"Fear Street Part 1: 1994" REVIEW

Midway through Fear Street Part One: 1994 the teenage protagonists try to stop the killers pursuing them using a trick they've absorbed through media, but it fails. Fleeing for their lives without a plan of action, Deena (Kiana Madeira) shouts that their last plan didn't work because, "it's not like the movies!" This is one of many little self-aware nods in the movie to the genre of slasher films, and it's doubly ironic because Fear Street Part 1 is very much like "the movies."

Here's the set-up: in a small, economically-troubled American town in 1994, a masked man goes on a killing spree, killing over a half-dozen people before being shot in the head by the police. After this prologue we're introduced to five teenagers who end up being attacked by a similarly masked man. While they initially believe this is just a prank going way, way too far, they quickly discover that they're actually being attacked by not one, not two, but three relentless, undead murderers who will stop at nothing to kill them.

The movie jumps easily from one slasher set-piece to another. The heroes are attacked, retreat, form a new plan, only to be attacked again. This particular brand of run! He's right there! And he's got an axe! storytelling won't offer many surprises to people familiar with the slasher genre, and Fear Street seems to know this. Whether its the overt visual similarity between the design of Skull Face (one of the killers from Fear Street) and Scream's Ghostface, or the smattering of nods to other horror movies (Rotten Tomatoes collected a list of those nods here), Fear Street is distinctly aware of the fact that it exists within a genre that has tropes and history.

So if this movie is aware of the genre, what does it do with its awareness?

Well, the result to that inquiry is a little muddy. For instance, at one point in the film a character tries to break down a door with an axe. Because this is a horror movie and a character is attacking a door with an axe, naturally the scene is filmed like the iconic scene from The Shining. Only... what does Fear Street have in common with The Shining? One is a slasher with buckets of gore, the other is a primarily-psychological horror move that uses a slow burn to develop its effect. Why mimic Kubrick's scene? Is there some deeper connection between these movies beyond that they both belong under the broad umbrella of horror movies? Is it just something that the director chose to do because, hey, people like The Shining?

Is this a problem? In the right context, no. Who doesn't love Hot Fuzz or a dozen other referential horror movies? However, this kind of wink-and-nod content works best when it functions as a supplement to the heart of the story, but Fear Street feels familiar and a little thin. We have five teenage heroes who each represent a different Type (Cheerleader, Outcast, Over-Achiever, Joker, Nerd) being chased by three largely-interchangeable slashers. Some of the characters grow, but some of their growth (like an extremely forced romance) feels just like the movie ticking off marks on a checklist.

So, considering all the issues with the movie, is it worth watching? Surprisingly, the answer isn't simple.

See, while much of this movie feels pretty familiar, it still has the potential to be the start of something cool. And while familiar isn't extraordinary, it's also not terrible. The best and worst thing to say about the movie is that it's distracting but forgettable, not a classic but rarely boring. However, the movie is clearly invested in the lore of this little town, and as the title suggests, this is the beginning of a series of movies. If that lore expands in interesting ways, this movie being a little mediocre won't be a disaster. It sets up plenty of mysteries, and while I had issues with the movie, I will be enthusiastically sitting down to watch movie 2 when it releases. Even better, I won't have to wait long: Part 2 launches July 9th, and Part 3 will follow one week after that.

Knowing that, I finished Fear Street Part One excited for more. This movie ticked off all the boxes it had to while working to set up subsequent instalments of the franchise, so while it's not joining my list of horror classics, I'm also not disappointed. This is a unique possibility for Netflix, and I'm honestly hoping that this experiment pays off for them, so obviously I'm going along for the ride. Will it be worthwhile in the end? Only time will tell, but I'm very curious to see.