I love scary movies. Always have, always will. But Fear Street Part Two: 1978 was more boring than the first installment in this trilogy. And why did I watch and waste 110 minutes? For curiosities sake. Surely, the second one would get better? Right? Wrong! At least the first movie had sapphic/queer love. What did Fear Street Part Two: 1978 have besides a bunch of horny white people getting murdered/hunted down by a crazed killer?
Gore. That’s what this movie had. If that’s your kind of stuff, go for it. Personally, I’m not about it, especially when the kills look so real you cover your mouth in shock because you think about A) the person who said, “Yes, let’s axe someone in the face and show the gorey details. Don’t forget more blood!” and B) who the hell pitched this?! That’s not say Fear Street Part One: 1994 didn’t have gore. It did. But not to this level.
What else did this movie have? Oh yeah. A startling lack of people of color. The only people that were people of color were dead ones in visions of the past and the kids from Shadyside. Because apparently people of color are relegated to the shitty side of town with a side of constant murders. Real original and so tasteful. Not. And the only people of color, Deena and Josh got a handful of lines and that’s it.
And don’t even get me started on the characters. I didn’t care what happened to any of them. Tommy? Ehhhh. Boring basic guy with nothing going on for him. I didn’t feel sad when he lost it. Alice? Two dimensional before they decided to try and make you feel something for her before killing her. Predictable. Even Cindy and Ziggy, the core of this movie. One rebellious and the other stuck up. Been there done that.
Again, this is coming from someone who loves slashers. And a shit load of them aren’t original and follow some basic beats that make them slashers. But shake things up a little. Make it stand out a little bit. Something, please. Because I really wanted to like Fear Street Part One: 1994 and I didn’t. Well, besides the queer love. But Fear Street Part Two: 1978 was stuck in the past without ever making itself unique or standout.
That doesn’t mean I’m an unfeeling creature. The part where Cindy and Ziggy were reaching out for each other pulled at me in a way that the movie had not done in it’s entire run. Here were two sisters who fought at every turn but showed up for each other when it really counted. But those heartstrings that were pulled by these two sisters, and Sadie Sink’s on point performance because she is legit perfection despite this movie, wasn’t enough to save Fear Street Part Two: 1978.
So, save yourself and don’t watch Fear Street Part Two: 1978. I’ve already committed to watching how this shit show ends but you don’t have to. Save yourself the 110 minutes and watch something entertaining and different like Happy Death Day or the Us. Now that is quality slasher/horror that is does something with its story. Hell, at this point Jason X is better than the two Fear Street movies combined. I said, what I said.
Fear Street Part Two: 1978 is now available on Netflix.
