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Fear Street Part 1: 1994 - A Netflix Movie Review

'Fear Street Part 1: 1994' dictates character dynamic and escalating mystery.

By Marielle SabbagPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
3

Welcome to Fear Street. We will alert you what monsters you will be meeting.

Fear Street is the first part of a trilogy released to Netflix in 2021. Four friends encounter strange occurrences one night in their neighborhood. Realizing that a brutal curse is repeating itself from 300 years ago, they have to stop it now to avoid several brutal murders.

I was looking forward to viewing the first of the Fear Street trilogy. Being a horror fan, it was right up my alley. Opening with a bang, unfortunately, this first part of the series replicates too many horror films of the genre. Aside from that, Fear Street Part 1: 1994 dictates character dynamic and escalating mystery.

Kiana Madera, Olivia Scott Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr., Julia Richwald, and Fred Hechinger worked well together. Fear Street is a character film. Their interactions are the best part. Differing in personality, they sell that anybody can work together.

Madera was a powerhouse. That being said, it’s her character who I had mixed feelings for. Deena was too aggressive. I did not like the way she spoke to people, specifically Sam (Welch). Since they have an important storyline together, I think writers needed to expand on their relationship more.

I have had the chance to see Hechinger in a couple of different films where he presented versatile personalities. He had the funniest comebacks. Hechinger and Richwald were memorable to watch in scenes.

Part of me feels like Forres Jr. was an unnecessary character. He is mainly there as a tag-a-long character. He has little to do with the story, having strange reactions to situations. And his sudden romantic subplot with Rewald was out of the blue. Is Fear Street supposed to be a horror film, a comedy, or was it trying to be a romance?

Maya Hawke opens the trilogy in a reminiscent sequence to Scream. Hawke was spectacular. I want to her in more films. My main problem with the film was that It copies other horror movies of the genre and is reminiscent of Stranger Things.

Writers should have gone back and done another edit with the script. Characters get away with things way too easily! For example, what hospital leaves an ambulance unattended? And certain behavior comes off as unnatural. There is even one character who was forgotten which was integral to another relationship arc.

I liked Leigh Kaniek’s direction style of this thriller. While she made it her own, Janiek relied too much on adding themes from other films. Her direction to the character was a noteworthy highlight. A little too much attention by the end because it took away from the monsters.

Dialogue also tries too hard, adding in unnecessary conversations trying to find its comedy. The dialogue is strange and cringy at times. That’s similar to Stranger Things which also encases dark comedy.

I wanted to see more of the monsters but we hardly get any backstory on them. There’s an extended amount of time where we don’t see them, instead, focusing on the romance arc.

Filmmakers could have done a better job with the time period. It’s supposed to take place in the 90s but I did not get that vibe.

Fear Street is scary. And bloody. The kills are grotesque. There’s a lot of violence which I was not expecting. The entire opening of the film is a suspenseful watch. At least it uses an edge of dark comedy.

All audiences can connect with the themes and characters. I am looking forward to seeing what the next parts of Fear Street will add to the story.

tv review
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About the Creator

Marielle Sabbag

Writing has been my passion since I was 11 years old. I love creating stories from fiction, poetry, fanfiction. I enjoy writing movie reviews. I would love to become a creative writing teacher and leave the world inspiring minds.

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