We talk to the cast and filmmakers about their favorite slasher films and why filming was so similar to an actual summer camp experience.
While we anxiously await the final season of Stranger Things, the cast has been keeping busy with other projects. Sadie Sink with O’Dessa, Millie Bobby Brown with The Electric State, and now Finn Wolfhard with Hell of a Summer. And while Wolfhard certainly takes a role in front of the camera, it’s his role behind the camera that gives this film a spotlight: director. Making his directorial debut alongside his writing partner Billy Bryk, the two young filmmakers are taking aim at the slasher genre. And while Hell of a Summer certainly has plenty of death, it’s more comedy than anything. You can check out Chris Bumbray’s review HERE, which I’d say is pretty spot on.
I spoke to writer/directors Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk, along with castmembers Fred Hechinger, Abby Quinn, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, and Pardis Saremi about their time making the film. Given the slasher vernacular in the film, I had to ask the writing/directing duo about their favorite slasher films. There were some absolute classics included, so as a big slasher fan myself, I was tickled. Fred speaks about why he wanted to do a slasher, while the other cast members get into how much filming really felt like summer camp. You can really tell that this was an experience that they’ll all fondly remember. You can check out the interview above (and for those that have seen the film, stay tuned till the end for some spoilery insight).
HELL OF A SUMMER plot:
Hell of a Summer follows 24-year-old camp counselor Jason Hochberg (Hechinger), who arrives at Camp Pineway thinking his biggest problem is that he feels out of touch with his teenage co-workers. What he doesn’t know is that a masked killer is lurking on the campgrounds, brutally picking counselors off one by one.
HELL OF A SUMMER IS PLAYING IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE ON APRIL 4TH, 2025.
