When Kate’s head entered that bread slicer in Fear Street Part One: 1994, I was certain Netflix’s trilogy had peaked. Now, having finished a hellish stay at Camp Nightwing in Part Two: 1978, it’s clear to me this three-part scare fest was, and maybe still is, just ramping up.
Part Two picks up where Part One left off, with our surviving heroes Deena (Kiana Madeira) and Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.) getting help for their freshly possessed friend Sam (Olivia Scott Welch). Seeking answers about the Shadyside Witch, the trio goes to the home of C. Berman (Gillian Jacobs), a reclusive survivor of a Friday the 13th-style massacre from 1978 supposedly connected to the Witch. There, the fearful woman regales the teens of the witchy terrors she faced at their age — her narration transporting audiences to this sequel-turned-prequel’s campy killing grounds, where the rest of our story takes place.
Enter Camp Nightwing’s counselors and campers. You’ve got the misfit Ziggy (Sadie Sink), her prissy sister Cindy (Emily Rudd), Cindy’s preppy boyfriend Tommy (McCabe Slye), and a gaggle of other characters getting ready for the camp’s biggest night of the year: Color War. But as the giddy kids prepare to face-off for an overly serious game of capture the flag, a killer hides in plain sight.
Now, at this point in horror history, it’s safe to assume any sleep-away camp worth its squirt guns comes equipped with an axe murderer. And Camp Nightwing is no exception, with the plaid-wearing, bag-headed killer from Part One returning for a brutal game of hide and slaughter against a backdrop of kitschy ’70s set dressing. But in Fear Street the masked slasher is just one part of a darker, more complex force victimizing the people of Shadyside. Building on that lore is what this sequel does best, giving us a mystery to solve even as the familiar kills stack up.
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Soon after their nightmare begins, Cindy and Ziggy emerge as dueling heroines, each fighting to survive through the night. The sisters’ branching storylines separate and reunite them at a few of the movie’s more critical turns, allowing them just enough time to exchange information before things inevitably get worse for them both. They’re remarkably clever for horror victims, and their character development is just as deft. Cindy’s radiant optimism grates against Ziggy’s more resentful worldview, even as they’re orbited by Cindy’s co-counselor Alice (Ryan Simpkins) who, with her punk rock hair and no-fucks-given attitude, presents as more of a nihilist.
Thanks to the girls’ intriguing emotional dichotomy, the uncomfortable silence that fills so much of the hollow suspense in other killer camping knockoffs isn’t present here. Debates about why this thing is after them — Ziggy blames the Shadyside curse; Cindy is confident there’s a more logical explanation — reflect the film’s slyly shifting tone throughout.
One moment, you’re giggly and squirming watching a hokey cockroach scare from a classic camp prank. The next, you’re getting a close-up view of some poor kid’s head post-axing that’s more vicious than anything Jason ever managed. The script treats romance similarly, allowing silly Wet Hot American Summer-style hookups to play alongside more heartfelt moments that allow teen love to propel the action when the killer cannot. A younger version of Sheriff Nick Goode (Ted Sutherland) steps in as Ziggy’s love interest for some especially cute moments.
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Shifting from silly-scary to scary-scary and from comedic to serious with skillful unpredictability, Part Two keeps you off-balance just enough to make solving the bigger question of the Shadyshide Witch thornier than you’d expect without getting frantic. In doing so, Part Two strikes a balance that lets the movie evoke the feeling of past horror greats without holding its own story back — a feat that’s eluded many other franchises. It’s a testament to Part Two‘s quality that it somehow made me like Part One even more, despite believing Fear Street 1978 to be the better of the two.
Meticulously written and performed by an obviously passionate cast, Fear Street‘s second outing earns its best moments by playing smart. Fiery performances by Sink and Rudd help underscore the film’s originality, offering unique portrayals of recognizable characters you’ve never met quite like this. Thanks to Part 2, the stakes of Fear Street are higher, the mystery of Shadyside is deeper, and, wow, I cannot wait for next week.
Fear Street Part 1: 1994 and Fear Street Part 2: 1978 are now streaming on Netflix; Fear Street Part 3: 1666 begins streaming July 16 on Netflix.
