Netflix’s Fear Street: 1994 Review
Directed By: Leigh Janiak
Starring: Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr, Julia Rehwald
A group of teenage friends must fight to stay alive when a rash of murderers takes place in their sleepy town of Shady Side. It turns out that evil things have been happening for 300 hundred years thanks to a witch’s curse.
A Little Background Info
I was the perfect age when R.L Stine penned the spooktastic Goosebumps; a series that has been formative for an entire generation of budding horror fans. Outside of Goosebumps, Stine also had the Fear Street series, which was aimed at a little older age range, but still considered YA (young adult).
Only 90s Kids Remember
In 2015 fans got a fairly fun but not stellar big-budget adaptation to Goosebumps and a fun but ultimately so-so sequel in 2018. So, when I heard that Stine was teaming up with Netflix to bring an R-rated trilogy of films, I was pretty excited. As if to bait me further, the first part is set in 1994, a time I recall very well (being nine at the time). Fear Street: 1994 has maybe one of the best cold openings in recent memory. It features a neon-dripped mall sequence that is as tense as it is well directed coupled with nicely timed scares. Though the movie never hits the creative high as the opener, the movie is a great throwback nonetheless.
What Worked and What Didn’t
The more cynical critics might say that it’s just a mixture of Scream (1996), It: Chapter One (2017), and a good dose of Stranger Things (2016-). While that is not entirely wrong, I think that Leigh Janiak finds a way of putting all these influences in a blender and the end product is something that feels fresh. I also think that the filmmakers do a lot of interesting worldbuilding on what is a pretty stock mish-mash of horror tropes. It is also refreshing to see some positive LGBTQIA representation in the form of a lesbian couple at the center. Having said that, it does have a pretty cringe-worthy trans-coded character named Beddie (Eddie with a B written over their name tag) which is extremely tone-deaf, especially in 2021.
Rating: 3.5/5
I have to say that I was skeptical as book-to-film cash grabs banking on the nostalgia feels is hit or miss. For every outstanding piece of media like It: Chapter One you have lazy, slap-dash films like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019). Fear Street does the seemingly impossible in that it wears its influences squarely on its blood-soaked sleeve, yet it has a well thought out and written script that allows for a lot of great action set pieces, scares, and most importantly the right mix of cheese and sincerity with some great messages. Sure, it’s not totally original, but its spooky atmosphere and killer 90s soundtrack make for a fun outing. I am very much looking forward to the next installment.
Who else is excited for the Fear Street saga?
Big film nerd and TCM Obsessed. Author of The Ultimate Guide to Strange Cinema from Schiffer Publishing. Resume includes: AMC’s The Bite, Scream Magazine etc. Love all kinds of movies and television and have interviewed a wide range of actors, writers, producers and directors. I currently am a regular co-host on the podcast The Humanoids from the Deep Dive and have a second book in the works from Bear Manor.
