Like Fear Street Part One: 1994, Fear Street Part Two: 1978 is a terrific homage to classic horror movies of the past, specifically those of the late ’70s / early ’80s. Fear Street Part Two maintains the same level of violence and gore as the first installment while incorporating many of the tropes from earlier horror films, for better or worse.
Fear Street Part Two is a great horror film and a fantastic follow-up to Fear Street Part One. It is both a continuation of the story from Fear Street Part One and a prequel to the events of the first film. Set sixteen years prior at Nightwing summer camp, Fear Street Part Two is the story of sisters Ziggy and Cindy Berman, and their encounter with the Curse of Sarah Fier, the local witch whose curse is the main threat of the series. Instead of only following a group of kids running from murderers, like the previous film, we are given a bit more information about how the curse works, and who it affects.
What’s great about a trilogy like this is that they don’t need to spend as much time on exposition and superfluous information, as they know that the next film will fill in the gaps. This is really effective here, though it plays like a three-part film series, it is really in essence a three extended-episode television series, similar to that of Sherlock. We are able to enjoy longer episodes, in exchange for a shorter season. This is a relatively new idea for Netflix, as previously their shortest scripted series, When They See Us, was four episodes.
Although this is considered a film series, due to the frequency of its release it’s hard to view it as such. What’s more, is that most Netflix film sequels can take up to a year to release. I personally believe that Netflix is using Fear Street to dabble in spacing out their releases, but that being said, I’m not exactly mad at it, as I have been looking forward to each release in anticipation.
Fear Street Part Two plays up early horror tropes in a way that Fear Street Part One did not. Where Part One subverted some of the typical expectations and changed up tropes and dynamics, Part Two runs with them. In Fear Street Part Two, like many movies of the era they are revisiting, everyone is such a jerk. All the teens in the film, save for a small handful, are completely one-dimensional a-holes.
Ziggy is bullied from the get-go, based on her being from the wrong town, as well as being a bit of a rebel. That being said, even Ziggy, one of the main characters, is rude to most of the other characters, including her own sister, Cindy, who embodies the virgin trope many horror movies of the era employed. To its credit, Fear Street Part Two does throw in a significant twist when we expect Cindy to be our final girl at the end of the film.
The movie itself feels more like a traditional horror movie than the first, but then again, if you compare the films that they are paying tribute to, they match the eras of the film quite intentionally. Fear Street Part Two is less funny and tongue and cheek than Fear Street Part One, but so were the movies of the era. Fear Street Part Two has more explicit sex and nudity than the first, but again it is replicating a different era where that was more prevalent.
Essentially the two films feel different because they are copying different blueprints, though both have done extremely well. Even the death scenes feel more brutal and visceral in Fear Street Part Two, as was the norm for slasher movies of the era. Simply murdering someone with a knife (as was the main killer’s method in Fear Street Part One) is not as frenzied as doing so with an ax, and also not as menacing.
The one thing that I felt was not as effective in Fear Street Part Two was the inclusion of the characters of the first film, though I believe it is necessary to move the overall plot forward, their inclusion feels tacked on, and not a part of the main narrative. In the short amount of time, we were with these characters, little progress was made to the main storyline. That being said, I hope Fear Street Part Three: 1666 balances the two timelines a bit better, as we are shown more of Sarah Fier, whose story will unfold in the final installment.
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