Hello, I’m dos Santos, welcome to Ulven Reviews – Movies and Series from all over the world, and our eras. Today let’s talk about Fear Street: Part 1 – 1994.
Shadyside is a city supposedly cursed by a witch. Because of this curse, several murders happened regularly throughout the centuries. So, in 1994, a group of five teenagers: Deena (played by Kiana Madeira), Josh (played by Benjamin Flores JR), Samantha (played by Olivia Scott Welch), Kate (played by Julia Rehwald), and Simon (played by Fred Hatchinger) try to overcome the city’s fate.
I decided it was a good idea to review Fear Street part 1 and part 2 before the release of part 3, Friday. Beginning with part 1, naturally.
If we isolate the story of only part one, it’s average. It’s a nice enough story, but not much different than other teen horrors. It’s the addition of, for now, part 2 that makes everything go to a higher level of storytelling.
However, this part one is compelling by itself, no doubt. Immediately after watching it, I wanted to jump straight to the second part. I don’t do this often, usually, I prefer to sleep on the film before going to the second part, which in this case, is a prequel.
Being a horror on its core, Fear Street 1994 brings other elements as well. So there are many creepy horror moments, but there is also the romance but mainly (especially in the two first acts, before things get crazy in the culmination of the climax) a nice comedy tone, driven by my two favorite characters Kate and Simon.
Another one I liked was Josh, who has his funny moments as well, although less than the others, and being very knowledgeable about the town’s history, and all its tragedies, becoming essential for the plot.
The two remaining characters are not awful, but they are inferior to the ones I already mentioned. First, I’ll mention a little their qualities. Deena is courageous and fierce in defending those who she loves. And Samantha, although frail, is willing to sacrifice herself for the well-being of others.
Now, Deena n’ Samantha’s romance is shown as a mess from the start of the film. The first scene we see Samantha, there’s some guy grabbing her ass, then she and Deena fight, and the two almost end up killing each other. This dynamic goes on for a while, until things start slowly… inevitably… get better. It’s hard for me to cheer on a relationship that makes me roll my eyes constantly.
I’ll get back to the characters in a minute, but since we’re talking about romance, I have to talk about the most nonsensical scene of the film. The group is preparing to face some evil supernatural creatures, but everyone decided to take a pause to make out. Two couples, and one alone, was not an orgy. Back to the characters…
Another thing I don’t like about Deena and Samantha is how serious they are. Deena is always complaining about everything, I know the situation is gloomy, but despite that, the characteristic that made me love the other three characters is the humor, so we could have some more humor from Deena and Samantha.
Regarding their acting, everyone performed quite well. The only one I knew previously was Fred Hatchinger, who plays Simon. I recently watched him in that Rear Window kind of remake, I don’t know. The Woman in the Window, that is, with Amy Adams and Gary Oldman. He’s great in both films. Hope to see a lot more from him in the near future.
I knew Maya Hawke as well, but she’s only on the opening scene, so I don’t think it counts. However, she’s a good transition to talk about the cinematography.
The neon lighting in this opening scene she (Maya Hawke)’s in is amazing. A lot of darkness around, and only her face with neon light shining on it. There are other moments with this type of strong, and colorful lights, but the most remarkable to me was this one with Maya Hawke.
The camera movements were also really enjoyable. I love when they use more unusual and drastic movements, like they made the devil take your movies.
Lastly, let’s talk about music. The original score is compelling enough, if I’m not mistaken resembles slightly (very slightly) It Follows, but It Follows is much better, in this aspect, at least.
But what I think was the smarter move in the score, was the use of real music from the 90s to help create this environment. For example, Iron Maiden’s Fear of the Dark. I don’t even like Iron Maiden, but I think it was the perfect choice for this movie.
Fear of the dark was released in 1992 (I just checked) and has all these horror aspects that Iron Maiden always used, like the big zombie guy, that I think is called Eddie, if I’m not mistaken. There’s just one example, I’ll bring even more in the part 2.
Fear Street: Part 1 – 1994 it’s a great movie that is good by itself, but it’s even better with its prequel. It’s fun, has a lot of horror, and creates an immersive environment. Despite being labeled as a teen movie, it’s very enjoyable, and perhaps even nostalgic for adults, so I recommend it to everyone. And now, I give Fear Street: Part 1 – 1994 8 moons.
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