Deena and Josh learn what really happened during the 1978 summer camp massacre, and may have a clue about how to stop the witch’s curse once and for all.
**CONTENT WARNING: Violence, murder, disturbing images**
Synopsis
Deena and Josh go to C. Berman (Gillian Jacobs) for advice on how to cure Sam from the curse. C. Berman tells them of her experience at the summer camp in 1978. Sisters Cindy (Emily Rudd… no relation to Paul) and Ziggy (Sadie Sink) Berman put aside their differences in an attempt to stop the witch’s possessed killer of that era, Cindy’s boyfriend Tommy (McCabe Slye), but only one sister makes it out alive.
*Spoilers ahead*
This movie is the second in a trilogy (as of the writing of this review, I have only seen the first two). See my review of Fear Street Part 1: 1994 for more information. This is by far the weaker of the two. Where the first one is engaging and well executed, this is honestly rather boring and far more cliché.
Issues
The first one isn’t the most original thing I’ve ever seen, but this one is a bit too Friday the 13th—the era, the setting, the promiscuous counselors who don’t notice they’re campers are dying because they’re too busy hooking up. Heck, one of the main characters is literally named Alice (Ryan Simpkins). There’s homage, and then there’s copycatting.
I also found myself zoning out here and there because I just didn’t care about the characters or plot like I did with Fear Street Part 1: 1994. The sisters themselves are fine, but I found myself often missing Deena in comparison. Alice is unbearably annoying in the first half, so by the time she starts showing a more genuine side of herself, I felt little sympathy.
Imagine you’ve found a large, pulsing, sticky mess of indeterminate material. Do you: a) ignore it, b) run away, c) set it on fire, or d) touch it with your bare hands?
Girls. I know you’re very worried for each other’s safety and just made it through a harrowing experience. But three inches away from the body of your possessed boyfriend turned serial killer is not the place to have a long, drawn out heart-to-heart. Sure, they don’t know what we know about Sarah’s victims returning from the dead, but they do know that this is a supernatural situation, so anything is possible. At least leave the room.
Also, I’m no doctor, but I’m pretty sure CPR isn’t the cure for death by multiple stab wounds and excessive bleeding.
This is super nitpicky of me, I know, but having a Stephen King references threw me off. By July 1978, only three books were out (not including Rage, which at the time no one knew was King due to his pseudonym), so to say Carrie is your second favorite of King’s books is a little odd. That’s like saying this movie is my second favorite Fear Street movie. Also, Nick (Ted Sutherland… also bearing a deceptively famous but unrelated last name) tells Ziggy that he’s heard the new King book is supposed to be good, but The Shining had been out for a year and a half and the original version of The Stand wasn’t published for another three months. I’m trying to convince myself he just heard some early reviews of The Stand but I’m not actually sure how that worked in the 1970’s. But I digress.
A Tale of Two Sisters
I really wish IMDb hadn’t given away the true identity of C. Berman, because the filmmakers tried so hard to keep you guessing which sister survives. As soon as I noticed their intent here, I took note of the details that pointed to either sister to see if I might have guessed anyway.
The obvious choice is Cindy, since she actually has the first initial C, but Ziggy is clearly a nickname so that doesn’t rule her out. Still, Cindy looks and acts a lot more like Gillian Jacobs’ character than the foolhardy and mischievous redheaded Ziggy. On the other hand, Ziggy spends the whole movie bonding with Nick Goode, aka future Sheriff Goode, who we know by the time this tale starts left C. a helpful warning note in Fear Street Part 1: 1994. The real kicker, I think, is the moment when Ziggy’s blood touches Sarah’s bones, because it’s been made pretty clear that C. experienced the same visions as Sam, although that moment doesn’t happen until an hour and a half into this one.
All in all, though, I think I would have put my money on Ziggy just for the mere fact that C.’s identity is not spelled out. If they weren’t trying to fool the audience, they would have called C. by name instead of a first initial, so the fact that it’s all so shady indicates that there is something the audience isn’t supposed to notice. Since Cindy is the more natural option to be C. compared to Ziggy, this almost guarantees Ziggy is the hidden rightful option.
In any case, I guess Deena and Josh weren’t thinking too hard about the connection between C. and Sam by the point in C.’s story where Ziggy’s blood touches Sarah’s hands, because even Ziggy’s connection to Sarah didn’t clue them in on her true identity. Although why C. apparently told the story in third-person is beyond me (not to mention, how does Ziggy/C. even know all of the stuff that Cindy and Alice piece together when she misses the majority of it?).
Overall I’m torn about this aspect of the movie. On one hand, I appreciate the effort they put into making the identities mysterious, and that’s probably the most interesting part of the movie for me. But I also don’t know if they did that great of a job with it, and I’m not sure why they felt the need to hide the identities in the first place except for shock value.
Similarities and Differences
There are a few common aspects about both movies, aside from the cyclical curse plotline and inherent details therein. Both lead with pranks prior to the murders, explore the rivalry between Shadyville and Sunnyside, and reconcile estranged relationships. Kate and Simon are drug dealers, and Alice and Arnie are druggies. Additionally, both movies star siblings from single parent families, with the remaining parent an absent alcoholic.
There are also some things that are changed up in this one. In Fear Street Part 1: 1994, the Skull Mask killer dies in the opening scene, so all of the subsequent threats the characters face are at the hands of revived past victims of Sarah Fier. Here, we actually get to follow her current victim, Tommy, still alive and the sole killer for most of the movie until Ziggy’s blood finally triggers the revival of others (and Tommy, who is by then dead). While part of me missed having several threats at once, I do think it was a better choice to go a different route this time so it wasn’t identical.
Other Notes
I knew there was something up with Sheriff Goode in Fear Street Part 1: 1994. Except now it seems like he’s more or less on Ziggy’s side (even if he didn’t publicly back her version of the events… but really, can you blame him for not wanting to admit the fabled witch is real and risk sounding crazy?) Hopefully he’ll actually help them with their mission in the third part, not stand in their way.
All of the victims in this one are specifically Shadyvillers. This is even pointed out at least once. Of course, throughout history the curse has always impacted Shadyville but ignored Sunnyside. The odd thing, though, is that I think Cindy mentions that the two towns weren’t divided back in Sarah’s time, so it remains to be seen why she targets one side over the other. In Fear Street Part 1: 1994, at least one Sunnysider is killed, but he was between Skull Mask and Sam, while in this part Sarah isn’t targeting one specific person until the end.
Based on the final scene (and teaser for the third part), it looks like we’re getting Deena back for Fear Street Part 3, magically experiencing events in 1666 from Sarah’s perspective. I’m so down for that. I thoroughly enjoyed Kiana Madeira’s performance so I’m relieved to have her back as the star of the show. I stopped the teaser halfway through because it seemed to be giving way too much away, but what I saw restored my optimism for the final piece.
Conclusion
Despite this rocky interlude, I still think Fear Street Part 3: 1666 has potential to bring it back around to the level of the Fear Street Part 1: 1994. I’m way more excited about it now that I know Deena will be involved. Here’s hoping it stands up to anticipation.
Score: 5/10