Hell of a Summer

Hell of a Summer is a 2023 comedy horror film written and directed by Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk. It stars Fred Hechinger, Abby Quinn, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Bryk, Wolfhard, Pardis Saremi, Rosebud Baker, and Adam Pally. The film follows a group of counselors at a summer camp who are targeted by a mysterious, devil-masked killer.

It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2023, and was released by Neon on April 4, 2025.

Owners of Camp Pineway, John and Kathy, are relaxing by the campgrounds lakeside one night. John is murdered when an acoustic guitar is shoved into his mouth, while Kathy has a knife inserted into her skull. The killer, an individual donning a devil mask, slips away into the night.

Eleven counselors arrive at the campgrounds a day early to ensure opening operations go smoothly. Among them is 24-year-old Jason Hochberg, a frequent returner and admirer of the camp who is repeatedly nitpicked for his age. Jason is given temporary leadership after finding a note that informs him of an “emergency” between John and Kathy. Though initially hopeful, Jason quickly doubts his decision to revisit the job and finds it difficult to connect with the other counselors, which include his ex-girlfriend Claire.

The group splits up once night comes. Demi, a popular social media influencer, is violently slaughtered inside of her cabin. While doing routine checkups, Jason finds her body in bed and begs the group (who believes he's playing a prank) to escape the property. Everyone heads to her cabin, only to discover her corpse is no longer present. Noelle, a girl obsessed with spirits and the occult, horrifies the group by stating the blood in the bed is Demi's. Everyone races to their cars only to find that the engines won't start. During the chaos, two more counselors — Miley and Mike — are seemingly killed in the mess hall.

While barricading themselves in a cabin, the remaining group notices that the aforementioned duo are missing. After a randomized card drawing, Ezra, Jason and Ari leave the cabin to search for them. Inside of the mess hall, they discover Miley’s severed head inside of the fridge, causing them to flee in terror and get split up. Ari is abducted and stabbed with a knife coated in peanut butter due to his life-threatening peanut allergy. The killer drags his lifeless body away. Ezra returns to the group only to get accidentally maced with bear spray.

Tensions skyrocket after an ouija board reading (along with adamant reasoning from Ezra) which deduces that Jason is the killer. Bobby, believing that he killed everyone due to their attractiveness, ties him up. Claire saves Jason and the two escape into the woods. Claire and Jason find John and Kathy's bodies and Claire wants to flee the property, but Jason decides to rush back to save the counselors instead. Claire leaves the area in hopes of finding help. While the rest of the counselors search for assistance, Noelle is stabbed and subsequently murdered by having her head bashed in with a rock. Two killers appear, each with an identical outfit and mask.

The killers, revealed to be Demi and Mike, began the killing spree as a ploy for media success and internet fame. The unaware Chris barges into their room, and the two join the group, hiding their identities. Jason arrives and is knocked out by Mike. Meanwhile, Ezra is murdered after the killer breaks his leg so he can't run then swings an axe into his head. One of the killers is seen putting a bloody knife into Jason's hand, who is knocked out, to get his fingerprints. Chris narrowly escapes one of the killers and regroups with Shannon, but Bobby is chased by Mike into a cabin. Claire, who decided to stay behind to rescue Jason, smashes a bottle onto Mike's head.