Hell Fest Review | Road Rash Reviews

3 stars of entertaining and modern slasher flick.

Hell Fest is based on a story by William Penick (Secrets In the Walls) and Christopher Sey (It’s Christmas Carol!) with an screenplay by Seth M. Sherwood (Leatherface), Blair Butler (Polaroid) and Akela Cooper (The 100, Grimm). It is directed by Gregory Plotkin (Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension).

“Are you sexually arousing a zombie right now? Because I feel like that’s just, a lot.”

Hell Fest tells us the story of Natalie (Amy Forsyth – A Christmas Horror Story), a student who is coming home for the weekend to stay with her best friend Brooke (Reign Edwards – The Bold and the Beautiful). To her dismay, she discovers that Brooke is now sharing a house with Taylor (Bex Taylor-Klaus – The Last Witch Hunter), a former classmate with whom she doesn’t get on.

However, she’ll have to put up with it, as potential suitor Gavin (Roby Attal – Red 11) has managed to get them all VIP tickets to Hell Fest, a travelling horror night which is currently in town.

A horror themed fairground, complete with rides and mazes, the whole thing is very well put together and offers plenty of harmless jump scares and fun for our group of twenty somethings. But someone else is stalking the public tonight, a real killer operating under the cover of Hell Fest, safe in the knowledge that it will all look like part of the show.

When he turns his sights towards Natalie and her friends, they are in for the night of their lives and a desperate struggle for survival.

Hell Fest is a well written and very well presented slasher flick. It’s a really good idea for a story and the setting of Hell Fest, with it’s mazes, characters and attractions is really well done, scary and plausible and builds the tension very effectively.

Although it doesn’t really bring anything new to the table, it is thoroughly enjoyable and although the characters are underdeveloped, the acting is good and the script and the banter between them makes you engage with them quite well. There is also a pleasing appearance from the brilliant Tony Todd (Candyman).

A very good watch and well worth adding to your collection if you’re a fan of the genre.

“Look, you came here to be scared, right? I can’t arrest people for doing their job.”