| Fear Street Part Three: 1666 opens right at the beginning of the curse of Sarah Fier and the evil that has infested Shadyside. All of the important characters from Fear Street 1994 and 1978 have been repurposed into their former 1666 selves, including the Deena and Sam/Sarah and Hannah romance that started all the trouble. This final instalment of Netflix’s Fear Street trilogy delivers exactly what the audience wants. | | 2021
Directed by: Leigh Janiak
Screenplay by: Phil Graziadei, Leigh Janiak,
and Kate Trefry
Based on the books by R.L. Stine
Starring: Kiana Madeira, Ashley Zukerman
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It’s 1666, where fathers marry their daughters off to whomever will have them. Sarah (aka Deena from 1994, Kiana Madeira) is supposed to marry Solomon Goode (aka Nick Goode from 1994/1978, Ashley Zukerman), but as modern-day horror protagonists tend to be, Sarah is smarter than that patriarchal nonsense and is planning to live a bit more free. She’s in love with Hannah (aka Sam from 1994, Olivia Scott Welch). Their midnight dalliances are nice and steamy until somebody from the town catches them.
There are actual adults in Fear Street 1666, unfortunately they’re the type of adults that spearhead literal witch hunts. A number of evil supernatural occurrences have started happening right after Hannah and Sarah have their hook-up and the townspeople are convinced they’re witches who need to be hanged. Sarah isn’t giving up without a fight. She doesn’t believe that she accidentally summoned the demon to the town, and somebody more evil has done it on purpose and needs to be caught. She’s right, demons don’t get summoned accidentally. It’s up to 1666’s only heroine to find the origin of the evil curse.
This instalment is excellently paced with an engaging score and beautiful cinematography, exactly as you would expect from a 17th century period piece. It’s not a straight up slasher pic, but mixes that aesthetic into a more calmer supernatural-themed 1600s horror.
With the origins of the curse finally known, the film goes back to 1994. It’s the 90s, back to the grunge soundtrack, neon colours and the Shadyside mall. As you’ll recall with the five main core from Part One, two didn't survive and Sam is currently possessed. We need new characters to complete the foursome that’s going to fight the evil villains currently haunting Shadyside. You should fondly remember Martin (Darrell Britt-Gibson) the Shadyside mall janitor who is not well-liked by the Sheriff, and adult Ziggy Berman (Gillian Jacobs) who survived the 1978 massacre. They join Deena and Josh and they both add a lot to the gory hunting festivities as they try and bring an end to the Shadyside curse for goode (and yes, that is misspelled on purpose).
Fear Street 1666 is a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. I love the pacing of the film, that never once dragged in either section, and the return to 1994 that ties everything together. The romance that fans loved so much in Part One is revisited two-fold, and the repurposing of all the main characters works very well. And I will say I was right with one of my predictions from Part One.
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