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| Hell of a Summer poster. Courtesy of 30West. |
On Friday, April 4, 2025, I witnessed Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk's directing debut of Hell of a Summer. The cast was led by Fred Hechinger, who played the "camp leader" of Camp Pineway and tried to keep his younger counselors safe from a serial killer who crashed the bonfire. There were dark moments from the killings to the offbeat humor of the younger cast, but Hell of a Summer was a good movie with fun, sentimental moments between the cast, Wolfhard's assembling of sound and production designers, songs from bands such as The Turtles or The Animals, and throwback to old-timey things such as the camp itself with its arts and crafts center or it's non-working landline phone.
Fred Hechinger played Jason, a 24-year-old man who returned to his childhood summer camp, Camp Pineway, as head counselor. His sweet, optimistic nature was not to be deterred by his age, the offbeat humor of his mentees--be it a goth, vegan, or coward-- or being in a camp that required you to put your phone in a box. And despite the occasional bloodiness and peril, not even by a slasher.
I really enjoyed Hechinger's character. I found him relatable, and I'm glad he tried to make an enjoyable summer for the boys and girls and be a good hero for them, too. Speaking of "enjoyable summer," I learned that the film was shot in Canada, specifically Ontario. The crew made it look so beautiful from the opening with crickets to the ending. It felt like a throwback to the simpler, peaceful times.
In addition, I enjoyed the budding romance between Jason and Claire, played by Abby Quinn, and that of Wolfhard's character, Christian, and Krista Nazaire's character, Shannon. It was also funny how Bobby, played by Bryk, talked a big game to impress Shannon, Demi, played by Pardis Saremi, or strict vegan Miley, played by Julia Doyle, but chickened out at the last minute. And yet, the Cowardly Lion gained some courage closer to the end.
I could tell from the minute she got out of her car that Demi was one of those rich-girl snob stereotypes. But don't let that fool you; let's just say she had a few surprises in store as the movie went on.
Composer Jay McCarrol did a great job with the scoring. He made it sound like John Williams' scoring from Jaws, like there was dangerous string and electronic music around every corner, even when the killer hadn't arrived yet. Also, great job on sound mixing, Taylor Doherty. As I said earlier, there was good music from people like The Turtles or The Animals. Those songs may take you back to older movies when they did sing-alongs at beach bonfires.
Finally, Hell of a Summer was a good movie. It was like a reprisal of last year's Snack Shack movie combined with thriller work. Good job on the directing for Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk, lead actor Fred Hechinger, makeup department head Ashley Vieira, sound mixer Taylor Doherty, and the rest of the cast and crew. Thanks for showing that an outdoor summertime experience can be fun when you have good folks like Jason and your wits about you to thwart a killer. I only wish I could've seen the campers' faces, too.
I give a 7/10 for Hell of a Summer. Feel free to check it out at your leisure. Rated R.
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