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@ryan_the_nixon
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Fear Street part 2: 1978
18
Director: Leigh Janiak
Starring: Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, Ryan Simpkins, McCabe Slye, Gillian Jacobs, Matthew Zuk, Kiana Madeira, Benjamin Flores jr, Brandon Spink, Ted Sutherland etc
Shadyside, 1978. School’s out for summer and the activities at camp Nightwing are about to begin. But when another Shadysider Is possessed with the urge to kill, the fun in the sun becomes a gruesome fight for survival. Wow what a fantastic film and definitely an improvement over the first instalment which I already loved.
My first few positives would be the interesting opening and continuation of the plot. The great set up. The fantastic cinematography and sound design as well as the great younger actors. I found the opening to be really interesting, having it be a direct continuation of the first film was a clever idea, I was just expecting it to jump straight into 1978, but establishing the characters goals as well as introducing new characters and a very solid mystery and set up with the background of the Shadyside killers was great. It introduced the audience to the story of the two sisters in an intriguing way that got me invested straight away. I also found it really interesting to have the younger versions of the older characters within the film. It was a clever idea and it established what those characters were like before the first film, giving good character background and details to the characters that were missing from the first film and essential to the final instalment as well. I also thought the cinematography and sound design was excellent here. Having the setting of summer camp made for a very fun slasher experience, the film played with its surroundings and lighting extremely well for great effect, it knew exactly what kind of film it wanted to be with its disturbing imagery and well-crafted shots. The sound design was also excellent, this really built tension well, and is something this trilogy is doing excellently. Hearing the sharpening or slashing of the axe really created a tense atmosphere and also increased the tension with the characters.
My next few positives would be the chemistry between the cast, the humour. The fantastic performances, as well as the character depth and explanation to conflict, giving you more time to connect with the characters. The cast here worked brilliantly with each other, they had much more of a believable and fun chemistry than the cast from the first film who were still great. Especially Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, and Ted Sutherland. I loved the sisterly bond that the film developed on excellently and the cast was equally as good as each other. I also thought that the humour was great. It wasn’t overused, but provided that much needed break off the tension and there was a lot of fun scenes involving the camp and the competition between them that were very funny and well executed. The performances here were brilliant, the whole cast did a fantastic job. But the key standouts from this cast were Ted Sutherland, Sadie Sink and Emily Rudd. Who all delivered excellent performances here. They delivered in the emotional and comedic scenes and they made you genuinely feel for and connect with there characters which is the biggest compliment you can give to a performance; they brought the passion and intensity required for this kind of genre. I really liked the character depth and explanation to the conflict to the main two characters. What I loved about this film that was an improvement over the first for me, was that they actually spent more time fleshing out and developing the main characters, I connected with them a lot more and instead of having unexplored conflict they explained it excellently and due to both the sisters troubled relationship with their parents and not being there for each other, it gave an extra needed layer to both of their characters, it just made me more invested in the story and the characters within it.
My next few positives would be the fun elements to the film. The building of tension and tone. The excellent Jumpscares and worldbuilding. And the excellent slasher tone and gore. I loved that the film spent some time developing the summer camp and the fun activities involved within it, it just added a fresh and fun quality to it seeing the characters just have fun, and tonally it fitted in with the time period and the summer camp slashers that have been done so well beforehand. I also loved how the film built its tension and gore. It didn’t go all in with its slasher tones straight away like the first film, which I actually really appreciated. Instead, it took its time developing the characters and the fun tone. And slowly built its tension and more supernatural horror elements over the first half. This for me created more tension and an extra intensity to the film. The slasher tone and Jumpscares were also excellent. When the film started using its slasher tone to its full potential it went all out, turning the gore up to a 100 with some gruesome and realistic kills that were delightfully grim and the film went full on slasher which I truly appreciated, it felt like the film knew what kind of tone it wanted to be and it went all out which I loved. Finally, I also really appreciated the worldbuilding. Having the younger version of the characters really added to their characters in the present, and the film really built on the world of Sarah Feir and the killers excellently, both serving as an origin to the axe killer but also expanding on world that was so well set up from the first film.
I did have a few slight nit-picks with the film, largely within the first half. There was some generic set up of conflict, overreliance on exposition and a generic set up. The first third of the film was slightly generic and had me slightly concerned. The setup of conflict for Ziggy was fairly bland, her character had the formulaic role of the outsider or the troubled kid and this wasn’t expanded on for a long time, so it just felt like forced teen drama, this was soon fixed but still was a noticeable issue. I also felt like there was some moments that the film relied too much on exposition to explain conflict with Ziggy and the other campers instead of showing it which irritated me slightly. I also thought the set up for Tommy becoming the axe killer was slightly generic and predictable, it was very much easily set out for the characters to make a certain decision not listen to the cautions and you have the main plot point. It could have just had a little bit more thought put into it.
My final few positives would be the separate storylines, development to the plot, the rising of stakes. Fantastic final act and great unexpected twist at the end. I really loved the separate storylines developed for Ziggy and Cindy. It gave room for the film to grow its characters, expand the mythology and to increase the tension and stakes. Cindy developed a lot more as her character with the help of Alice (Ryan Simpkins) who did a fantastic job here. There was a lot of personal scenes between them both which was a great turning point for her character. It provided great development to the plot, as the stakes of the characters relationships as well as how many people were being killed slowly increased as we learned more about how to stop the curse. I also thought the final act was fantastic. The film increased the tension and the stakes and really pushed the characters to their limit, in an intense, gripping, and clever final act that had a surprising twist ending. Going back to the 90’s setting of the first film and learning that it was Ziggy that was alive instead of her sister was an excellently executed twist, and what the characters learned about connecting Sarah Feir’s hand with her body was a clever and fun set up for the final instalment.
Overall, Fear Street part 2: 1978 improves on its predecessor. With an intense, gory, and impactful second instalment. That focuses on its characters much more clearly, and with a stronger cast. A few generic moments within the first third aside, this was excellent and has made me extremely excited for the final film.
Overall rating 94/100
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