Fear Street Part One: 1994, directed by Leigh Janiak, is the first in an interconnected trilogy of slasher films set to be released on Netflix in July 2021. Initially pegged for a cinema release set months apart, the Netflix release is a fair compromise, allowing the films to open closer together and on a platform that has brought great success to teen-centred genre stories, while also losing the communal theatrical experience that can be so important to a horror film.
As the title would suggest, Part One is set in 1994 in the town of Shadyside, a place we soon learn is no stranger to gruesome and mysterious murders. An effective, if cliche, opening scene featuring Stranger Things’ Maya Hawke makes this immediately clear before the film plants us in an oddly unaffected high school hallway. Though the tropes of the slasher movie have been widely parodied, it is impossible to ignore the influences of Scream, especially in the film’s first act. Where Fear Street Part One begins to carve out its own identity is in the even further exaggerated cruelty of its setting, something the film’s mythology leans into. An early scene features a moment of small-town rivalry that would feel more at home in The Simpsons than any live-action film. This aspect does mellow out as the actual plot begins to take over, but it quickly grounds the film in a heightened reality that persists for its entire runtime, culminating in some unexpectedly gnarly kills.
Where Fear Street Part One really shines is in its cast, led confidently by Kiana Madeira’s Deena and rounded out by a really charming ensemble; despite the film’s relatively small scale, its leads feel real and are characters I could happily watch more of. The driving force of the film’s drama is the relationship between Deena and her ex-girlfriend Sam (Olivia Scott Welch), who has recently moved to the next town over. Sam is targeted by the mysterious entity that has haunted the town for centuries, and she is forced back into collaboration with Deena and friends once the killers make themselves known. The unstoppable fantasy element is a bold choice that introduces a level of existential fear beyond the simple fact that someone is coming to kill them; it also makes the film’s climax feel more personal. Though it remains to be seen where these ideas will be taken, the film’s place as the latest part of a trilogy is fascinating because there is a sense of a real mythology forming around these characters and the town itself.
For all its good, Fear Street Part One is not without flaws. It struggles at times to balance its self-aware aspects with an expectation that we take its story wholly seriously. Additionally, its filmmaking regularly feels disappointingly anonymous, lifting more from the aesthetics of modern studio horror than any movie that inspired its story, though there are some moments that are notable exceptions. The common thread in my issues with the film is that it often doesn’t commit hard enough to its ideas; without genuinely good character work, it starts to feel thin. Its influences, both stylistic and corporate, are often glaringly obvious. The film unfortunately fails to develop a real identity of its own, which is made a bigger shame by how close it comes to doing so. The later two entries may well solve this issue and leave the trilogy feeling like a complete project, but this is where Part One alone stumbles.
Fear Street Part One: 1994 is a charming little movie with a lot to like about it, and I don’t begrudge the time I gave it. Its mythology is exciting and it has a griminess that is compelling, if somewhat at odds with its otherwise clean style. An entertaining cast and compelling central romance ground the film in real emotions that carry even its weaker moments. Though its commitment to acknowledging genre distracts from building on its own ideas, there are some really interesting ideas and choices here that feel wholly new. I was left excited to watch the trilogy’s remaining entries and dive deeper into this story by the promise of this film at its best.
