Netflix is taking a novel approach to its upcoming Fear Street trilogy of films, based on the book series of the same name by R.L. Stine. The streamer is not only releasing each movie in the series one week after another, but it’s also taking what was a young adult horror series and turning it into a very adult film series. All three films are R-rated, and judging from the Fear Street trailer that just dropped during Netflix’s Geeked Week, that’s a hard R.
The three films appear to all hop across horror genres a bit. The first to drop will be Fear Street Part 1: 1994 and looks like it will be akin to the teen slashers that gave rebirth to the genre in that decade like Scream. The second is Fear Street Part 2: 1978 and takes place at everyone’s favorite classic slasher location, a summer camp, while channeling the likes of Friday the 13th. The third and final installment is Fear Street Part 3: 1666 and goes back to the origin of whatever evil is going on and appears to lean more into historical / cultist horror than slasher. It’s an interesting approach for sure, especially as they all release weekly, more like a TV show than a film series. It’s also cool that the Fear Street trilogy is running backward in time.
Leigh Janiak, the director of the Fear Street trilogy, provided the following statement alongside the release of the trailer:
As a filmmaker making Fear Street, but also just as a movie lover, I was so excited to pay homage to some of the great eras of horror movies. For 1994, Scream stood above all rest — it’s peak ’90s horror and, I think, one of the most brilliant movies ever made, period. Then for 1978, I got to look at the heyday of slasher films – Friday the 13th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street. For 1666…I found the best inspiration for me lay in the beautiful world made rotten of Terence Malick’s The New World.
Along with the Fear Street trilogy trailer came our first loglines for the individual Netflix films, giving us an idea of what each will actually be about other than teenagers dying:
FEAR STREET PART 1: 1994 (July 2)
A circle of teenage friends accidentally encounters the ancient evil responsible for a series of brutal murders that have plagued their town for over 300 years. Welcome to Shadyside.
FEAR STREET PART 2: 1978 (July 9)
Shadyside, 1978. School’s out for summer and the activities at Camp Nightwing are about to begin. But when another Shadysider is possessed with the urge to kill, the fun in the sun becomes a gruesome fight for survival.
FEAR STREET PART 3: 1666 (July 16)
The origins of Sarah Fier’s curse are finally revealed as history comes full circle on a night that changes the lives of Shadysiders forever.
Published: Jun 9, 2021 05:18 pm