Fear Street Part One: 1994

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Believe it or not, I try to be selective in what I watch. I guess I’m a glutton for punishment. Why would I continue to watch the sequels to a movie series that wasn’t good at the outset? “It will get better” I kept telling myself. In my defense, it did — a little. The final installment improved upon an extremely weak beginning. But I suppose the real answer is I have a slavish devotion to reviewing what the public watches. Fear Street was kind of a thing on Netflix in July of 2021. It was filmed all at once and released as 3 separate chapters over a three-week span. The trilogy is based on a collection of fictional horror books written by R. L. Stine. He’s probably best known for his kid-friendly Goosebumps novels which some call the “Stephen King of children’s literature.” More than 80 million Fear Street books have been sold so I guess it was only a matter of time before they were the subject of an adaptation.

The chronicle follows a group of teenagers in the fictionalized town of Shadyside, Ohio. They are terrorized by a history of brutal murders that have plagued the hamlet for centuries . Most believe this is the work of an ancient woman named Sarah Fier who placed a curse on the community before being executed for witchcraft in 1666. Our film opens with a massacre at a mall that has closed for the night . In the historically violent Shadyside, death is a frequent occurrence. Meanwhile, the wealthier and homicide-free Sunnyvale is set up as the very antithesis of that neighboring city. The young cast includes Deena (Kiana Madeira), her ex-girlfriend Sam (Olivia Scott Welch) who is a former Shadyside resident/current Sunnyvalist, Deena ‘s younger brother, Internet/video game nerd Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.), stoner Simon (Fred Hechinger), and their mutual smart-girl pal Kate (Julia Rehwald). The young gang is trying to piece together just what is afflicting their suburb and how to fight it.

Each entry in this account seems to draw from obvious influences and then dumb it down to its lowest common denominator. Fear Street Part One: 1994 is reminiscent of Scream with a sprinkle of Stranger Things thrown in for good measure. Given that, I can’t think of one single reason why anyone should watch this over its superior inspirations. Scream wasn’t a timid film but this manages to amp up the brutality, gore, and profanity. If you crave that sort of thing then there is your reason. However, the R-rated content is presented without style or regard. In short, it isn’t scary just relentless.

Next up: Fear Street Part Two: 1978


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