Fear Street Part 1: 1994, the 2021 American horror Netflix Original directed by Leigh Janiak, is set in a small town plagued with a demonic presence for the past 300 years. A small group of friends finds themselves hunted by evil entities and tries to stop the curse.
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Fear Street is based on the R. L. Stine book series for kids and is slapped with an R rating with a ton of gore. Part 1 was released this weekend, with the next two chapters releasing next week and the following week. Once Netflix announced its plan for this film series, I was intrigued. The slasher genre in horror can feel unoriginal, yet still, be entertaining to watch, and that’s exactly how I felt about Fear Street Part 1: 1994.
The first 15 minutes play out beat for beat, almost like the first Scream 1996 film. From the music choice to certain shot setups and how some events unfold, it’s hard to miss the parallels. The 90s setting is filled with nostalgia and adds to the campiness of the story. I thought some of the dialogue was a bit cheesy, and some of the line delivery from certain actors came off a bit cringey, which at first bugged me, but cements it into the 90s making it feel like a slasher flick from that period.
Every slasher movie has the one kill that stands out amongst the rest, and that is evident here, towards the end. Gruesome, effective, and original. As for negatives, I found myself uninterested in the side plot love story. It just felt like it was tacked on to add some emotional weight to the characters. It’s extremely clichéd and predictable. The writing isn’t the strongest, and some of the performances were not on par with others.
Overall, this is a fun summer slasher film that I’m sure will entertain many, and I’m looking forward to checking out Part 2: 1978 next week. Watch ‘Fear Street Part 1: 1994’ on Netflix here.
Review by Anthony
Follow Anthony on IG – @cinefilereviewer
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