Tina Kakadelis
In 2021, Netflix released a trilogy of films called Fear Street. This trilogy was based on R. L. Stine’s book series of the same name. Each installment was named after a year: 1994, 1978, and 1666. The trilogy was centered on the romance between Deena (Kiana Madeira) and Sam (Olivia Scott Welch), who were split between the towns of Shadyside and Sunnyvale. While everything is perfect in Sunnyvale, Shadyside is plagued with massacres where seemingly normal people suddenly go on a killing spree. The Fear Street trilogy explains why Shadyside is filled with death and misery, but that doesn’t mean audiences can’t return to this world for another bloody slasher. This time, in Fear Street: Prom Queen, it’s definitely going to be a night they won’t forget.
Fear Street: Prom Queen takes place in 1988. In the world of the Fear Street trilogy, we are ten years after the massacre at Camp Nightwing (the 1978 installment) and six years before the main events of Deena and Sam in 1994. Despite planting itself roughly in the middle of two of the previous films, very little prior knowledge of the Fear Street trilogy is needed to enjoy this story of a prom gone wrong.
Against all odds, Lori Granger (India Fowler) is nominated for Prom Queen. She and her mom are town pariahs because the town believes Lori’s mother brutally killed her husband. Lori is teased mercilessly at school by nearly everyone, but her one friend, Megan (Suzanna Son), stays by her side. Lori’s Prom Queen competitors are the usual subjects: the It Girls of Shadyside High. However, as the night inches toward the crowning moment, the nominees are being picked off one by one by an axe-wielding murderer.
The original Fear Street trilogy was fairly well-regarded. It helped that if one installment didn’t entirely work, it was boosted by the other two works in the series. While 1978 is a straightforward slasher film, the underlying motivation for all the brutal bloodshed was revealed in 1666, the strongest entry in the series. What made those three films compelling was the fact that Sam, Deena, and their friends were fighting for something. They were fighting against centuries-long economic strife between the two neighboring towns and a far grander curse that covered Shadyside and all who lived there. The heart of the three films is a genuinely sweet love story that bucks the trope of the queer characters failing to survive. They’re not the most nuanced or intellectual horror films, but they gave you a little substance with your gore.
That’s exactly what Fear Street: Prom Queen is lacking. Sure, some of the kills are gnarly and the soundtrack is outta sight, but the mystery is solved. Those who have seen the other films know partially why these killings are taking place, even if they don’t know who’s doing the killing. Even when the murderer is unmasked, there’s a feeling of indifference. Not necessarily disappointment because the rationale for the deaths makes sense, but when presented in the larger context of the Fear Street brand, the audience is left with an underwhelming sensation.
Perhaps Fear Street: Prom Queen would have benefited from dropping Fear Street from its title. It’s still an adaptation of Stine’s series, but everything keeps coming back to the neatly tied-up story that audiences were already given. With Prom Queen, yes we’re back in the town of Shadyside, but there’s no cameo from any of the characters we already know from the series. Prom Queen could’ve, and maybe should’ve, existed as its own entity. Away from the curse of Sarah Fier and the town of Shadyside. It’s a matter of not gaining anything by putting this film in the same conversation as the others. Prom Queen buckles under the burden of being forced to fill in a space that wasn’t asking to be filled.
As is the case with the other Fear Street flicks, Prom Queen would still make a killer choice for a young-horror-fan sleepover. It’s the sort of movie that provides a jumpscare thrill in the moment, but doesn’t linger. For those new to the genre or those who don’t want to be unnerved for days on end, Prom Queen provides that adrenaline spike. Prom Queen is worth the dance, but not the crown.
