Fear Street Part 1: 1994
Year: 2021
Director: Leigh Janiak
Starring: Benjamin Flores Jr., Fred Hechinger, Kiana Madeira, Julia Rehwald & Olivia Scott Welch
Runtime: 107 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 14/07/21
Director: Leigh Janiak
Starring: Benjamin Flores Jr., Fred Hechinger, Kiana Madeira, Julia Rehwald & Olivia Scott Welch
Runtime: 107 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 14/07/21
As a child I was terrified of basically everything, and the one thing that scared me above all else at that age was Goosebumps. For many it was a gateway into the horror genre with its child friendly take on spooky stories and grisly goings on; but the moment I would hear the theme tune I would run and hide until my mum or sister changed the channel for me. I didn’t get into horror until I was in my teens, eased in through the gory but not scary Saw franchise and eventually expanding my horizons into almost anything. But I’ve never gone back to Goosebumps, the TV show or the books by R.L. Stine. In fact, I knew so little about Goosebumps that when Netflix announced its trio of new horror films that pay homage to slasher flicks of old, I was surprised to find out that they were based on books created by Stine around the same time as Goosebumps. I then went into Fear Street thinking it’ll be a relatively family friendly affair, and oh boy was I wrong.
Shadyside, Ohio has a reputation for killers. Every few years one of the residents goes crazy and kills a few people. When some mall workers get massacred in sudden but familiar circumstances, with many Shadyside residents believing it to be the work of Sarah Fier, a witch who placed a curse on the town in 1666.
Following a brawl at a football match, Deena (Kiana Madeira) and two friends Kate (Julia Rehwald) and Simon (Fred Hechinger) cause Deena’s ex-girlfriend Sam (Olivia Scott Welch) to be in a car crash. When Sam’s blood hits the ground she experiences a vision of Sarah Fier, and in the hours following the group are pursued by previous Shadyside killers who have risen from the dead. As they desperately try to work out why this is happening and how to stop it, they leave a trail of destruction and blood in their wake.
Fear Street Part 1: 1994 felt reminiscent of many late eighties and early nineties slasher films like the Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween sequels. For me it’s a bittersweet return of the old-style slasher films, with its campy setup, lack of clearly defined rules, and heavily stereotyped characters. Many modern slasher films, like the recently released Freaky, mix up the formula established by older films within the subgenre to keep it fresh and interesting. Fear Street doesn’t, and that in itself is also nice to experience with modern filmmaking techniques and a more elaborate story, but it is also held back as a result because it’s so familiar that it can occasionally feel recycled.
Shadyside, Ohio has a reputation for killers. Every few years one of the residents goes crazy and kills a few people. When some mall workers get massacred in sudden but familiar circumstances, with many Shadyside residents believing it to be the work of Sarah Fier, a witch who placed a curse on the town in 1666.
Following a brawl at a football match, Deena (Kiana Madeira) and two friends Kate (Julia Rehwald) and Simon (Fred Hechinger) cause Deena’s ex-girlfriend Sam (Olivia Scott Welch) to be in a car crash. When Sam’s blood hits the ground she experiences a vision of Sarah Fier, and in the hours following the group are pursued by previous Shadyside killers who have risen from the dead. As they desperately try to work out why this is happening and how to stop it, they leave a trail of destruction and blood in their wake.
Fear Street Part 1: 1994 felt reminiscent of many late eighties and early nineties slasher films like the Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween sequels. For me it’s a bittersweet return of the old-style slasher films, with its campy setup, lack of clearly defined rules, and heavily stereotyped characters. Many modern slasher films, like the recently released Freaky, mix up the formula established by older films within the subgenre to keep it fresh and interesting. Fear Street doesn’t, and that in itself is also nice to experience with modern filmmaking techniques and a more elaborate story, but it is also held back as a result because it’s so familiar that it can occasionally feel recycled.
I also found it surprisingly slow paced. Coming in at an hour and forty-five-minutes I was expecting a film that was concise and to the point. But Fear Street 1994 actually takes quite a long time to get going, and even once the chase begins and the killers are in a near constant pursuit, there are long stretches of time where not a lot happens. I get the feeling that this is because it’s the first in a trilogy of films where the story will continue, but it felt considerably longer than it really was.
If I compare it to 2014’s ‘It Follows’ for example, both films are exactly the same length and yet It Follows manages to keep the suspense heightened throughout the entire film because you always feel as though the entity that is stalking our lead characters is always right behind them. In Fear Street it feels overly telegraphed that some scenes are going to be safe, and others aren’t.
I did have a good time with Fear Street 1994 though. Particularly the two final scenes in the high school and supermarket were great fun, and the introduction to the world and who everybody is in the opening act was also really well done. I wish there had been more gruesome deaths present, the only one that really made me sit up and pay attention was late in the film involving a bread slicer; all the others were just standard knife kills with only small amounts of blood and it did become relatively routine and underwhelming come the end of the film.
I feel like Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is an enjoyable but flawed opening act to the Fear Street trilogy, hopefully Parts 2&3 will add their own unique flavour to the story and provide audiences with some gorier and more inventive kills.
If I compare it to 2014’s ‘It Follows’ for example, both films are exactly the same length and yet It Follows manages to keep the suspense heightened throughout the entire film because you always feel as though the entity that is stalking our lead characters is always right behind them. In Fear Street it feels overly telegraphed that some scenes are going to be safe, and others aren’t.
I did have a good time with Fear Street 1994 though. Particularly the two final scenes in the high school and supermarket were great fun, and the introduction to the world and who everybody is in the opening act was also really well done. I wish there had been more gruesome deaths present, the only one that really made me sit up and pay attention was late in the film involving a bread slicer; all the others were just standard knife kills with only small amounts of blood and it did become relatively routine and underwhelming come the end of the film.
I feel like Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is an enjoyable but flawed opening act to the Fear Street trilogy, hopefully Parts 2&3 will add their own unique flavour to the story and provide audiences with some gorier and more inventive kills.