When I first saw the trailer for Hell Fest, (released in 2018) I was actually really excited. I thought at worst it'll be a little kitschy with some good kills. The idea of a deranged killer stalking teens during an outdoor haunt at Halloween sounded great to me. Hilarious I know since you all already know how I feel about Haunted Houses. However, this movie could not have disappointed me more. It wasn't the slasher flick I had so eagerly anticipated. Not to mention, when you say Tony Todd is your film, it might behoove you to put him in more than two minutes of the movie. Hell Fest starts out with a girl being stalked in an unnamed Halloween Haunt and getting strung up like the props in the rest of the room. So, strong start right? What follows is a mishmosh of semi awkward dialogue and a movie that definitely takes itself too seriously. The only people that seem to be having fun is the couple that clearly takes Halloween and haunts very seriously and their deaths were wholly unsatisfying. Although I did enjoy the nod to Zombi 2 with the eye stabbing. There are some good taunts in this film, decent jump scares, classic "we couldn't find him/there was no one there" in an otherwise weak movie. To show the masked killer's collection at the end was delightfully unnerving, but to have it end with it being a random dad as the killer was weak. While it sets you up for an expanded story within the universe, this is one (or many) sequel(s) I will not be watching.