Neon is currently on one of the hottest success streaks of all time in the independent film scene and is looking to continue this trend well into 2025 by acquiring a variety of films, including Hell Summerthe directorial debut of Stranger Things’ Finn WolfhardFresh from the success of Long-legged – which recently crossed the $100 million mark at the box office – the company shows no signs of slowing down. It has already sold Osgood Perkins’ The monkey on the list of upcoming films for next year, as well as the highly anticipated psychological horror film by Steven Soderbergh, Present.
According to Variety, Neon has the rights to Wolfhard’s Hell Summer to expand its offering for 2025. The horror comedy slasher, which premiered at TIFF last year, was produced by the two Stranger Things Star and his Ghostbusters: Life After Death Co-star Billy Bryk. On the surface, it seems to be a completely ordinary slasher filmbut don’t be fooled. At the TIFF premiere of their film in 2023, the duo made it clear that they wanted to make a film that turns Generation Z stereotypes on their head.
Our main topic of conversation was how annoying it is to watch new teen movies and how poorly our age group is represented. And we thought, “Why don’t we just do it?”
A campsite, supervisors and a masked killer bring Hell Summer to life. Both Wolfhard and Bryk wrote the film and acted in it along with Fred Hechinger (Thelma, Gladiators 2), who also serves as executive producer. Check out the simple, Friday the 13th-like summary below.
“Hell of a Summer is about counselors preparing Camp Pineway the night before the campers arrive when a masked killer begins slaughtering the staff.”
Shaun of the Dead served as inspiration for Hell of a Summer
When done poorly, horror comedies can be an absolute disaster. Most of the time, they rely too heavily on one genre and forget about the other. This imbalance causes the film to try too hard to figure out what it is. When done right, however, horror comedies can be considered cult classics that continue to delight audiences for years to come. evil Dead is an example, as is Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Deadwhich Bryk cites as inspiration Hell Summer.
“For us, this was kind of the epitome of a film that pays tribute to classic horror films while also being a really great character-driven comedy. So I would say this is a film where people are given full license to be weird and narcissistic in the face of death.”
Downtown Hell Summer is a death list written by the film’s masked antagonist. However, the victims are not ranked by a revenge factor, but by “attractiveness and popularity.” Initial reactions to last year’s TIFF were positive, with Deadline calling the film “A distinctive cinematic work that is both a tribute to the slasher genre and a reinvention of it.”
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Neon is now on the podium, thanks to Immaculate, Long-leggedand the recent release of cuckooThere is no doubt that they are trying to maintain their position as one of the hottest independent film companies. Hell Summer continue their winning streak? We’ll have to wait until 2025 to find out. We’ll have more news on Wolfhard’s directorial debut, including a release date and trailer, as soon as they’re available.
