Movie Review: Fear Street 1978

Title: Fear Street Part 2: 1978

Series: Fear Street #2

Previous movie in the series: Fear Street Part 1: 1994

Based on Fear Street by R.L. Stine

Rating: R (bloody horror violence, sexual content, nudity, drug use, and language throughout)

Release date: July 9th 2021

Run time: 1 hr 49 min

Genre: Horror, suspense, mystery

Production company: Chernin Entertainment

Director: Leigh Janiak

Stars: Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, Ryan Simpkins

Watch it on Netflix

Synopsis: Shadyside, 1978. School's out for summer and the activities at Camp Nightwing are about to begin. But when another Shadysider is possessed with the urge to kill, the fun in the sun becomes a gruesome fight for survival.

My rating: ★★★★★

I don’t know why, but I am so surprised at how much I am enjoying these movies! I loved this one!

This movie dove a bit deeper into the lore and answered some questions raised in the previous movie... it was all very intriguing!

First of all, the tree where they hung Sarah Fier is at this camp, which is now (in the 90s) the Shadyside Mall. Our girl Sarah supposedly made a deal with the devil for immortality or something, and the campers found the place where she made this deal! Before it was the mall, before it was Camp Nightwing, this place was the settlement where Sarah Fier lived.

We also learn more about the curse. Supposedly, this curse will last until Sarah’s body (which Sam and Deena found in the woods after the car accident) and hand (which Alice found in this movie on the property of the camp) are united. Supposedly. Somehow I don’t think things are gonna be that easy. I think things are gonna get worse before they get better. This movie actually ends as Deena places the hand with the rest of Sarah’s body so we won't know what happens until the next one, but I am so excited to find out! The lore in the movies isn’t exactly like the lore in the books, but it’s interesting nonetheless and I am just really curious to see where all of this is going!

I do have some questions I am hoping will be answered: We found out why some of these kids had nose bleeds—because Sarah Fier was near. But how does Sarah pick the killers she possesses? Why Sam in 1994? Why Tommy in 1978? Sam bled all over Sarah’s grave, sure, but Tommy didn’t. So how is she picking these people in particular? I have one theory: They are Fears/Fiers, descendants of Sarah! But I don’t know. Lol.

Also, why would Sarah curse Shadyside instead of Sunnyvale? Like I mentioned in my review of 1994, from the way things are going, my theory is that they flip-flopped what happened in the Fear Street Saga. So my guess is that a Goode killed Sarah Fier. And if that was the case with Sunnyvale basically being run by the Goodes, why not curse them? And even though we haven’t seen the street yet, Fear Street does reside in Shadyside, and it was named after Sarah’s family, so that’s what would make sense.

And speaking of Fear Street—the actual street—where the heck is it?? It HAS to show up in Fear Street 1666, otherwise what are you doing movie? Lol. You’re called Fear Street and we haven’t even been on this street yet! In fact, I don’t even think it’s been mentioned! Although, to be fair, there are a handful of Fear Street books that don’t mention the street either. Lol.

But anyway, one thing I liked about this movie were the characters and the relationships, which I honestly wasn’t expecting. Not only do I very rarely care for the characters in the books, but also, this is a slasher! Slasher movies tend to have throwaway characters that don’t have very much depth cause they’re all gonna die anyway, but I felt like the characters in this movie were more complex, and I liked that! The relationship between Nick Goode (yeah, the Sheriff) and Ziggy... complicated, but super cute! And then the complicated relationship between Ziggy and her older sister Cindy... I loved seeing them navigate that and seeing it change as the night went on. And then Cindy and her former best friend Alice... another great, complex relationship! The characters were great in general!

Cindy and Alice used to get into trouble together back in the day, but while Alice continued on her rebellious path, Cindy did not. She changed her whole life around, keeping her head down and just trying to be good. Why? Because she wanted to beat the Shadyside curse and leave that place behind. Cindy telling all of this to Alice and them just having a moment... I almost cried. Especially after Alice told Cindy about the way she deals with Shadyside... by cutting 😩

Oh and then at the end, when the sisters get viciously murdered?? It was so heartbreaking! And just brutal! They had just made up, and then this happened. Of course, we know that one of the sisters survives thanks to Nick Goode and CPR. But holy plot twist! I was not expecting C. Berman to be ZIGGY! Dude! This whole time I thought it was Cindy the one telling her story to Deena and Josh in 1994!

But yeah, that plot twist was insane! Which I really appreciate, because what is a Fear Street book without its plot twist, right? Lol. I just loved this movie! I liked the expansion on the lore, and while it didn’t have as many fun kills as 1994, it was still a great slasher! I liked the complicated relationships in this one and how everything connected back to 1994. I am so freaking excited for 1666! More so now! I am really looking forward to finding out how all this got started and what exactly is going to happen now that Deena did the thing at the end of the movie!

Even if you have not read any of the books, if you’re a fan of horror movies, I highly recommend this series! It’s so good!

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Ahem. So Carry On My Wayward Son played not once but TWICE in this movie and I just... I was triggered, okay?

Look, as a Supernatural fan, my heart has been conditioned to jump at the sound of that song because it played in every single season finale. And in every single season finale, something bad or heartbreaking always happened, and then I ended up crying. Supernatural may be over, but 15 seasons of Carry on My Wayward Son season finales are gonna be a bit hard to forget. Lol.

The Fear Street connection: The Sarah Fier curse! No mention of the street yet, but I anticipate it will finally show up in the next movie (No, seriously. It better 😒). And while the 1978 doesn’t follow the book, Camp Nightwing does appear in Lights Out!

Have you seen this movie? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to watch? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊