Fear Street Part Two: 1978 – Film Review
by Fran Winston

Directed by:  Leigh Janiak
Starring: Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, McCabe Slye, Gillian Jacobs
Available on Netflix July 9th

Part two of this slasher trilogy arrives picking up where part one left off. I won’t rehash the events of that, it’s on Netflix if you want to catch up!

This offering, as the title suggests, takes us back to 1978. Set in that well-worn slasher horror location the summer camp, in this case, Camp Nightwing. Yet again the divides in the towns of Sunnyvale and Shadyside rear their head. However, usual teen bickering aside, the residents find out they have a bigger problem to deal with as they start getting slaughtered one by one and must try to figure out who is behind the horror.

This was my favourite of the three parts of this series. The 70s setting and camp location is a perfect horror trope and much like last weeks 90s offering it wears its influences on its sleeve. You will spot many nods to other classic horrors here.

We are introduced to younger versions of some of the characters we met last week, such as Sheriff Nick Goode, as well as some new characters. Again, it is a predominately teen cast and they all acquit themselves well.

It is surprisingly gory when you consider the target demographic of the source material is tweens and it has plenty of moments that will make you jump. It is riddled with slasher horror clichés but they actually works here.

Just like part one set the scene for this episode, this sets things up for part three, so it wouldn’t necessarily work as a stand-alone movie. However, out of the three of them, it is the one that would feel the most complete if you haven’t watched the other offerings.

Because it is merely the middle part of the trilogy we don’t get all the usual clever twists and turns that come before the unmasking of the killer entity in a slasher horror, but it still works. It could be camper, after all, that is one of the trademarks of the slasher movie, but that aside it is creepy and bloody enough to engage most horror fans. It’s not trying to reinvent the wheel but it is a decent addition to the genre and should entertain most viewers.