Hell Fest kept my attention throughout. It was a little intense even if the murders kind of sucked. As a fan of Scream, I knew anyone who said they’d be right back was goner. So that was predictable. Despite being a generic slasher film it was quite fun. Due to a likeable cast, nice creepy musical score and cool atmosphere for a Horror movie. The killer just has no motive or backstory. Goes after anyone and their friends who says he isn’t very scary.

Throw back to 80's Slasher films actually achieves some scary scenes from time to time. Sure, it is a tad hokey but it is never pokey. It moves at a good clip, offers some good action and few nervous laughs. Not the worst thing to see this Halloween. 7/10

This movie suffers from a little problem. It doesn't know if it wants to go balls to the wall horror with the violence and show graphic imagery, or be tame enough so those just getting into horror can be comfortable. I would say it goes for the Carpenter angle and tries to play a mystique towards it's killer. Hell Fest's greatest claim to it's name is it's location. You'd think because it's just a shitty little movie, the sets and costuming would be lame, but it's the opposite. This place almost puts Halloween Horror Nights to shame. It's so elaborate and unrealistically over the top, there are definitely some park regulation violations. The costumes are so grotesque; dripping liquid and touching visitors as they walk down the paths. I find it hard to believe this is a traveling amusement park, some of the rides are built into like the wooden bridges of the park. I don't see how they could pack all this stuff up. But if the nitpick part of your brain can ignore the limitations of reality, it's beautiful to look at. The park is beaming with lights, decorations, stage shows, and set pieces. It's probably the most detailed amusement park I've seen on film. The movie's other greatest claim to fame is it's clever idea, sticking an actual killer into this horror themed park. You'd never know who was the guy because he blends into all the scenery and actors. The mask he wears is even a park issued prop for the actors. He can just walk up and kill someone and no one would know it's for real, or even creepier, the guests would laugh it off. There's some real great shit going on with this premise and they take advantage of it multiple times. On this stage, the main character's ditzy friend is participating in a sacrificing act where she'll be put in a guillotine, but it's revealed the guy performing it is the killer that's been stalking them all night. The way the scene slows down as the lead tries to warn the guards about what's about to happen, it actually puts you on edge. You wonder will the man kill her right on stage in front of the audience, or fool the lead as part of the act. It's a great moment. The biggest issue I have with the movie comes down to parts of it's script. There are too many scenes where the killer stalks them like in the bathroom or the back alleys of the park, away from the crowds of guests. They fell into the trap of doing the "character isolated from the group" dreck. The whole gimmick is the guy can kill anyone in plain sight, and they only do it a few times. Killing the lead's boyfriend in the employee locker room sucks. Why couldn't he do it right in her face and make it seem like part of a performance? And, aside from our head girl and her surprisingly likable boyfriend, the rest of the friends are just eccentric party goers, but luckily, the way scenes are paced still makes you care who's going to die, which I can happily say about this over many other generic slashers. The only other obvious glaring issue is the last half hour, which is an overly long chase through a couple of the haunted houses. It's a fun sequence for like five minutes, but then well overstays it's welcome. If someone could just edit it down, and then put in some alternate scenes with more murders in plain sight of the crowds of visitors, this could easily be one of my favorites of the year. But as now, it's just a fun little time.

_Hell Fest_ is the recycled toilet paper of horror films: the same shit just slightly repackaged.

I had fun watching this beautifully shot but by the numbers slasher flick! You almost exactly know what is gonna happen, except for the final scene which was kinda creepy but brilliant! We have cardboard characters, a creepy mask, brutal deaths, well 2 of them anyway, a standard soundtrack and Tony Todd in a cameo! The story is simple, group of friends going to a horror festival with those living haunted houses and among the crowd, a killer is busy doing his job. A very cool concept with a lot of potential which wasn't fully utilized in my eyes. But it is awesome to look at and entertaining and if somehow it is shown somewhere and I pass by, I would watch it again. So yeah, thumbs up!