Fear Street Part One: 1994 – Film Review

After a series of brutal slayings, a teen and her friends take on an evil force that’s plagued their notorious town for centuries.

When I was in middle school, I remember clear as day, our class every school year would have one period or so in the day where we would all go down to the library to simply read. Not many schools would have an entire hour-long block of the day dedicated to just getting kids to read, but I am so glad that my middle school did because I think that it genuinely helped me grow my passion for reading.

During my many hours in the school’s massive (at the time, in my eyes at least) library, there were always kids reading picture books and some Nancy Drew novels, but I always, without fail, headed over to the horror section. Of course, since it was a middle school, they didn’t have any major horror books – no Stephen King or H.P. Lovecraft were anywhere to be found which makes sense – but they had plenty of teenage horror fiction, and my all-time favorite was the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine.

To this day, I am certain I read about thirty of the books in that series and had the time of my life doing so, but strangely enough, to this day I have never read any of his Fear Street novels. After watching Part One in the intended trilogy of Fear Street films releasing on Netflix, I think I may have to order the complete collection of novels because I loved this movie immensely.

Not only is it an extremely exciting starting point for the trilogy that promises absolute chaos and chills on the horizon, but it’s an extraordinarily entertaining and wonderfully bloody film all on its own. Even if you don’t intend to watch its two upcoming sequels (which I don’t know why you wouldn’t), Fear Street Part One: 1994 stands tall on its own as a great singular film.

The first thing you’re more than likely going to notice as soon as you click “Play” on this film is how gorgeously shot it is, and how much the color palette pops. The opening scene showcases Maya Hawke – one of the best actresses working today – as a video store employee in a scene that looks normal enough on the surface but quickly shows its teeth.

Not only does this scene showcase the beautiful lighting and cinematography the rest of the film will boast, as well as an incredible performance from Hawke, but it also sets the tone for the rest of the film to come. In fact, the moment the chilling opening scene came to a close, I was hooked and was quite eager to see where the rest of the story would go.

Gratefully, the rest of the film afterward was just as great. It’s essentially a love letter to all the old slasher films of decades past in glorious fashion. The beauty of it as well is that it doesn’t feel like it’s paying too much homage to 80s and 90s slashers. It certainly has those ingredients and uses them remarkably well, but it also makes sure to be its own thing.

A lot of this movie reminded me of all of the best elements of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things (which Maya Hawke also stars in as Robin in her best performance to date) in all the best ways. Stranger Things, at its core, is about a group of best friends who have to band together to save the world and also protect each other. They’re essentially one big family.

While, yes, the show definitely focuses a lot on the creepy monsters such as the Demogorgon and the Mind-Flayer, at the center of it all, it’s a show that’s brimming with heart, charm, and love, and that’s exactly what Fear Street Part One: 1994 is as well. It’s a slasher movie that features some of the most shockingly brutal kills I have seen in a long time, but most of all, it’s a genuinely heartfelt coming-of-age tale that’s only just getting started. I honestly can’t wait to see what Part Two and Three are going to do, and I can only hope that they’re both as great as this first installment is.

It’s not the most original film ever made and it’s also not a film that’s going to change the horror landscape as we know it, but that’s okay. It doesn’t need to. It’s an extremely good coming-of-age horror slasher that knows full well how to compel audiences.

Whether or not the second and third installments are going to be as good or maybe even better is yet to be determined. But one thing’s for sure – I am more than ready to complete this journey and see all the crazy paths it will take.