Fear Street Part 1: 1994

The concept behind the Fear Street trilogy is really neat. Netflix really utilized streaming service capabilities to release a trilogy of movies in a smart, unique and streaming-service exclusive format. The films were released on a weekly basis for three weeks. This gave the films a chance to tell a complete story with ongoing plot points while also still working more or less as standalone films. Also, there’s some lesbians. But while I’m here for the distribution model of Fear Street, the actual story of its first entry, Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is pretty basic.

Fear Street Part 1: 1994 takes place a small town named Sunnyvale with a statistically unusually high number of murders. The town has a long history of normal people turning into dramatic slasher killers. In 1994, the killer in question wears a skeleton costume and likes to kill teenagers. This obviously affects the teenager lead, Deena. Deena herself doesn’t care about the murders though Deena’s brother Josh follows the killings closely. Deena’s interest is in her ex-girlfriend named Sam. Sam chose to leave Sunnyvale when her parents divorced and Deena’s pretty pissed. However, when Sam upsets the grave of witch Sarah Fier, Deena, Josh and some other friends band together to try and protect Sam from generations of supernatural powered killers now descending on her.

My main problem with Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is its reliance on pre-existing tropes. Fear Street is an homage to slasher films and as such, uses a lot of the framework and tropes. I get that. But I found it leaned too heavily on this slasher movie framework. By 2021, slasher films are pretty passe and for good reason. While Fear Street has good energy and understanding of the structure, it is still a generic slasher movie. I’m not willing to give it too many points for it being intentionally generic. The end result is the same.

Additionally, Fear Street doesn’t have a solid grasp on tone. It can’t decide whether it’s tongue in cheek, an outright horror comedy or played straight. There are moments of self awareness and humour but they don’t happen regularly enough to create a tone. Fear Street is also trying to capture the magic of Stranger Things. But it hasn’t hit the balance Stranger Things had. The film wants to simultaneously been a teen slasher movie that appeals to the genuine youths but also steeped in nostalgia that older viewers would enjoy. For me, the nostalgia fell flat. There’s some window dressing with costumes and music but the film evokes 2021 more than 1994. I can’t speak for whether or not the youths would like it as I’m not one. It feels similar to a lot of other films peddled to them. I don’t know how much this one stands out.

What I do appreciate is the pacing in Fear Street. There’s an action and horror set piece every 15 minutes. The film never really drags, it is high tension and high energy to the first murder to the sequel bait for Fear Street: Part 2: 1978. This rapid pacing also allows me to forgive some elements. The story of the film is generic and begs a lot of questions. I’ve got BIG questions about why a supernatural skeleton killer would track a girl by the smell of blood. Skeletons don’t even have noses! But luckily, people get murdered frequently enough that it distracts me. The directing of the movie is really going all-out, 100%. It mostly hides the fact that the script is giving maybe 65%.

Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is big on style. In my opinion, too big. The film sometimes feels like a parent dangling some shiny, jingling keys in front of an infant to keep them entertained. The breakneck pacing is mixed with a lot of stylized shots and just, so much neon. I like a neon horror movie but its use here felt too desperate and just too much. The thing doing the absolute most though was the sound. There are so many damn loud musical stingers for jump scare moments or really any time they want the audience to know something is scary. It’s all a bit much for me. Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is simultaneously trying to be a back to basics slasher movie while also doing too much stylistically to make up for that.

The lesbian subplot is pretty strong. It’s a complete story with emotional change and I am invested in the couple. The film also in no way downplays the relationship. This isn’t a relationship made of coy inferences or random, male-gaze kiss scenes. It’s a proper teen romance between the two best developed characters in the movie. It’s also a good choice on the part of the filmmakers. In a film that does skew so intentionally generic and derivative, a focus on open yet non-sexualized teen lesbians is fresh and noteworthy. My only complaint about the lesbians is that if anything, they kiss too often. Deena and Sam kiss a lot during moment when they’re being actively stalked by killers. Maybe I’m just not on their level of gay, but I wouldn’t feel like kissing if there were killers about.

Honestly, I didn’t like Fear Street Part 1: 1994 as much as I’d hoped. This might just be personal preference. Most of my favourite horror movies are from the A24 school of slow, depressing horror movies where nothing happens and them someone’s psyche fractures. I’ve certainly never been a huge fan of slasher movies specifically because they all feel too samey. Intentionally or otherwise, Fear Street Part 1 falls too easily into the pantheon of samey slashers. Still, I’m absolutely here for the lesbians and I look forward to the other two entries. There’s still time for them to find their stylistic footing and even if they don’t, the entertainment value of Fear Street is still pretty high.

Overall rating: 6.0/10

Other WLW films in similar genres