Horror Movie Review: Hayfever (2022)

Credit where credit is due, Hayfever was made on a micro budget (£2000) and while it shows, the film has a good premise, good cast and is enjoyable.

Written and directed by Henry Richardson, who also stars as the character Shawn. Hayfever sees three young men: Shawn, Scotty (Oren Kemsley-Roberts) and Paddy (Ryan Skates) spending the weekend camping in the British countryside.

Two of the three suffer from hayfever, whereas the third doesn’t and is very dismissive of the others complaints. As most are who aren’t afflicted by it. Still, hayfever be damned, they’re going to enjoy their camping trip. Or at least they would if an outbreak of deadly hayfever didn’t breakout in the country while they are isolated in the woods.

This strain of hayfever is way more damaging than the usual kind though. The reactions to it are much more severe and, in most cases, it turns the person into a violent savage.

It’s a familiar story made all the more interesting because of the times we live in (2022) and what has occurred over the past few years when it comes to deadly pandemics. Not only that, using hayfever as its source means scale can be implied without ever actually being shown. There are estimated to be around 10 million hayfever sufferers in the UK alone.

Of course, limited budget means boundaries to what Hayfever can do and most of the action takes place in a woods/countryside. It’s limited to a handful of people who the trio come across as well as what occurs between them. The latter of which is where this film really stands out. The three young men have good chemistry and their banter is enjoyable to watch and listen too.

When things start to go bad, they’re isolated so left in a situation where they just don’t know what is going on. Confusion and fear create tension, especially as stated before, two of the three suffer from hayfever.

At a little over an hour long, Hayfever is tight and contained, ensuring it doesn’t feel like a chore to get through it. Sure, there’s nothing award winning here but for such a low budget and with limited resources, it turns out way better than expected.