Way back in July 2021, Netflix released three separate yet highly entwined movies. Based on the books by R.L. Stine, Fear Street Part 1: 1994 came out on July 2, followed on the 9th by Fear Street Part 2: 1978 and Fear Street Part 3: 1666 on the 16th. Grab a snack because this may be a long review.
All three movies revolve around the same basic plot: Every generation, the town of Shadyside is tormented by a series of brutal murders. During the 1994 massacre, a group of teenagers decide to figure out the cause of the curse and end it once and for all. The second and third movies take us back in time to reveal how the curse started, why it has been able to continue for so long, and who is really responsible for all of the deaths.
Part 1 introduces us to our main characters: Deena (Kiana Madeira), a spitfire lesbian who isn’t afraid to stand up for herself or her loved ones; Sam (Olivia Scott Welch), Deena’s ex-girlfriend who recently moved a town over to Sunnyvale; and Deena’s younger brother, Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr), who spends way too much time studying the horrific events of the town’s past. So, most of the town of Shadyside believes that they are cursed by Sarah Fier, a witch who was executed in 1666. Deena doesn’t believe in the curse but starts to change her mind when Sam has a vision on Sarah and starts attracting previous serial killers…who should be dead. After a LOT more murders, they are led to C. Berman - the only survivor of the Camp Nightwing massacre.
This leads us to Part 2. Here, we pick up Christine “Ziggy” Berman (Sadie Sink as teenage Ziggy, Gillian Jacobs as adult Ziggy) as another main character. Ziggy is a bit of a troublemaker, which leads her to being ostracized by the rest of the campers. She gets accused of stealing and being a witch, which results in some Sunnyvale campers trying to hang her. Two camp counselors intervene and Ziggy is sent off to the nurse. The nurse, the mother of one of the previous serial killers, goes a little crazy and attacks camp counselor Tommy (McCabe Slye), the boyfriend of Ziggy’s older sister, Cindy (Emily Rudd). It turns out that Tommy is the next killer and he goes around murdering everyone. Ziggy and Cindy figure out how to end the curse but they get murdered when they try. Ah, but we know Ziggy survives. She only survives because camp counselor Nick Goode (Ted Sutherland), son of the Sunnyvale sheriff, brings her back to life with CPR. But wait, I thought Ziggy was the only….
Onto Part 3! In 1666, Shadyside and Sunnyvale are one village called Union. Sarah Fier (portrayed by Madeira) lives a rather normal life with her father and brother, though she has an uncanny knack with the family pigs. One night, the village teenagers decide to have a party in the forest. Sarah and Hannah Miller (portrayed by Welch) visit a reclusive widow to gather “special” berries for the party. There, they notice the widow has a book of black magic but they do not take the book. Instead, they go to the party, have fun, get hit on by one of the boys, make fun of him, and go have sex with each other. Needless to say, these events result in them being called witches when the town starts to go downhill. (And by “downhill,” I mean rotting food, tainted water, and murder.)
I don’t want to give too much away but we do end up back in 1994 with Deena and things do get resolved. Though the director has expressed interest in expanding the series. So this might not be the end of our friends.
Both my husband and I loved the series. I thought the acting was phenomenal. Considering a lot of the main cast played dual roles, I think they all handled it well. No cheesiness to be found.
I also thought it was brilliant to have it as a series of movies instead of just one. It gave the plot and the characters time to breathe. I normally hate scary or slasher movies. This is the exception. If you are looking for some good Halloween thrills, Fear Street is where to go.