Fear street part one : 1994

This is an important moment marked by a reunion with a universe that had been ripped away from us. Confined, deprived of outings (cinema, concerts, theater), restaurants and travel, we have learned to live differently, to rediscover the true taste of important things. For many months, we had to change our habits and find new ways of entertaining ourselves, or even make the best use of those available. We learned to replace our movie theaters by streaming platforms (Netflix, Apple Tv+, Disney +, Prime video). This period of confinement has literally made the number of subscribers of Netflix and Disney + explode. They have found their place perfectly by offering excellent films more or less recent (see exclusive) and series. We have to admit that Fear street part one: 1994 falls perfectly in this month of the beginning of the summer vacations and will please as much an audience addicted to R. L. Stine's books as a fan of genre movies.

R. L. Stine could be easily described as the Stephen King of the children's literature as he knew how to propose with his series of books Goosebumps a real horrific universe while avoiding to fall in the too horrific side to captivate and not to make too much frightened to young readers. Its counterpart Fear Street is the less light and more horrific version, intended for a teenage audience and young adults. Published in 1989, the Fear Street novels were well received. In 2010, more than 80 million books were sold in the Fear Street literary series. As Stephen King's novels are mostly set in Maine, the Fear Street books are set in the same town, Shadyside (a fictional town). The richness of this universe had enough to inspire the cinema with its numerous ramifications. After an aborted series in 1998 of which only a pilot was proposed (Ghosts of Fear Street), this time the work of R. L. Stine Fear Street which was to give birth to three films distributed in theaters by 20th Century Fox has finally benefited from the support of Netflix and will be broadcast in July with one film per week from July 2 to July 16 (Fear Street part one 1994 on July 2, Fear Street part two: 1978 on July 9 and finally Fear Street part three: 1666 on July 16).

The greatest quality of Fear Street: Part One - 1994 is to succeed in being ambitious and to know how to pay tribute to the slashers of the 80s and 90s. More precisely, we can think of the cinematographic sagas of Friday 13th, Halloween and especially Scream. So from the first minutes of a formidable efficiency the setting is set and we know that something irrational is going on in the town of Shadyside. This town seems to be under an ancestral curse dating back to 1666. The main character, Deena Johnson (Kiana Madeira) will not only have to face serial killers as ruthless as Michael Myers but also try to get back her girlfriend Sam Fraser (Olivia Scott Welch), who has not only left her town but is dating one of the soccer players of the high school where she goes to school. It will never be said how much the success of an excellent horror thriller does not rely on pre-established rules but mostly on an excellent script, an ambitious director and a perfect cast allowing a real emotional attachment of the audience with the characters. 

Co-written and directed by Leigh Janiak, Fear Street: Part One - 1994 constantly surprises because the film takes a malicious pleasure in using the new current technologies and in showing their limits. Indeed, facing creatures with human appearance which are in reality vengeful monsters obeying a powerful witch from the past and from which nobody can escape. Contrary to certain obligations that Hollywood studios have to face, this film benefits from a total freedom and this is felt as much by an ending as effective as the first minutes of the film but also by its way of showing that none of the main characters, as innocent as they are, can escape from forces beyond comprehension. We will also appreciate the little wink at the end which does not hesitate to propose us the trailer of the second film which will take place in another time. Undoubtedly Fear Street: Part One - 1994 is one of the best genre films offered on Netflix and we can only encourage you to discover it from July 2.

Fear Street: Part One - 1994
Directed by Leigh Janiak
Produced by Peter Chernin, David Ready, Jenno Topping
Screenplay by Leigh Janiak, Phil Graziadei
Story by Kyle Killen, Phil Graziadei, Leigh Janiak
Based on Fear Street by R. L. Stine
Starring Kiana Madeira, Olivia Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr, Julia Rehwald, Fred Hechinger
Music by Marco Beltrami, Marcus Trumpp
Cinematography : Caleb Heymann
Edited by Rachel Katz
Production companies : Chernin Entertainment
Distributed by Netflix
Release date : July 2, 2021
Running time : 105 minutes

Seen on June 30, 2021 (Netflix press access)

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