Hell Fest

Halloween!

The weekend where people across America dress up as frightening characters, go trick and treating, and bring out the machete for some family fun. Of course the pumpkin sales go sky high, and they are of course an important part of this traditional weekend. Halloween is one of those weekends when you know it is ok to play with the chainsaw, especially if Jehovah´s Witnesses rings the door bell. This is also the weekend when you can run naked across the corn field, to make sure you are prepared for an audition for Geordie Shore on MTV. I have been a big horror fan ever since my childhood, and i always appreciate a nice blood feast, where body parts fly all over the place. This is where i feel at home, a warm cozy moment in life that i wish everyone would experience. When you talk about classic Halloween horror movies, we have so many titles to choose between. But i decided to mention two of them that actually are not that old. Let us begin with the 2005 film The Exorcism Of Emily Rose. Directed by Scott Dericksson, this is a horror film that actually managed to work really well in the exorcism genre. The acting is also really good, especially from actor Jennifer Carpenter as Emily Rose, the woman who was possessed by a demon, or was she ? I also really feel that the cinematography by Tom Stern looks really good in this film, capturing the right atmosphere for this genre. The second movie we need to mention is of course the 2007 anthology horror film Trick´ R Treat from director Michael Dougherty. A really creepy horror film, divided into different stories. What made this film so good, was that each story delivered some solid horror entertainment with a classic Halloween concept. If you love horror movies, you should buy Trick `R Treat on Blu Ray. During the Halloween weekend, cinemas will be showing horror films in many different shapes. I will be going soon to see the latest Halloween movie where Jamie Lee Curtis returns as the legendary character Laurie Strode. I hope it will be good, and i heard some positive reviews so far. Since Halloween weekend have arrived, i decided to take a look at the new Halloween horror movie Hell Fest, recently released in cinemas. Just to make it more fun, i did not read about this film online, to see if i would enjoy this film without knowing too much. A slasher film at a amusement park, is this a surprisingly good slasher, or is Hell Fest a big mess that should be avoided among horror fans worldwide ?

A group of friends head off to the amusement park known as Hell Fest, a horror influenced horror park that have especially targeted to scare young people. Natalie ( Amy Forsyth ) witness a real murder, done by a man with a mask. He seems to be following her, so she tries to explain to her friends Taylor ( Bex Taylor-Klaus ) and Brooke ( Reign Edwards ) that there is a real killer out there. But they can´t take her serious, since this is an amusement park. As the night continues, more victims are about to be sacrificed.

I had no expectations at all about Hell Fest, since i have not heard much about this film. But i have to say, in the slasher genre, this is better than i expected. This does not mean that Hell Fest is a future classic, or one of the better films in the slasher genre. I would rather look at this film as a fun throwback to the 80´s. A masked man killing young people is of course cheesy, but that is the best part of this film. I also like the fact that Hell Fest takes place in a huge amusement park built up as a ghost house, divided into different horror sections. The mask also works well, even if it is not the most effective mas we have seen. One of the things i have to mention, is that the female characters are much stronger in this film than the male characters. The three characters i am especially thinking about are actors Amy Forsyth, Bex Taylor-Klaus and Reign Edwards. When they have screen time, you feel that they deliver with their characters. The male characters are more bleak in this film, so you don´t really care about them. It is also nice to see legendary horror actor Tony Todd in a cameo here as well. The amusement park known as Hell Fest is exactly what you would want to have during Halloween. A lot of costume dressed people, wearing costumes that fits right into the theme park concept. I especially enjoyed one segment where arms are moving around in a long corridor, that seems to be from dead people, grabbing you unless you get out of the corridor. The slasher scenes with the masked man, reminds me of the classic Scream concept. And this is also something that Hell Fest knows how to do, keep it classic without making it boring. I would have liked to see even more raw killing scenes, since i feel that this would have helped Hell Fest become more fun. But as a Halloween slasher film, i cant complain too much. Sure, the story is very thin, and some of the actors are not anything you care about. But with female characters that works surprisingly well, and a slasher theme that matches the amusement park, Hell Fest manage to combine both ingredients without falling apart. If you plan to watch something new this Halloween weekend, give Hell Fest a chance in cinemas. Its not original in any way, or bring anything new. But if you love to see people be murdered, with some brutal kills and see some classic slasher ingredients, i think you might enjoy this film for what it is. I wish we had a Halloween amusement park like Hell Fest in Sweden, then even i would bring an Axe to have some fun.

Rating: DDD