Let's get the obvious out of the way first: This is not a trilogy of films. It's a miniseries packaged as three feature films. That's a fun gimmick, but make no mistake, these films can't be watched separately as individual stories. They work as one 6 hour long story.
Welcome to Shadyside, Ohio. Population: Rapidly declining! Yes, someone is murdering the young Shadyside citizens and Deena (Kiana Madeira) must find out who. It's all got something to do with an old curse and a witch called Sarah Fier.
Fear Street: Part 1 never rises above its I Know What You Screamed Last Friday the 13th roots. It also feels like a rushed production, sloppy and uncoordinated, and it looks like it was put together by an inexperienced, possibly first-time director. There’s a lack of basic filmmaking skills, like rhythm, a sense of spacial awareness, proper establishment of scenes and locations. Several moments fall flat because of bad timing. The story is often a bit of a mess, and the simple central premise is vague at best. Also, if this was supposed to be scary they really should have come up with more than one type of scare.
Still, the 90s soundtrack works, the film references are SO much less obnoxious than in Stranger Things, and the likeable young cast really put in a valiant effort to make you forget the flaws. They almost succeed.
Proposed drinking game: Drink every time a scene starts with a cool song setting up a potentially fantastic sequence, only for the film to abandon the song 20 seconds later.
The second part of this horror trilogy picks up exactly where the first one left off, but then quickly moves on to the eponymous flashback and a fresh setting: The Camp Nightwing summer camp. No prizes for guessing what fate will meet those poor camp kids.
The summer camp setting gives off a fun vibe, but you'd be hard-pressed to find much originality in the bloody antics. Almost every kill is identical to the next, and once again the film operates with a limited set of scares. 1) A character suddenly appears behind another and 2) a dark figure passes in front of the camera, both accompanied by a music stab on the soundtrack.
Luckily Fear Street: Part 2 somehow feels a little less rushed and uncoordinated than the previous part, and the oft-mentioned, poorly explained Shadyside curse comes a bit more into focus here. Though it's still surprising how much the film struggles with such a simple concept we've literally seen hundreds of times before. Still, the horror moves along, the drama intensifies and the pieces start to fall into place. Admittedly, the whole thing ends up working rather well.
Proposed drinking game: Drink every time someone "investigates a sound"
Once again picking up exactly where the previous film left off, we're transported back to 1666 to watch the creation of the curse.
Here lead actress Kiana Madeira is - rather confusingly - seen playing Sarah Fier, the very same women who stalks Madeira's other character Deena in 1994. They're not related, but they both get in trouble for having same-sex feelings. The two different characters they have those feelings for are also played by the same actress (Olivia Scott Welch). In fact several of the actors from Part 1 and 2 play different characters here. More screentime for Kiana Madeira is certainly appreciated - she's marvellous, the trilogy's MVP - but considering how much the trilogy already struggles with the multi-decade spanning story, it might have been better if Fear Street: Part 3 had kept things more simple and used some fresh faces for the 1666 cast.
Still, the story moves away from the overfamiliar teen horror genre to a more interesting Salem-like setting, where Sarah Fier's girl-on-girl antics lead to accusations of witchcraft and prosecution from religious fanatics. Part 3 occasionally still suffers from moments of directorial unsteadiness - odd cutting, errors in staging and other assorted rookie mistakes - but the story grows more powerful and charged, and the 1666 portion is by far the most effective part of the franchise.
The 1666 story leads us to Fear Street: Part 1 - 1994, part 2 (I swear it's not as confusing as it sounds) where Kiana Madeira is back as Deena who must bring an end to the witch and the curse, and save her beloved Shadyside. The last pieces of the puzzle falls into place and brings about a surprisingly satisfying finale that wraps up the trilogy (nay, miniseries) in an effective way.
Proposed drinking game: Drink every time someone says "burn the witch"
WRAP-UP
The Fear Street Trilogy would have benefited from a more skilled director with a more ambitious vision, and the whole thing would almost certainly have worked better if it had been presented as six to eight 45 minute episodes.
Still, the trilogy ends a whole lot stronger than it begins. Despite the faults and flaws all three Fear Street films are definitely watchable, and patience with production is rewarded by the end. Now, go find a safe place to hide, and if you hear a strange sound DO NOT go towards it.
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