A circle of teenage friends accidentally encounter the ancient evil responsible for a series of brutal murders that have plagued their town for over 300 years. Welcome to Shadyside.
Fear Street: 1994 a Grating Homage
The first is a trilogy of films inspired by R. L. Stine’s popular book series, Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is a shrill homage (rip-off?) to slasher films that manages hit every single gratuitous note of the genre without an ounce of wit or style. The setting is Shadyside, a town that’s seemingly been living under a witch’s curse for over 300 years. Every decade or so, someone in the haunted berg snaps and goes on a murderous rampage. The carnage in question here takes place at a mall where a series of murders takes place one faithful night, leaving the friends of the victims to track down the killer.
While there is an occasional meta reference to the rules of the genre, director Leigh Janiak isn’t interested in making a post-modern on the horror film in the vein of Wes Craven’s Scream films. No, she’s only interested in spilling blood in copious amounts and cranking the soundtrack to ear-shattering levels. None of the characters are appealing and the story is woefully predictable, qualities that need to be improved in on the upcoming entries Fear Street: 1978 and Fear Street: 1666.
2 Stars
