringe worthy kills. However, Hell Fest relies too much on the jump scares, with obvious set up and ploys so deliberately laid out that one would have a hard time trying to ignore it. Nevertheless, this movie is not going to be much for the fans of the truly terrifying, and most likely worth a skip.

The VERDICT:

Overall, Hell Fest is a fun installment into the horror genre that brings laughs and cheap thrills to the mix. While there are certainly creepy aspects to the film and the setting/costumes are perfect for creating the place where horror and fun come together, it lacks that bite that good horror movies know how to execute. Still, it is a fun experience and worth checking out as a group, but if you really want the nightmare inducing thrills and the nightmare inducing images, this movie most likely won't creep you out.

My scores are:

Horror: 7.0-7.5 Movie Overall: 6.5