Nobody puts baillee in the corner

Hell Fest, Blood Fest, and Haunt make up my 2018/2019, masked killer with some slightly paranormal undertones trifecta. I chose Hell Fest because it was the first one I saw of the three, and the ending is just :chef’skiss:.

Hell Fest focuses on Natalie, who after returning home on a break from college, reunites with her friends and potential love interest for a night of spooky debauchery at…Hell Fest. As is the common theme in all of the movies we discuss here, things do not go as planned. 

I love Hell Fest because it lives in The Strangers, “because you were home” camp. We have a glimpse of a motive, but we don’t find out what drives our killer. There’s no flashback or cold open. There isn’t a big Scooby-Doo mask reveal. There’s only the word squelching coming across my subtitles about 50 times and a delightful little ending. 

Unlike some of the other movies we’ve covered, Hell Fest is a blast to watch alone or in a group. If you ask me (and you’re not, but you’re stuck here), I would pair this with some of your favorite pizza and beer, or if you’re not a big drinker (because I’m not), some good ol’ Dr. Pepper. I would also FULLY recommend watching this with Blood Fest and Haunt, just with the one hitch being that Haunt is more serious that the other two. 

On that note, I’ll leave you with this: whatever you do, just let masked men take your photo booth photos. Trust me. 

Hell Fest is now streaming on Netflix, Blood Fest is now streaming on Prime, and Haunt is now streaming on Shudder.