In the summer of 2021, Netflix sparked the ambitious “Fear Street” trilogy with charming results. Based (freely) on the horror series Ya by “Goosebumps” Maestro RL Stine, the three films were Slasher pastiches that seduced those of us who grew up haunting the horror section of the video store for “Friday the 13th” Sequels and the original “Scream”. Under the direction of the director Leigh Janiak, who also co -written the films, the three films “Fear Street” – “Fear Street: 1994”, “Fear Street: 1978” and “Fear Street: 1666” has shot a sprawl and detailed mythology which takes place regularly in the fictitious base.
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The three films were intelligent, fun and gave us a winning cast of sympathetic characters. More than that, they have left room for more. The bases were made so that Netflix returns to Shadyside for additional stories of YA terror. And yet, it took the streaming service for an unusually long time to return to “Fear Street”. Unfortunately, now that we are again in Shadyside, the results are completely disappointing. None of the inventive energies exhibited in the three previous films is visible in “Fear Street: Prom Queen”, a bloody failure which is deposited even if it makes large amounts of blood.
“Fear Street: Prom Queen” mentions certain events of the previous trilogy without enthusiasm (in particular the slaughter of the summer camp seen in “Fear Street: 1978”), but then moves to tell its own autonomous story, ignoring the curse of Sarah Prier which was so essential to trilogy. And that’s good. However, “Prom Queen” is so far from what came before it starts to look like a name of name only. There is, of course, a lot of previous for that, especially in the kind of horror (just look at the “Hellraiser” franchise quite strange). But I had so much fun with the original trilogy, and so little pleasure here, that I can’t help but think that something went wrong.
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Maybe things would have worked better if Leigh Janiak had returned. Instead, Matt Palmer Helms this entry (Palmer also co-written the script, with Donald McLeary), and the rather cheaply-market look of the film, does no favor. This film is not only bad, that glance Bad, as if the production had only the budget to shoot in a single fixed place. It contrasts so much with the three previous films, which felt only large.
Street Fear: Prom Queen went around the 1980s
In “Prom Queen”, it was in 1988, and students of Shadyside High are preparing for the ball. We learn that there are several candidates who hold the coveted price of the Queen of the Bal. The apparent shoe is rich medium girl Tiffany Falconer (Finzza finish), who has an entire nasty girl click Also Hoping to be queen.
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Then there is the Joker, Lori Granger (India Fowler). Lori is a bit of a pariah in Shadyside, mainly due to the fact that the city gossip has long accused Lori’s mother of killing her father (and getting out of it with crime). Lori inexplicably thinks that if she wins the crown of the Queen of the ball, all her social and financial problems will be resolved, which, I suppose, is the type of confused logic that works when you are a teenager stuck in an impassive and cursed city.
While Fowler works well with what she gave here, Lori is unfortunately a bland and uninteresting final girl. There is simply not much in the character, except for the fact that she is the best friend with the Megan (Suzanna Suzannal), who likes to make bloody accessories and spends all her problems free to read “Fangoria”. It is more or less implicit that Megan has a huge crush on Lori, but the film does not seem really interested in exploring this. In addition, Lori has his own crush, on Tyler (David Iacono), who just happens to be Tiffany’s boyfriend – although it is quite clear that this high school couple does not really like each other.
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There is a lot of blood shed, but not enough to make the queen of the ball interesting
“Prom Queen” rushes through his rapid execution time, dropping us at the ball almost immediately while a masked killer begins to bang the excited teenagers one by one, working (or she?) Although the candidates of the Balle of the Ball and their little friends with certainly horrible results. If “Prom Queen” has one thing to follow, it is because it does not fear bloody victims, and it seems that the majority of them are accomplished with practical makeup effects rather than digital gore in weightlessness. But after a while, even it starts to lose its charm.
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Not helping questions is a seriously dull script that fails to inject anything from substance. “Prom Queen” is neither funny neither Scary, and it seems that it should at least have tried to try to be one of these things if not both. At one point, the bitter enemies Lori and Tiffany engage in a dance in the center of the ball, a moment drawn and so poorly executed that I do not know what is the ultimate goal. Who thought it was a good idea?
As a big fan of the original trilogy, I continued to wait (and hope) that “Fear Street: Prom Queen” condemns me. However, the film remains curiously lifeless, and not even the presence of reliable and talented people like Lili Taylor and Katherine Waterston (wearing hair from the 80s, appropriately) can save such a disappointing matter. After the original “Fear Street” trilogy, I was looking forward to returning to Shadyside. It wasn’t worth waiting.
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/ Film assessment: 4 out of 10
“Fear Street: Prom Queen” is streaming on Netflix on May 23, 2025.
