Teen readers of the ‘90s likely grew up consuming R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series, the older and more mature sibling to his famous Goosebumps line. The sprawling Fear Street book series took place on the street named after a cursed Puritan family, the Fiers, in the quaint town of Shadyside. More importantly, the teen target audience meant that this series featured more deaths, and they were often gruesome. Director Leigh Janiak captures the essence of the novels, both in spirit and bloodletting, in the first entry of the trilogy, Fear Street Part 1: 1994.
The opening scene sets the tone straight away, with a grisly mall murder under a ‘90s neon-lit haze. From there, Part 1 introduces the key players and establishes the setting. Deena (Kiana Madeira) harbors a lot of angst still over her breakup with cheerleader Samantha (Olivia Welch), whose family relocated from Shadyside to its neighboring rival town Sunnyvale. Deena’s younger brother Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.) spends his social life on AOL, and friends Kate (Julia Rehwald) and Simon (Fred Hechinger) push pills stolen from the grocery store’s pharmacy. All of them must band together when an accident causes them to uncover an evil that’s been responsible for brutal murders that have plagued their town for centuries.
Janiak leans hard into the ‘90s aesthetic, both visually and aurally. Perhaps a little too much in the latter department. What begins as a satisfying callback soundtrack quickly becomes an overloaded jukebox of the decade’s hits, with needle drops occurring back-to-back without room to breathe. If the idea was to emulate a late-night compilation CD commercial, well, it succeeds. Still, the jams are stellar, and vivid hued lighting and production design more than compensate.
That it’s a ‘90s slasher means that it goes to great lengths to pay homage to the pinnacle of ‘90s slashers, Scream. While Halloween and other notable classics get their due, Scream plays the most prominent influence, especially in the opening sequence. Also, like Scream, Fear Street isn’t afraid to kill its darlings. The deaths get vicious and bloody, and refreshingly no one is entirely safe from this curse. That the teen leads are so affable, for the most part, makes the kills all the more brutal. The supernatural element to this slasher offers an inventive workaround for the masked killer stalking its teen prey. The mythology behind it is equally intriguing.
Part 1 infuses infectious energy that makes it a compelling and entertaining watch. The kills delight, and the storyline bring plenty of thrills and chills. It’s well-crafted and a visual feast, even if it can lean a bit too hard on its soundtrack to sell the period. Don’t expect it to shake up the well-trodden formula, either; it operates more as a stylish love letter to the slasher. It is, however, the first entry in a trilogy and only a piece of the larger story. Expect it to end with loose ends and a tease for the next movie, which luckily arrives just around the corner.
For now, Part 1 should give fans of R.L. Stine’s work plenty to celebrate. With nods to his Fear Street series aplenty, brutal deaths, a rocking ‘90s attitude, and a solid throwback slasher at its core, Part 1 kicks the trilogy off with a fun start.
Netflix releases Fear Street Part 1: 1994 on July 2.
source https://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3671849/review-fear-street-part-1-1994-carves-solid-ode-90s-slashers/
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