October Horror Challenge 2022 #15: "Fear Street Part 1: 1994"

I grew up reading the Fear Street novels by R.L. Stine. They were typical teen scream novels, full of young nubile teenagers having relationship drama and dealing with homework and bullies and typical teenage angst while also dodging ghosts and slashers and murderous curses from beyond the grave. The books were trashy fun and were part of the larger wave of teen horror novels written by the likes of Christopher Pike and Richie Tankersley Cusik. Teen screams were all the rage back then and I inhaled them like oxygen, so I was excited to check out this trilogy of movies, which promised to be a throwback to the teen scream novels of my teen years.

This movie is about an angsty, angry teen girl who is mad at the world and particularly mad at the shitty little town she lives in, Shadyside, which seems to have more than its share of brutal murders. Residents of the town seem to think that the high number of murders that happen are attributable to the curse of a witch who is said to have lived in the town back in 1666, who also cursed the town and all of its residents for all eternity (how rude). Soon, the angsty teen and her ragtag group of friendsmust figure out how to fight the witch and her curse before it kills them all.

This movie promised me lots of throwback nostalgic thrills. Does it bother anyone else that the 90s are now considered far enough in the past to need a throwback to them? No? Just me? OK. I feel old. Anyway, this movie is definitely a throwback to 90s slashers like I Know What You Did Last Summer. Mean spirited little slashers like that were awesome back in the day when I was a teenager, so I definitely dug it. I like the twists and turns the movie took, thought the idea of the killer was cool, liked the 90s music (remember when Rob Zombie was known for his music?) and generally had a good old time with this flick. It's not perfect of course, and it stole one of its twists from one of the Final Destination movies, but it's still a fun little ride for those of us who have a hankering for some 90s horror.