There's not a lot going for Fear Street Part One really, It's not scary, (even the made-for-kids TV series of Goosebumps has more scare value), it's overwhelmingly bland, and the poor pacing leaves it bordering on tedium at times.
The production value is good. It shares some similarities with the Netflix series Stranger Things in how stylishly it is composed and presented, but it lacks that special something the Duffer brothers series had. Ultimately that serves to exacerbate the empty feeling the film had. Everything looks fine, but it just feels completely unimaginative and uninspired, mirroring the proceedings of the script.
Also, if you thought Cruella had an obnoxiously overbearing soundtrack, just wait until you watch this. Opening with NIN's 'Closer' (the second time I've heard that song in a horror film this year), the film proceeds to barrage you with a whole range of era-relevant music to let you know the film is set in 1994 just in case the title didn't give it away. Funny thing is, some of the songs they used were released after the time in which the film is set. Thankfully they cool down with this onslaught for the second half of the film. I honestly wouldn't have even noticed the film was set in the 90s without the musical cues and obvious references to dated technology as the characters just don't feel like kids plucked from that era. Look to a fellow horror film like It for something that pulls this period-matching off in a far superior fashion. The characters in Fear Street feel like 2021 kids existing in the 90s.
Some people have been claiming this as the next Scream and after my viewing of this I can only assume they haven't watched either film. There is certianly a nod or two here and there, but homages and references alone does not a horror classic make. In fact, mostly what it does is remind us of better films we could be watching instead. A far stronger slasher has recently been released in Christopher Landon's Freaky, which takes classic genre tropes and adds a fun and fresh new twist. If you had to pick one to watch, choose that one instead.
I guess this film is an okay way to kill 100 minutes and it could serve as a starter point for a younger audience getting into horror, but I doubt I'll ever be revisiting this or even thinking about it next week. The lore and worldbuilding was one of the stronger aspects of the film, so it should be interesting to see what they do with the next two films and how they tie it all together. Hopefully they'll be better than this though.
"The most frightening thing about Fear Street: 1994 is just how tedious most of the film is." - Erik Kain, Forbes.
The production value is good. It shares some similarities with the Netflix series Stranger Things in how stylishly it is composed and presented, but it lacks that special something the Duffer brothers series had. Ultimately that serves to exacerbate the empty feeling the film had. Everything looks fine, but it just feels completely unimaginative and uninspired, mirroring the proceedings of the script.
Also, if you thought Cruella had an obnoxiously overbearing soundtrack, just wait until you watch this. Opening with NIN's 'Closer' (the second time I've heard that song in a horror film this year), the film proceeds to barrage you with a whole range of era-relevant music to let you know the film is set in 1994 just in case the title didn't give it away. Funny thing is, some of the songs they used were released after the time in which the film is set. Thankfully they cool down with this onslaught for the second half of the film. I honestly wouldn't have even noticed the film was set in the 90s without the musical cues and obvious references to dated technology as the characters just don't feel like kids plucked from that era. Look to a fellow horror film like It for something that pulls this period-matching off in a far superior fashion. The characters in Fear Street feel like 2021 kids existing in the 90s.
Some people have been claiming this as the next Scream and after my viewing of this I can only assume they haven't watched either film. There is certianly a nod or two here and there, but homages and references alone does not a horror classic make. In fact, mostly what it does is remind us of better films we could be watching instead. A far stronger slasher has recently been released in Christopher Landon's Freaky, which takes classic genre tropes and adds a fun and fresh new twist. If you had to pick one to watch, choose that one instead.
I guess this film is an okay way to kill 100 minutes and it could serve as a starter point for a younger audience getting into horror, but I doubt I'll ever be revisiting this or even thinking about it next week. The lore and worldbuilding was one of the stronger aspects of the film, so it should be interesting to see what they do with the next two films and how they tie it all together. Hopefully they'll be better than this though.
"The most frightening thing about Fear Street: 1994 is just how tedious most of the film is." - Erik Kain, Forbes.