This review includes spoilers regarding Netflix’s Fear Street trilogy.
For three consecutive Fridays, Netflix premiered the Fear Street trilogy, based on the works by R.L. Stine (who also created the Goosebumps book franchise), rekindling the glory of the slasher sub-genre. Fear Street is not just a horror trilogy featuring nudity and violence, but also a narrative portraying a story that is relevant to current issues such as homophobia, even if its storylines are set in the 1600s, late 1970s, and early 1990s. Relatable stories based on real-life struggles are usually what people are looking for these days, making Fear Street even more compelling despite being a horror movie. With that, Fear Street utilizes its potential by not overcompensating or underrating its villains and stakes unnecessarily, leaving the bigger picture to be predictable and problematic with each sequel.
Most modern slasher films—with the arguable exception of Happy Death Day and Hush—haven’t had the best luck living up to the reputation of John Carpenter’s Halloween. The reason most horror movies today don’t fare well is that they try too hard to pay homage to the classics that they ultimately were not received well but Fear Street does not suffer from this. On the contrary, Fear Street occupies a separate realm as opposed to other horror franchises out there like The Conjuring. The interwoven trilogy outdoes those unfortunate expectations by comprising movies that really showcase the feverish passion the director, Leigh Janiak, and the writers’ room have for horror flicks. Their love for the genre crossed over with their talents, crafted a memorable trilogy.
With that in mind, the Fear Street trilogy features a recurring theme within its main narrative, which involves how past lives walk freely to haunt the people who have no prior involvement in their horrendous events.
Part One: 1994
Part One takes place in 1994 where Deena, her brother Josh, and her friends Simon and Kate protect Deena’s ex-girlfriend Sam from being murdered by resurrected Shadyside killers, introducing the ‘curse of Shadyside’ allegedly placed upon the town by witch Sarah Fier. Part one left us with so many questions unanswered possibly as a cliffhanger, and audiences following the weekly premieres were impatiently waiting for more, further proving that – ignoring its flaws – the trilogy was set up exceptionally with this first installment.
Although it was fun when it paid homage to 1996’s Scream, it wasn’t enough to make it as exciting as its sequels. From the way killers were unsettlingly putting themselves together from combusted chunks of body parts to the love story that got us rooting for Deena and Sam, it was clear that Fear Street was paving a way for slasher films to be worth enjoying once again by taking it one step at a time.
Even if 1994 was unlike anything I had seen, Fear Street would have been forgotten by the end of the week if it were a standalone. Compared to the other installments, this introduction didn’t spend much time including metaphorical instances to keep your eye on (or at least ones you won’t need to pay attention to once you’ve watched the sequels). But the clear reference is how past horrors affect the characters through the knowledge of Sarah Fier herself. Residents of Shadyside were fed with the allegation that Sarah Fier was the main cause of the town curse with no evidence whatsoever, easily turning the allegation into nothing more than a scary bedtime story. But it seems that Fier’s tale is also used as a tool of bullying amongst high school teens to those not conforming to their perspective of popularity. However, the curse is real, and those who accidentally find Fier’s body will be targeted to be murdered by resurrected Shadyside Killers. From both points of view, victims are left wondering why anyone would leave a town cursed for the sins of someone who died centuries ago, causing generational trauma that leads to nothing but an open-ended mystery.
To summarize, Part One is, unfortunately, the lesser of the trilogy. If audiences had fun watching 1994, it was because they hadn’t caught wind of Part Two and Part Three. It cannot be said that Part One is worth missing, but its sequels manage to string the main story along even if Part One didn’t compel its viewers enough.
Part Two: 1978
Part Two heads back to 1978 with a soundtrack chock-full of late 70’s favorites that get overlooked by the massacre of Camp Nightwing. Immediately after Part One, Deena, her brother, and (the possessed) Sam head to meet C. Berman, the sole survivor of Camp Nightwing. To learn what had happened, Berman recalls the events that sucked our heroes into 1978, a sequel that is the more violent entry within the Fear Street trilogy.
Unlike Friday The 13th (the film that was paid homage to), camp counselors are not the only ones getting murdered in this sequel. Apart from the killing of teenagers, Part Two also includes another piece to the Sarah Fier puzzle. The audience learns about the deal Fier made with the devil that caused the town’s curse, setting in motion the events in camp along with a final plan that will, unfortunately, fail to set up the events for Part Three.
Part Two dials the slasher mode to a whole new level of stakes and possibilities while audiences figure out which Berman sister is the actual survivor of Camp Nightwing. Part Two also utilizes Sarah Fier’s curse as a tool for stereotyping and alienation, taunting children considered as ‘geeks’ or ‘nerds’ or generally ‘outcasts’ to be born this way due to the curse.
How past lives haunt a character is apparent in how this massacre affects Christian Berman’s life. Although known as being the only survivor, the title she holds is also a little redundant since teenager Nick Goode, the future sheriff of Sunnyvale, also survived. Did nobody care that he survived except Berman (even if she regretted it afterward)? Berman is left to deal with the trauma through undiagnosed OCD and paranoia, constantly wondering if the resurrected killers had learned of her survival due to their attempt to kill her Berman and her sister after finding Sarah Fier’s lost hand, showing her inability to walk away from it all. When Deena asks Berman for her help, she is reluctant to recount any detail of that time but ultimately gives in to save Sam, proving that she had been subconsciously waiting to finally defeat Sarah Fier’s curse once and for all.
This second entry is slasher galore, and even if it is ranked the lowest in the trilogy according to ScreenRant, fans of the horror sub-genre might think otherwise due to the writers’ non-obligated feelings towards fan service to let any character—whether written to hate or root for—survive this unsurvivable massacre.
Part Three: 1666
Part Three manages to tie up all loose ends in the least freaky way possible, even if it was inspired by The Witch and Blair Witch helmed by Robert Eggers and Adam Wingard respectively, both of whom focused more on causing goosebumps than relying on jump scares to entertain audiences.
With all the actors from the previous installments returning to play roles in the year 1666, you can’t help but wonder why Netflix didn’t have the budget to hire a new batch of actors to play this era. According to an interview she did with Collider, director Leigh Janaik made the decision due to the overarching themes within the trilogy and how both characters played by the same actors, with similar characteristics and motivations, had different fates, again tying into the trilogy’s main focus of fixing what happened in the past. Having Deena live through Sarah’s last few days is not only smart, but it also allows Deena to feel more comfortable accompanied by familiar faces as she uncovers the truth.
In the end, audiences discover how the true origin of the curse stayed a secret for the Goode family to continue prospering while Sunnyvale thrived, leaving Shadyside as collateral. It will definitely bother audiences that Sarah was framed for her crimes, having every firstborn son of the Goode family tree get away from being known as the real cause of the curse. Instead, Fier’s name was tarnished and ridiculed for over 300 years, while the promise she made to Solomon Goode that he and his bloodline would be haunted until the day the truth was finally revealed lives within anyone who finds her body or lost hand.
Steering away from the theme of how past lives haunt the characters this time around, Part Three dives into how Sarah Fier was easily framed for the crimes of someone else due to her sexuality being the taboo catalyst or, in this case, the markings of a devil worshipper. This is not a surprising assumption coming from a time where homosexual acts could be considered demonic or a sign of possession. With the explanation Janiak gave to recycle actors for this third part, that intention is proved through the similarities between our unlikely hero Deena with Sarah Fier and their closeted lovers. This queer subplot, portrayed in different variations within the trilogy, will allow its audiences to admit that while we may have come a long way from murdering people for their sexual orientation, there is still much more room for improvement.
Part Three wasn’t exactly the most scare-worthy entry, but considering the writing and shock value as well as the subtle incorporation of real-world issues such as LGBTQ+ discrimination and lackluster leaders, this final installment does not disappoint. Its ending is left open-ended reminiscent of the original Jumanji, leaving room for more stories to be told about nosy teenagers wreaking havoc, leaving the residents of Shadyside (and possibly, Sunnyvale too) to suffer the consequences… again.
Verdict
Flaws aside, Fear Street is one hell of a ride for horror and non-horror fans alike, especially when it blends the slasher sub-genre with supernatural elements all throughout the trilogy. There were no plot twists until Part Three, one that audiences will not see coming (well, at least until they reach the 40-minute mark and figure it out) because the trilogy didn’t jump at the chance to pull out its revelation until the final installment, proving that the franchise didn’t completely rely on it to be successful.
It is safe to say that the 2021 adaptation of the classic Fear Street has achieved what was once thought improbable, and has managed to set a sustainable benchmark for future slasher films.