A while back, Stranger Things and Ghostbusters: Afterlife actor Finn Wolfhard made his feature directorial debut with a horror comedy called Hell of a Summer, which he directed alongside Billy Bryk, who also appeared in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray had the chance to watch the movie at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and gave it a 5/10 review than can be read at THIS LINK. The film secured a U.S. distribution deal with NEON last summer, with their plan being to give it a theatrical release on April 4th. With that date right around the corner, our friends at Bloody Disgusting have unveiled a retro-style poster that pays tribute to the famous poster for the 1981 slasher classic Happy Birthday to Me! Both posters can be seen at the bottom of this article.
Months before Hell of a Summer was officially announced, Wolfhard said that he was planning to make his feature directorial debut with “a horror-comedy-slasher movie that takes place at a camp.” Sure enough, that’s what this movie is. The story follows counselors who are getting Camp Pineway ready the night before campers arrive when a masked killer begins slaughtering the staff. Here’s the official synopsis: The film follows 24-year-old camp counselor Jason Hochberg, 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. Variety notes that Wolfhard and Bryk have said they wrote the film with a goal of upending Gen Z stereotypes.
Wolfhard and Bryk both star in their directorial effort and are joined in the cast by Fred Hechinger (the Fear Street trilogy) as Jason Hochberg, plus D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (Reservation Dogs), Abby Quinn (Mad About You), and Pardis Saremi (Career Opportunities in Murder and Mayhem).
30West financed and executive produced Hell of a Summer. Hechinger produced the film alongside Aggregate Films, Parts and Labor Production, Jason Bateman, Michael Costigan, Drew Brennan, and Jay Van Hoy. Filming took place in Ontario, Canada.
Are you looking forward to Hell of a Summer? Check out the retro-style poster, then let us know by leaving a comment below.
