In this horror-slasher film, Five teenagers band together to fend off the evil entity that has afflicted their town for ages.
“Fear Street Part One: 1994” is a film adaptation of Fear Street books by R. L. Stine (Goosebumps). It is the first part of the “Fear Street” trilogy, all dropping to Netflix in a few weeks.
Directed by Leigh Janiak, this teen-slasher film packs in all the fun, the nostalgia, the thrill, the style and the gore, horror movie fans will surely love.
“Fear Street” is about the town of Shadyside. A town so famously known for its numerous murders and mysteries that people start to dubbed it as “the murder capital of the United States."
Meanwhile, a neighboring town called Sunnyvale is known for its long history of zero murder or crime. It is basically the safest (and richest) city in the country. Shadyside’s complete antithesis.
But why so? What makes Sunnyvale so perfect, and Shadyside (the locals even call it “Shittyside”) so terrible?
Many Shadyside teenagers think that this is the result of a curse placed on the town by a one-handed witch, Sarah Fier. An evil woman hanged and buried in 1666.
Deena Johnson does not believe in all this nonsense. Even though her brother Josh spends all of his time talking about it; all the bad things that happen in the town are the effect of people having a bad life.
Deena, herself, knows it because that is what has been happening in a long time.
Her father is a drunk. Her two best friends, Kate and Simon, are drug pushers. And, Sam, her ex-girlfriend moved to Sunnyvale. Deena still loves her, but it is so difficult to connect with her, not with her jerk boyfriend always lurking around.
Even though these all sound terrible, the worst has yet to come for Deena.
People are starting to commit horrendous murders again. And their next target is none other than Deena’s old flame.
“Fear Street Part One: 1994” is not something as genre-bending and memorable as “Scream” or “Halloween,” but it’s something else. It’s frisky and clever, unlike most teen-slasher films. It makes use of its youth and concept to concoct a charming yet immersive movie. By the credits start rolling, it will leave you wanting more.
One notable thing about this film is how it closely resembles “Stranger Things'', although it is unintentional (since this is based on a book). It follows the same formula that makes the Netflix series effective. The film is composed of unknown actors, it is set in the past, there is a mystery to solve and it follows a group of innocent and reckless teenagers. If retro-horror is not a thing yet, then movies like this might cement it as the up and coming subgenre to look out for.
Anyway, “Fear Street Part One: 1994” makes the viewer feel and care about the main characters. A part of it is because the movie sets the characters' perceived weakness or flaw as their strength and quirk. Josh is a nerd, but his extensive knowledge about the witch makes him a valuable member of the team. Kate and Simon use their familiarity with drugs to help out. And Sam and Deena’s relationship becomes their motivation to fight for survival.
“Fear Street Part One: 1994” is not as scary as other films. In fact, it takes some time to set itself up. At first it runs around in circles, but it starts to spin away from the usual to deliver what people expect from it. Gore. And a lot of it.
That is why horror fans will surely love this film. It’s full of thrills and surprises, the two hours will just fly by like it was nothing.
If the next two films are like “Fear Street Part One: 1994”, then this is a very promising franchise that people should take notice of. Even if it is a tad generic and tropey, no one can deny that this is a fun movie experience.
4/5
Watch all installments of the "Fear Street" series on Netflix.