“Fear Street Part One: 1994” (Netflix), the first of a trilogy that continues over the next two Fridays, is a slick corporate product based on R.L. Stine’s young-adult horror books that sat so colorfully on 1990s bookshelves. Like TV’s “Riverdale,” the film employs an artificial mood where it’s always night, and no one exists in the background of scenes.
Touchstones of the time
And it employs “Stranger Things’ ” trick of slathering on songs and touchstones (a mall!) in order to capture a point in time. Up first is “Only Happy When It Rains.” Because this Garbage tune closed out the recent nostalgia blast “Cruel Summer,” my expectations were set high.
The retro stylings are a hook. But as the story goes on, I cared less. I’ll come back for “Part Two: 1978” because the trailers show it takes place during the daytime. So we won’t be subjected to the same mood even though Leigh Janiak directs all three (and co-writes with Phil Graziadei).
“Fear Street Part One: 1994” (2021)
Director: Leigh Janiak
Writers: Phil Graziadei, Leigh Janiak (screenplay, story); Kyle Killen (story), R.L. Stine (“Fear Street” books)
Stars: Kiana Madeira, Benjamin Flores Jr., Olivia Scott Welch
I have mixed feelings about the casting of Kiana Madeira as main character Deena. She has a neat raspy voice and I’d like to see her in other stuff. But she’s 28 playing a teen.
“1994” is hurt by this across the board: None of the teens look or act like teens. Their romantic encounters and lives in general lack the awkwardness and limited perspective that makes great teen films poignant. The romance scenes between Deena and Sam (Olivia Scott Welch) are too adult, and their “opposite side of the tracks” issue is rote.
(Light spoilers from here to the end of the post.)
Where’s the mystery?
Another problem with “1994” is there’s no mystery (even though IMDb categorizes it as such). The teens find the answers in Josh’s (Benjamin Flores Jr.) newspaper clippings about past Shadyside killings, quickly devise strategies and immediately employ them. Viewers aren’t asked to participate; we’re barely given time to catch our breath.
“1994” initially establishes a spooky mood like “Scream: The TV Series” (of which Janiak is a veteran). A counter girl (Maya Hawke of “Stranger Things”) closes B. Dalton for the night when she gets stalked by the Skullface Killer. When Skullface goes in for a slow-motion killing, it’s so precisely Ghostface’s M.O. that I knew it had to be an homage.
I thought perhaps these “Fear Street” movies are tapping into generic horror fun to mirror the Stine books. But there’s a ton of stuff here that’s not appropriate for young viewers, from sex to violence to drugs.
As a horror/gore piece, “1994” pushes things surprisingly far. Another great location for stalkings is a closed grocery store, and here we get one of the most creatively gruesome killings you’ll see in any horror flick, slick product or otherwise.
Nice character moments
Janiak and Graziadei deliver a nice thread for internet nerd Josh, who crushes on Kate (Julia Rehwald). I like how Josh mutters video-game button sequences under his breath to stay cool when encountering Kate in the school halls.
Ryan (David W. Thompson), the comic relief who sees everything clearly, points out to the confused Josh that if Kate is being nice to him, she sees something worthwhile in him, because “She’s not a nice person.”
The writers tentatively wade into drug-stereotype commentary. Deena tells Sheriff Goode (Ashley Zukerman) that just because people are found dead in Shadyside (“Shittyside” to those in neighboring Sunnyvale), it doesn’t mean they were on drugs and wasting their lives.
If “1994” was made in 1994, this would’ve been edgy, but in 2021, it needs to go deeper. Too many times, this movie pulls back to being a slick slasher. Actually, it might be that all the time, but the actors – especially Madeira and Flores Jr. — have sufficient presence that I thought it might become something more.
The three-film series has potential to add layers — although it’ll be through characters and issues, not mystery. Still, the fact that the “To be continued” leads to the past is intriguing. I’ll be back, fingers crossed.