Last week, Netflix released the conclusive third film in Leigh Janiak’s Fear Street trilogy, based on the literary works of author R.L. Stine. With horror fans already gushing over the first two films in the trilogy, Fear Street Part One: 1994 and Fear Street Part Two: 1978, a strong finish was expected to wrap up the story of Sarah Fier’s curse on Shadyside, Ohio. Janiak did not disappoint with Fear Street Part Three: 1666.
After the events of Fear Street Part Two: 1978, we’re taken back into 1666, to what would eventually become Shadyside, Ohio, to see how it all went down with the killing of accused witch, Sarah Fier. Deena (Kiana Madeira) sees everything through Sarah’s eyes, much more of her story is told, and we find that Sarah may not have been as unjustified in her curse of the town as originally thought. The story also jumps forward to 1994, where Deena, Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.), Ziggy (Gillian Jacobs), and Martin (Darrell Britt-Gibson) must find a way to save Deena’s girlfriend Sam (Olivia Scott Welch) from Sarah’s possession, and to end the curse of Shadyside once and for all.
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This was the one film in the trilogy I was most worried about holding up to the rest. It can be extremely difficult to create a horror period piece and have it not only keep the general audience’s attention, but be innovative and exciting as well. However, Fear Street 1666 accomplished both. My first impressions from the trailer of Janiak using the same actors from the other films to portray original Shadyside settlers had me hesitant, but it really worked in this film’s favor, especially in keeping faces familiar in an already large cast. My only issue here was the inconsistency of who the actors were playing. Some of them were descendants of already established characters in Shadyside and Sunnyvale, while others seemed to be just stand-ins for characters from the past.
Like the other two films, 1666 offered some extremely graphic brutality, while continuing to consistently build onto the already established story. The eventual path the story took was a bit too predictable, but that could easily come with being someone who has seen so many horror films. To a more casual viewer, the twists and turns could be more shocking. I did really enjoy the story using descendants in laying out the paths of future characters, and the eye-opening true-story style messaging that plagues American history in the times of Puritan settlers and witchcraft. I also wonder if some of this story was based on the real-life witch trials in Bethel, Ohio, in the 1800’s, which are lesser-known than the famous 1600’s trials of Salem, Massachusetts.
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Where the film really took off was when things turned back to 1994, or as the film refers to it, 1994 Part 2. The film turns into a brightly-colored montage, planning for the final showdown of good guys vs. villains that we’ve been waiting three films for. It is accompanied by another fantastic Marco Beltrami score and 90’s hits from heavy hitters like Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and The Offspring. The audience is given a little more of the emotional connection to these 1994 characters that I craved in the first film, and we’re treated with an intense, emotional, fun, and satisfying conclusion to the story.
Fear Street 1666 wrapped up the trilogy quite nicely. The film had more emotion in its characters than part one, but was a little less fun and more predictable than part two. Regardless, I think all three films were excellent and compliment each other extremely well. I hope we see more from Fear Street and Netflix in the future, and major kudos to Leigh Janiak for delivering so well on such a fun trilogy.
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