It's been more than a week since the last part of the Fear Street Trilogy was released and I have to admit I can't get those movies out of my mind.
It's a teen slasher movie done exactly right and in a way, it played like episodes of a TV show with an efficient cliffhanger at the end of every movie.
Usually, when movies have a lot going on, the plot gets convoluted, the pacing becomes slow and there's a very good chance to lose interest in the proceedings.
But somehow, the director Leigh Janiak and the team of writers manage to accomplish the tremendous task of delivering an engaging movie every week.
Can the Fear Street series become the next cult hit?
Of course. It has all the elements of a cult classic after all. There's a couple of teens who are treated like a pariah, a summer camp with a killer on the loose, a woman who is accused of being a witch because she dares to be different.
The Fear Street book series was already popular in the 90s. Which 90s kid hasn't read them? So, these movies were a large slice of nostalgia even though it wasn't based on any particular Fear Street Book.
For the others, particularly present young adults, these movies were filled with elements that were relatable.
We were or probably knew someone who was treated like an outsider at some point or another. Or maybe we felt betrayed by a crush who chose to move away and make no attempts to make a long-distance relationship work.
It was interesting to see teens of different eras going through life, struggling with issues, and most importantly, forging friendships where one is ready to do whatever it takes for the other.
Like in every young adult horror movie, the parents never play an active role in their kids' life. I don't remember parents having any role in the books too. The protagonist was always someone who went through a terrible ordeal all by themselves and sometimes had good friends to bail them out.
It isn't easy making three films of different eras and succeeding but Fear Street seems to have done it well. It ties up all loose ends well, not leaving much space for plot holes to form.
The relationships don't feel forced, the friendships are enviable and the characters are as realistic as they can be.
And the most vital part of the stories was the twist. The first two movies do a great job of pointing a finger at Sara Fier who is supposed to be a witch who cursed all of Shadyside.
But what we as viewers didn't realize that is Shadyside was going through so many problems, Sunnyvale was practically problem-free. That information was given to us in the first movie but relegated and sandwiched between the Shadyside murders.
It was like a magic trick that works because it manages to divert the audience efficiently because which city is actually crime-free? And sure, there are cities that prosper but it should have felt dubious that Sunnyvale didn't have a speck of crime and all the citizens were doing well.
In the third part, we learn why this is so. A deal with the devil was made, Sara Fier was accused of every problem, the man responsible for making this heinous deal was also the one who made sure that over centuries the blame was placed solely on Sara Fier.
It also makes sense why the second part of the series was filmed last. It was probably because the director and writers had to make sure there were no loose ends. It was like working on a mystery backwards. Start with the ending, then write the beginning.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
In the case of Fear Street, it works.
Read FEAR STREET PART ONE: 1994
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