Fear Street Part One: 1994: Movie Review

With a very rough start, viewers might decide to tune out early on "Fear Street Part One: 1994". But our simple advice is to power through it. Because once it found its footing, "Fear Street Part One: 1994" was full throttle fun and was able to balance nostalgia and fresh ideas in a neat latter half.

 

In 1994, another gruesome murder occurs in Shadyside, Ohio. The murder spree in the mall is another one of endless killings through the decades and centuries that some believe is connected to a curse dating back to 1666 when the town persecuted the Fier witch. Believing this to be a silly urband legend, a group of teenagers find out that this is far from the truth. With the curse now targeting them relentlessly, they must find a way to stop it.

The first half hour or so of "Fear Street Part One: 1994" had this weird "Riverdale" vibe that completely flustered us. We were expecting a full-on slasher-horror experience but we completely forgot or didn't expect the film to focus heavily on its teen rating. This depends if you liked these kind of shows on Netflix and if you don't, trust us when we say to be patient about it because things will eventually get better. Once all of the obligatory character setups were done the film opened up more and transformed into a very fun and very thrilling film. The biggest factor for us was its narrative revolving around Shadyside's curse and how our characters planned to overcome it. It's definitely not the darkest and scariest of lores but the film really surprised us with how the story developed and provided surprise after surprise without coming off as silly or forced. The last time we had this fun was probably watching the film "It Follows" and come to think of it, "Fear Street Part One: 1994" followed much of the roadmap but with a more younger flair. Don't be fooled into thinking that since this was designed for younger viewers that the gore would be toned down. Surprisingly, this was gruesome and gory and no-holds-barred when it decided to. Overall, "Fear Street Part One: 1994" was a very good start to the trilogy. Color us surprised and color us impressed and color us interested.      

Rating: 3 and a half reels

Why you should watch it:

- genuine fun, genuine gore, and genuine surprises by the time the credits roll

Why you shouldn't watch it:

- the first half hour was very rough