We’re jumping ahead to Fear Street Part 3: 1666 because Fear Street Part 2: 1978 didn’t focus on sapphic characters. It was also my least favourite of the trilogy. I’m sure those two facts are in no way related. Luckily, Part 3 returns to focus on the lesbian lead it set up in the first movie. Additionally, we’re introduced to a new lesbian character in the first half of the film that takes place in 1666. If nothing else, I’m impressed how much gay shit there was in this pretty mainstream horror trilogy. Sure, the second movie dropped the ball a bit in that respect. But in the immortal words of Meatloaf, two out of three ain’t bad.
Fear Street Part 3: 1666 is basically two movies stitched together. The first half is a flashback origin story for why Sunnyvale has such a high murder rate and who is really behind it. In 1666, Sarah Fier is just trying to live her best life. For her, this means avoiding proposals of marriage and sexual harassment and carrying on a close friendship with Hannah which eventually turns romantic. After they kiss in the woods though, food starts dying and other signs of witchcraft occur. Sarah is blamed and eventually put to death despite her finding out the true culprit behind the witchcraft was a man named Solomon Goode. Back in 1994, Deena uses this newfound knowledge of the real culprit to end the curse once and for all. The final showdown takes place in a mall with lots of death traps, neon lighting and splatters of various liquids.
There’s a lot about Fear Street to celebrate in regards to queer representation. This is a large budget series with mainstream appeal that features lesbian leads. It’s also a genre film with horror and fantasy elements that has lesbian characters dealing primarily with plots not revolving around them being lesbians. It also lets its teen lesbian couple defy the odds of being gay, especially in the horror genre, and survive the film and have a happy ending. I’m really glad it exists.
Gay shit aside, I’ve not been a fan of the way this series half-asses its period settings. It never looks like 1994 or 1978 so much as 2020 with a few vintage touches. For some reason, I thought this might be different for 1666. It isn’t. Maybe the clothing evokes the period but the general styling of the characters does not. And that’s to say nothing of their dialogue. It’s weird that Fear Street is so enthusiastic about making its films period pieces enough to put it in the title yet refuses to create anything approaching verisimilitude for these periods. This is perhaps especially a problem for 1666 given the similarly themed horror movie, The Witch. So much attention went into the language, styling and atmosphere to make that film seem authentic. Fear Street doesn’t have this focus. If anything, it’s so lazy as to seem inauthentic by choice.
The choice to have almost all cast members from the first two films to play the characters in 1666 is also distracting. I understand doing it for a few characters. Deena, obviously because she’s seeing this all through Sarah’s point of view. And sure, chuck in a few others for parallels. But 1666 is entirely populated by actors from the previous two parts. And not all of these dual characters have a parallel between each other. Mostly though, the problem is that the 1666 accent required by the film is not something all of the actors can pull off.
Still, there is more successfully scary stuff in this film. It still feels neutered by the fact that this is a flashback and feels so wildly inauthentic, but a church full of people without eyes is still a good, spooky image. There’s also a larger sense of tragedy which I think is the secret ingredient for horror. Sarah’s story is tragic and an interesting subversion of expectation about how this story would go. This ostracized and executed woman wasn’t a witch, she was just a lesbian. The real bad guy is the white dude from a powerful family who in current day plays a cop.
The 1994 half of the movie is almost entirely one big action horror set piece. I’m totally good with that. It’s a lot of fun to watch. My complaints about an overuse of style from the first Fear Street don’t hold here. With less plot and even more style, it falls back into just being a lot of fun. In general, Fear Street has been really good with satisfactory third acts. This movie and specifically its third act represent it. I might not care much for the set up, but this series is good at crafting a good climax and resolution. Fear Street Part 3: 1666 was definitely my favourite of the Fear Street trilogy because it offered a satisfactory conclusion.
Fear Street Part 3: 1666 still has that Netflix feeling of a film that’s intentionally mediocre. This does bring it down for me. I’m a horror fan and the type of horror I like isn’t what Fear Street offers. This film wants to distance you from the horror elements. It’s also intentionally derivative of other films which I continue to be unimpressed by. Still, it is a very fun movie. Additionally, it’s a fun movie with a satisfactory conclusion and some nice, alive lesbian teens. So maybe Fear Street Part 3: 1666 isn’t as good as The Witch. But The Witch didn’t have a subplot about how cops are the real villains or any lesbian kisses. I sure hope Netflix continues to push their “gay agenda” in future genre films. It certainly makes watching their brand of competent but generic stories a lot more watchable and enjoyable.
Overall rating: 6.5/10
Other WLW films in similar genres
Be First to Comment