FEAR STREET PART TWO: 1978 Is Good Eatin’

Rating: 😍🪓

I’m notoriously bad about keeping up with new releases, unless, apparently, they’re R-rated stream-at-home horror flicks based on R.L. Stine books. The first installment of Netflix’s Fear Street trilogy, Part One: 1994, was a fun-enough Scream-lite which took on classic slasher tropes without the slightest hint of a wink. Derivative but self-assured, it came through in the end thanks to decent plotting, good performances, and a solid slab of slasher slicing with a small body count but a lot of heart. The follow-up, Part Two: 1978, moves the action back in time to something more Jason than Ghostface, attempting to answer 1994’s questions and lay groundwork for the trilogy’s conclusion. It is less meta, more referential, and slower-paced; all of which had me worried through the film’s front portion. Once 1978 hits the back half though, it gets way more blunt, gruesome, and weird. Shortly put, it kicks ass.

Broadly, the Fear Street narrative follows a group of teens as they grapple with evils of the past. A witch, Sarah Fier, has cursed the town of Shadyside (lol), which results in a lot of possessed serial killers cropping up to do her vengeful bidding. 1994 concludes with protagonist Deena seeking out a past massacre survivor to save her witch-hexed girlfriend Sam, hoping to find guidance from the ghastly story of Camp Nightwing. This leads into the tale of 1978, which recounts final girl C. Berman’s attempts to escape a summer camp slaughter with her sister. For fifty minutes, we watch these siblings, along with other counselors and camp kids, putter around and build character by directly speaking motivations aloud and chewing through the prerequisite Fear Street exposition. Eventually, the dam breaks and all hell busts loose. Thank god it does.

I’ll be honest: the first half of this movie is capital o Okay, if not capital e Enjoyable. If you’re sensitive to excessive needle-drops and the mild Strangerthingsization of slasher films, I wouldn’t blame you for tapping out. I really wouldn’t! That said, the movie plays itself straight, and there’s also a certain charm to it; a sense of endearment at observing Friday the 13th’s DNA  filtered through modern filmmaking and a genuinely charismatic cast. 1978, like 1994, does a lot of legwork in making sure you’re invested in the characters before they’re offed, and for my money it succeeds. Jason - sorry, Tommy (Jarvis?) - doesn’t come out swinging right off the bat, and I think that’s for the best. It makes the eventual mayhem all the more tasty, which is what I really wanna talk about here anyway.

The back hour of 1978 is a blissful bloodbath; a complete treat for freaks who love watching people get split open and dismembered and generally chunkified. It’s not just that 1978 charts a higher body count than its predecessor, it’s that all the violence here is treated with a brutality and audaciousness that’s unparalleled in recent memory - especially for a Netflix release of a goddamn R.L. Stine adaptation. Even when restrained, it gets so completely fucking nasty, like eye-popping, clap-in-the-theater-type nasty that I truly can’t help but love it. There were several moments that hit me with the “There’s no way they’re gonna - YOOOOO!!!!!” reaction, so you know it’s absolutely delicious. I haven’t seen a horror film this unconcerned with the lives of children since Halloween III, so that should give you an idea of what unfolds by the end of this movie. Wild, wild shit.

If a double-digit number of people hacked into dog food isn’t enough for you, Fear Street Part Two: 1978 also serves up some gnarly body horror shit, which I refuse to spoil. There’s a great sense of escalation in this movie; once you think they’ve done all they’re gonna do, they hit you with some other messed-up bullshit, and all of it is incredible. It might not be a mile-a-minute back-to-back body-dropper, but the stuff that’s here is exceedingly well-done. It makes me mad that modern slashers are, well, generally as boring as they are. I wouldn’t say 1978 is revitalizing the genre or anything, but it knows how to treat you right, especially if you’re someone who sits on the edge of your seat waiting for Jason to chop another hapless motherfucker. From the first axe blow to the final stabbing spree, this is a glee-inducing, gremlin-grinning bloodletter…...I just wish there was more of it!!

For now though, I’ll take what I can get. Both 1994 and 1976 have been very fun and very watchable, so I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of Part Three: 1666. If the current installments are anything to go by, we’ll get a lot of lead-up followed by some positively delightful bloodshed, and honestly that’s all I ask for. The great thing about these movies is they’ve got appeal to horrorheads and less invested folks alike - you could certainly show 1994 to someone who’s never seen a slasher and get them onboard. I love that! I hope people watch these and get into the genre. If The Screaming Blair Witch Who Woke IT And The Evil Dead With The Shining Last Friday The 13th Before Halloween At Sleepaway Camp isn’t a good entry point, then what is, you know? Anyway, very excited for crows ripping out eyeballs or whatever in 1666. Glad that watching some grisly murders can bring us all together this summer.