After releasing the first film of the franchise last week, the second instalment of Netflix's teen slasher trilogy films Fear Street: 1978 also recently arrived on the streaming service. Meanwhile, the third and final film titled Fear Street: 1666 is scheduled for release today, so be sure to check out the first two and watch them in order.
The trilogy is the work of promising horror filmmaker Leigh Janiak (Scream: The TV Series, 2015-16) and is based on R. L. Stine's book series of the same name. The film series feels like a mixed bag that pays tribute to the famous summer-camp horror and slasher sub-genres that dominated blockbusters between the 70s and 90s like Halloween (1978), Moonstalker (1989), Sleepaway Camp (1983), Friday The 13th (1980) and Scream (1996). These stories often involve familiar elements such as a group of young and adolescent victims, a psychopathic masked killer, brutal murders and a pile-up of dead bodies. The trilogy series is filled with a parade of teen actors, cool soundtracks and reinvents the slasher genre with the aesthetic of Stranger Things for the new generation. The setting of Fear Street: 1978 is a summer camp and although it is somewhat slower and may not be as relentless as its predecessor, it's still an enjoyable ride nevertheless.
Part two picks up from the previous film with C. Berman (Gillian Jacobs) finally meeting up with Deena (Kiana Madeira) and her brother Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr), who are looking to find a way to help save the life of Deena's girlfriend from the Shadyside Killers and the witch Sarah Fier. Earlier, it was revealed that C. Berman was actually an enigmatic survivor of the 1978 Camp Nightwing massacre. The movie then takes us back to a time when she was known as Ziggy Berman (Sadie Sink), a Shadyside camper at Camp Nightwing and the younger sister of Cindy who's one of the camp's counsellors. Much like the others, Ziggy experienced the usual coming-of-age and high-school shenanigans such as bullying, sex, drugs, rebellion. Ziggy is a rage-fuelled girl who makes plans to get revenge on the kids who bullied her at camp while her by-the-book sister wants to wrap her head around the rumours of the Sarah Fier mystery. The premise in Fear Street: 1978 focuses on C. Berman's recollection of the massacre and reveals how she is connected to the Shadyside curse in the first place.
I liked what director Janiak and her crew did with the whole campsite horror concept. Its retro vibe comes off as authentic and the grainy visuals and beautiful colour palette teleports you to that era. The soundtrack is filled with pop tunes from the 70s and the costumes, set and designs also remind you of that time. They do a much better job at nailing that nostalgia vibe they're going for here than they did in the first movie, which was set in 1994. That one just kind of felt odd and forced with a lot of modern kids acting like they were in the 90s.
There is a good amount of humour, drama and cheesy teen romance. There's also plenty of violence with slashing, gore and carnage just like in the first chapter, if that is what you are looking for. I wouldn't say it's really scary. If you're familiar with these types of movies, then you know that it has been made more for entertainment rather than to really freak you out. But here, we get to learn the backstory of the town of Shadyside. We met Nick (Ashley Zukerman) in part one as a sheriff and here we meet him as a kid. We also learn a little bit about our main characters like Ziggy as well as other characters that we met in the first film but this time, we see them as kids. I liked how they tied things together and this makes me excited to see what's to come in the final movie of the series, Fear Street: 1666.
While the first film was full of exciting chase sequences, this movie steadily grows. It wasn't too slow or didn't drag on but it definitely took a little too long to establish the story and there wasn't a whole lot of action taking place. It was probably around 50 minutes into the film before the fun, the action and any of the gore really begins. But despite the slow start, Fear Street: 1978 is still a fun ride that pays homage to slashers of yesteryear. This tied in nicely with what was established in the first movie. If you're looking for a modern take on the classic horror subgenre, this one should deliver. The violence is high and the amount of gore is actually quite impressive. If you enjoyed the first movie, then you'll have fun with this one.
- Fear Street Part Two: 1978
- Starring Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, McCabe Slye
- Directed by Leigh Janiak
- Now streaming on Netflix
