It was set in 1994 and seemed to be partially inspired by the Scream films of that era. However, it spent a lot of time worldbuilding and creating bogeymen from thin air, summoned only by Sarah Fier, who died last week. "Fear Street" is now clear.
The "homage" is transformed into a film with more direction as seen in Part 2: 1978. This film builds upon the original and takes it to a new level.
It seemed a bit boring, considering that we already know the outcome. A girl survives a massacre at camp by a marauding monster, corrupted from the witch. The execution is flawless, no pun intended. It's a great ending to Part 1.
We are clearly going for a parody/homage to Camp Crystal Lake and Jason Vorhees. This includes counselors and campers being murdered and having sex instead. It works and the investigation into the murder of Jason is much more fascinating than I expected. These spoilers will be revealed.
Ruby Lane, the mother of the girl who was corrupted by the witch works as a nurse at the camp. She refuses believe that her normal daughter became a murderer. So when Ruby Lane sees the name of a counselor on the wall, along with other killers, she attempts to kill him before he is corrupted.
Surprise, she fails and he is corrupted just like every other name on the wall. He is the boyfriend of one of two sisters. You don't know which one survived. This is not a "revenge" story like Jason's mother. It's pure evil and this kid in "lumberjack killer form" brutally destroys teens and children alike. More violent than anything we saw in the original film, except for that scene where that girl's head was cut with a deli slicer.
The final scene, in which both sisters were killed by summoned monsters was great filmmaking. I think we are supposed to be "surprised” by which sister survived. However, I don't think it was a crucial twist that made the movie any more interesting.
We learn about how the town plans to end its curse by reuniting Sarah Fier’s skeletal body with her skeletal hand. It seems like a simple solution, and it feels weird to me. I thought that she was trying to destroy Shadyside's entire bloodline which includes the descendants of those who hanged her. If they...give her her hand? Okay. We'll learn more in the third film. And we already know that many actors are playing their ancestors in 1666.
This film was better filmed, acted better, and had a better script than the original. The "prequel trilogy" that takes place back in time is a fascinating concept. I think everyone agrees it is mostly working. After initially being neutral about the first movie, I enjoyed the second film and can't wait to see the third.
