Hell of a Summer (2023)

Jason Hochberg is 24, still working at the same summer camp, and every other counselor reminds him of it constantly. That running joke is the best thing in Hell of a Summer, a slasher comedy from co-directors Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk, who also wrote it and act in it. The owners leave a note about an emergency and disappear, Jason ends up in charge of a staff that won’t listen, and then somebody in a devil mask begins prowling the grounds at night. Fred Hechinger plays Jason as the most sincere, most tired guy in the woods, and the Ouija board scene that convinces everyone he’s the bad guy is a highlight. The problem is the movie never decides whether it wants to be scary or silly, so it lands on mild. It made $3.18 million on a reported $3 million budget. A 5.2 because the cast is a hoot and the scares are an afterthought. $8,634 says you text an old camp friend tonight to ask if they ever owned a devil mask.

What works: Fred Hechinger is a sweet, funny lead, and the young cast has the easy chemistry of real friends goofing around between takes.

What doesn’t: The comedy and the horror keep stepping on each other, so it’s never quite scary and only sometimes laugh-out-loud funny.

Who it’s for: Teens and twentysomethings who grew up on Scream and want a lighter camp slasher for a group movie night.