2018 theme park slasher flick Hell Fest ended on quite the interesting sequel tease, but thanks to low box office, a follow-up is unlikely to happen. It’s pretty rare nowadays to get a studio-made, wide release slasher flick in theaters. There’s plenty of indie slashers released in limited form, on VOD, or on home video, but most theatrical horror releases now tend to be of the supernatural variety. Yet last year, one arrived, called Hell Fest. Unfortunately, audiences didn’t seem to care.

Despite receiving decent reviews – for a slasher, mainstream critics have always hated the genre, even some of its most beloved entries – Hell Fest came and went with a whimper at the box office, earning only $18.2 million worldwide. While that was probably enough to break even against a $5.5 million production budget and additional marketing costs, it’s unlikely the film made a profit, or at least definitely not enough of one to justify a sequel. This is despite Hell Fest ending on a pretty intriguing potential sequel hook.

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While no one is claiming Hell Fest was a great slasher – the gore level was generally quite lacking – it wasn’t a bad one either, and benefited from a colorful, pleasing setting few films in the sub-genre have touched on before. Here’s why it really could benefit from a sequel, but probably won’t ever get one.

Why Hell Fest Deserves a Sequel (But Won’t Get One)

Hell Fest ends with obvious “final girl” Natalie and her best friend Brooke both surviving the killer’s murder spree, although their friends weren’t quite so lucky. Natalie and Brooke find safety under police protection, but the mysterious killer – referred to in the credits only as The Other – manages to escape. The final scene reveals a shocking secret about The Other: he’s seemingly a nice, normal suburban dad when not offing college kids in a horror theme park. He quietly returns his mask to a case containing multiple other mask variations, and hands a stuffed animal he acquired from a victim to his young daughter.

In many slasher films, the killer is someone who’s outwardly off psychologically, or has some secret vendetta against their victims. Hell Fest‘s villain seemingly does what he does solely because he can, and he enjoys it, and seems to have no personal connection to anyone he targets. Plus, he’s clearly inconspicuous enough to live a quiet life in between murders. His multiple masks also imply that he targets different parks, wearing whatever face will allow him to move about the area unnoticed. The sequel possibilities are many. Will Hell Fest‘s killer ever get caught? How many times has he gone on such a rampage? More importantly, who the hell is this guy to his family? Sadly, bombing at the box office generally ensures a movie doesn’t get a follow-up. For now, Hell Fest 2 looks unlikely to ever materialize.

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Michael Kennedy
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Michael Kennedy is an avid movie and TV fan that’s been working for Screen Rant in various capacities since 2014. In that time, Michael has written over 2000 articles for the site, first working solely as a news writer, then later as a senior writer and associate news editor. Most recently, Michael helped launch Screen Rant’s new horror section, and is now the lead staff writer when it comes to all things frightening. A FL native, Michael is passionate about pop culture, and earned an AS degree in film production in 2012. He also loves both Marvel and DC movies, and wishes every superhero fan could just get along. When not writing, Michael enjoys going to concerts, taking in live professional wrestling, and debating pop culture. A long-term member of the Screen Rant family, Michael looks forward to continuing on creating new content for the site for many more years to come.

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