2021
Director: Leigh Janiak
Starring: Kiana Madeira, Benjamin Flores Jr., Olivia Scott Welch, Julia Rehwald,
Fred Hechinger, Ashley Zukerman, Gillian Jacobs, Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, Ryan Simpkins etc.
Slasher is a subgenre of horror films that your pal here might’ve just finally realised she loves. The genre has provided some timeless classics such as the Friday the 13th, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Streets film franchises, all films that have shaped horror ever since their release but sadly, in modern days it’s been hard to find slasher films that are as exciting as those were. While the psychological horror category has been thriving with haunting releases such as Midsommar and The Babadook, slashers have been slower at finding their path again.
And what a better way to get back to it than adapting the works of the man that has kept a whole generation of kids awake at night: R.L. Stine is most famous for his work on the children horror novels Goosebumps, but as the prolific author that he is, he’s tried his hand at a variety of horror genres which lead him to create a series of novels for an older audience. The Fear Street books were aimed at teenaged readers and it’s very satisfying to see them be adapted into a classic teen slasher series of films.
This July saw Netflix be taken over by Leigh Janiak’s three films as they got released every week through the month, their X factor being that rather than following a chronological order as most films do, Fear Street would reveal its plot while travelling back in time. So, let’s cut to the chase:
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
This trilogy’s present is none other than the nostalgic 90s and this is the time-period we’ll revert back to throughout the trilogy, it’s where our protagonists are in action trying to uncover the mystery behind what’s been happening in their little Shadyside town and their rival town Sunnyvale, but they’ll have to delve deep into the past to figure that out.
Deena (Kiana Madeira) is our lead, a strong/hot headed teenager who’s recovering from a recent breakup with Shadysider turned Sunnyvaler Sam (Olivia Scott Welch), the two are eventually brought back together by the dark events that occur. On their adventure they’re joined by Deena’s geeky brother Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.) and her high school friends: cheerleader Kate (Julia Rehwald) and comic relief Simon (Fred Hechinger). The five of them will struggle their way through a witch’s course while escaping from several serial killers, all is initially caused by one of them disturbing the course of the curse and that’s all I’ll say before I go too much into spoiler territory.
As you may have noticed, each character represents a classic trope that is often found in such films but throughout the three films they all defy what is expected of them and subvert these tropes. For example, Kate and Simon aren’t just the cheerleader and comic belief but they’re shown to be struggling to make ends meet as they dabble in drug dealing, Josh also doesn’t remain the geeky loser but becomes the brain of the group whose extensive knowledge on killers turns out to be incredibly helpful.
Fear Street 1994 has the hard job of setting up an ambitious trilogy while subverting tropes of a genre that spans decades, and while it solidly succeeds at doing both, it sometimes loses itself in its ambition as it rushes through story beats. It also struggles with too much exposition and has what you could call “cheesy” dialogue which ruins some of the more intense scenes.
Overall, 1994 is a fun slasher that doesn’t take itself too seriously and although it’s rough around the edges, it does a good enough job in setting up a thrilling trilogy and it has one of the most iconic kills I’ve witnessed in a slasher *cough* bread slicer *cough*.
Rating: 7/10
In this second part, we see our leads gaining further information on what the curse is and how it works through the help of C. Berman (Gillian Jacobs), the only person who managed to survive one of the many massacres that have tainted Shadyside. The film goes back in time to 1978 as Berman recounts the horrific events of the summer camp she attended as a kid.
The teenaged group that leads this story is formed by the headstrong Ziggy (Sadie Sink) and her older sister, the goody-two-shoes Cindy (Emily Rudd). With them there’s Cindy’s easy-going boyfriend Tommy Slater (McCAbe Sly) and her ex best-friend, the unruly Alice (Ryan Simpkins) with her boyfriend Arnie (Sam Brooks).
1978 retains the strengths of its predecessor as it again defies tropes: by the end of the film Cindy lets down her façade as she becomes a hero with Ziggy and Alice following suit. Not only does the film subvert tropes, but it does so while still being able to offer brilliant call-backs and tributes to the classic slashers that we all love, it’s no stretch to say that the Camp Nightwing Killer references Jason from Friday the 13th.
The direction feels much more confident as Leigh Janiak finds her footing and Fear Street begins to find its own identity. This film’s plot is more balanced and the film is a fun teen slasher 101, with a darker nature and more gore. In between brutal kills, the film continues to develop the witch’s curse from the previous film and develops its intriguing lore to provide enough new information for the next film but without overdoing it.
1978 spends the same amount of time both on its typical slasher sequences as well as the lore-building ones, neither ever feels neglected as they both enhance the other and are solidly developed by the end of the film. The problem of too much exposition persists as a lot of information is delivered through monologues but the increased confidence in direction, stylistic camerawork and slasher tributes do a brilliant job at making up for the film’s weaknesses.
Rating: 8/10
After discovering useful information, Deena is closer to finding out who is behind the curse and the way she can find that out is through re-living the memories of the witch, Sarah Fier (Kiana Madeira/Elizabeth Scopel). This is where the film starts, 1666 begins with a group of young people sneakily organizing a late-night party and it is Sarah Fier and Hannah Miller’s (Olivia Scott Welch) forbidden mutual attraction (or should I say dalliance 😉) that leads them to be hunted for witchcraft.
1666 might just be the most intense part out of the three films, once sh*t hits the fan the film doesn’t let you breathe as its brutal events lead to the saddest moment of this trilogy. What stood out in this part is the cinematography, while this was strong and consistent throughout the films, in 1666 you can see a change in style as more handheld and shaky shots/movements are used in order to emphasize the intensity as well as the rudimental atmosphere of the era chosen. Perhaps the accents could’ve used some more work but as a non-native speaker with no ear for accents, the accents did not seem to take away from the brilliant performances. All actors truly took it up a notch in this one, especially Kiana Madeira during you know what scene (hint: hand).
This is also the longest running film of the three and there’s a reason, midway through we revert back to the present as we’re welcomed with a 1994 Part Two title card, a very nice surprise. Knowing what they know now, Deena and Josh team up again with Berman and a new friend, Martin P. Franklin (Darrell Britt-Gibson) the Shadyside’s mall janitor, to finally take down the culprit behind everything and put an end to the curse.
I could best describe this film as a mix between 1994 Part One and 1978, while this retains all the cheesy dialogue and visual style of the first film, it also retains the stronger and confident direction found in both 1978 and 1666. On top of that, this part is just incredibly fun to watch! Not only does it take inspiration from classic slashers, but it also takes inspiration from old-school comedies such as Home Alone in the way our cast uses creative booby traps and schemes to lure and trap the culprit.
Fear Street 1666 takes the best out of its predecessors to provide a satisfying conclusion to this trilogy, it does retain some of the common weaknesses mentioned already such as cheesy dialogue and exposition, but it does so much more beyond that that it’s easy to overlook those shortcomings.
Rating: 8/10
I don’t want to forget mentioning Ashley Zukerman who plays Sheriff Nick Goode in 1994 and Solomon Goode in 1666 because he also gives a great performance. However, it would’ve been hard to not spoil things if I was to mention him in plot summaries.
In conclusion, the Fear Street Trilogy provides three fun teen slasher films that were exactly the horror fix needed after such bleak year, they progressively improved with each entry and although they may not be perfect, it’s easy to see that a lot of care and detail went into it. Despite having several tributes to classic slashers, this trilogy manages to find its own identity as it tells a heartfelt tale about a group of outcasts raising above their backgrounds and obstacles.
I can’t finish this review without talking about the representation these films offer: minority groups characters have been known to be the first to die or to be the passive token of horror films, Fear Street takes that and throws it out of the window by putting in its front and centre the queer relationship between Deena and Sam. Everything that happens in these films is because of them, and it’s a delicate representation where the focus is never on the struggles they face due to their sexuality as their caring for each other is what gets them through the terrible events they face.
I’m almost done, I promise, but I also must give a shout out to the soundtrack composed by Marco Beltrami with help from Anna Drubich and Marcus Trumpp. While the call-backs to the 70s and 90s hits were great, I must admit that my favourite piece is the evocative Maiden Rock featured in 1666, the whole soundtrack for that part is beautifully enchanting.
Trilogy Rating: 8/10
By @planetnameless
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