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"Fear Street Part 2: 1978" REVIEW

Netflix's horror trilogy continues with a flashback to summer camp.

By Littlewit PhilipsPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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"Fear Street Part 2: 1978" REVIEW
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

I previously wrote about the first instalment of the Fear Street trilogy here. While the movie itself didn't blow me away, it did leave me excited to see how the trilogy would develop past its initial chapter. How did it perform? Well...

Say what you will about Netflix's Fear Street trilogy, it's not afraid to wear its inspirations on its sleeve. In the initial instalment of the franchise, 1994 made no secret of the influence of 90s era slasher flicks like Scream (1996). With Part Two: 1978 the film dials back the clock further, bringing us to the era of summer camp films like the original Friday the 13th (1980). Naturally, the filmmakers aren't afraid to show their influences here anymore than they were in the original movie, but a question remains:

To what end?

Do all of the cinematic nods and allusions add up to something special? Are they in service of a movie that can stand on its own legs, or are they propping up an otherwise flat experience? Basically, should you be buttering your popcorn and preparing for a blast from the past, or has Fear Street established itself as a franchise that does not deserve your time?

By Tegan Mierle on Unsplash

Picking up minutes after the conclusion of Part One, Part Two has barely started to build momentum when it flashes back from 1994 to 1978. The result is a movie that has an unusual challenge: it has to function both as a sequel and a prequel to the first instalment of the franchise. The primary characters in the 1994 storyline are looking for answers in the 1978 storyline, but the 1978 storyline needs to stand on its own as the primary characters from '94 are currently babies. And yet, it can't stand on its own entirely: because of how the narrative introduces the 1978 story, the audience begins the movie basically knowing which of the major characters will survive and which won't.

On first glance, this should kneecap the movie's potential for horror. After all, the usual source of tension (worrying which characters will make it and which will catch an ax to the head) is taken off the table. Instead, the opposite seems to be true. What should have been a liability becomes a strength.

Where Part One felt a little too by-the-numbers for my taste, Part Two subverts the genre by giving the audience plenty of information up front, and the result is a number of incredibly tense scenes where the audience is forced to wonder if this will be the moment where a particular character bites it. We know they're not going to make it, after all. So when a character is in peril, we believe that they are in peril. It doesn't feel forced or artificial.

The end result of this backwards storytelling is a remarkably enjoyable movie that steps out from Part One's predictability and establishes itself as something fresh and new. Does the movie completely step away from the familiar tropes of the genre? Not really. An early scene of bullying so closely mimics Stephen King's IT that one can't help but feel like the later overt references to Carrie are functioning as a chance for the filmmakers to cite their sources. That said, with this dip into history, Fear Street finally did something that felt distinct from the usual tropes of the genre. Keep an eye on these movies. If Part Three lands on its feet, this could be something special. At very least, its an exciting experiment using Netflix's advantages to do something that theatrical releases never could.

Is Part Two perfect, though? Well, let's not go crazy. The weird sequel-prequel format forces the movie to start a bit slow. First we have to catch up with the 1994 crew, and then the movie has to establish the world of 1978. There are more characters this time around, and their relationships are more complicated, so a solid 40 minutes pass before the ax starts to swing. Considering that plenty of those characters end up in storylines that come to rather choppy endings, it feels like the opening could have moved along a little bit faster. This isn't helped by the fact that much of Part Two echoes sentiments from Part One. Obviously this was intentional, but it doesn't help with the feeling that the beginning of the movie is a bit of a drag.

That said, I don't want to overstate the movie's flaws either. The last hour of the movie is stronger than any of the best parts of Part One. Will you be won over to the genre if you're not into slashers? Probably not. But if you're a fan of the genre, and you've got a Netflix account, you should give Fear Street a shot. After all, you'll want to bring yourself up to speed for when Part Three: 1666 launches on July 16th. I know that I will be.

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About the Creator

Littlewit Philips

Short stories, movie reviews, and media essays.

Terribly fond of things that go bump in the night.

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