By This coming Friday, July 16th, with the release of FEAR STREET PART 3: 1666, marks the conclusion of Netflix’s summer event, the trilogy based on R. L. Stine young adult books, ‘Fear Street’.
Last week, many of our Latin Horror subscribers got a chance to see FEAR STREET PART 2: 1978. Which is inspired by 70’s and 80’s summer camp slasher flicks like Friday the 13th. The film starts off where it left off in FEAR STREET PART 1: 1994 with our protagonist Deena (Kiana Madeira), Samantha (Olivia Scott Welch) and Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.) tracking down the only person to surviver Sarah Fier, Ziggy (Gillian Jacobs). Curtesy of the traumatized and paranoid Ziggy, “We have to go back where it all started.”, 1978 takes us back to Camp Nightwing, where we meet a young outcast Ziggy (Sadie Sink) and her perfect sister Cindy Berman (Emily Rudd).
We follow the Berman sisters as they uncover a map that leads to tunnels beneath the camp which starts to peal off the skin of Sarah Fier and Shadyside. We also watch a coming of age storyline as Ziggy struggles with being an outcast and finding her first love in the very trusting Nick Goode (Ted Sutherland). While her sister, Cindy is struggling with the pressure of keeping the status quo of the perfect child.
This time around one of the three killers is Tommy Slater (McCabe Slye) an Ax Murderer. Just like 1994, which pays homage to Scream’s Ghostface with The Skull Mask Killer aka Ryan Torres (David W. Thompson), the Ax Murderer is a tribute to Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th. Before Jason dawned his iconic hockey mask, in Friday the 13th Part 2 he was wearing over his head a burlap sack while wielding for the first time an ax. In another nod to Jason, the name Tommy pays tribute to a Voorhees nemesis, Tommy Jarvis of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. Like Tommy Jarvis in A New Beginning in which Jarvis gets mentally possessed by Jason and dawns the mask, Tommy Slater gets possessed and becomes the Ax Murderer.
In the final shocking moments of FEAR STREET PART 2: 1978, we learn that the older Ziggy played by the talented Gillian Jacobs is actually C. Berman, aka Cindy. 1978 also sets up FEAR STREET PART 3: 1666 and the origins of Sarah Fier and her curse on Shadyside. We also learn that Nick Goode can’t be trusted. As a sequel, 1978 brings lots of more gore and great kills especially from the Ax Murderer. I feel that 1978 was a way better film than 1994 and that’s because how naturalistic the acting was. Everyone in Camp Nightwing brought their acting chops to the next level making their characters relatable and memorable, especially Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, and Ted Sutherland. This was a very solid segment to the Fear Street Trilogy.
Some of our subscribers initial reaction to FEAR STREET PART 2: 1978 were better then positive as Vice Edgehill said it was “Evan more gripping than the last one… good and bloody.” While Athina Minerva felt that “part 2 was insane.” Bobby de Jesus on the other had embraced the homage, “Somewhere at the bottom of a lake, Jason Vorhees is smiling his ass off at part 2.” Remember FEAR STREET PART 1: 1994 and FEAR STREET PART 2: 1978 is available to watch on Netflix. FEAR STREET PART 3: 1666 will be releasing globally on Netflix on July 16, 2021.
In a previous article Latin Horror got to interview Director Leigh Janiak (which you can click on here to watch the interview) about her taking on R. L. Stine Fear Street books. Now Christian A. Morán and Edwin Pagán of Latin Horror got to virtually interview actors Ashley Zukerman (Solomon/Nick Goode), Gillian Jacobs (Christine “Ziggy” Berman) and Darrell Britt-Gibson (Martin P. Franklin). Discover how Gillian got into the head of C. Berman, get Ashley’s thoughts on Goode’s character arch and gets Darrell’s reaction to his mother’s shocking comment about him being in a horror movie. Take a look at the interview below.
You can watch the Fear Street Trilogy here: www.netflix.com/FearStreet
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