Deena witnesses the truth of what happened to Sarah Fier and gets some answers she doesn’t expect.
**CONTENT WARNING: Violence, murder, child death, disturbing images**
Synopsis
Deena is magically transported to 1666 where she watches the events of Sarah Fier’s last days as a passenger inside Sarah’s body. Many of the townsfolk are played by the same actors as their descendants from the first two movies, and Sarah has fallen in love with Sam’s past counterpart Hannah. A curse seems to fall over the town, causing the food to rot, the animals to act strangely, and worst of all, the pastor to lose his mind and murder all the town’s children. The town works itself into a frenzy, believing this to be the result of witchcraft and blaming it all on Sarah and Hannah, who were caught kissing. When Sarah tries to put a stop to the madness, she uncovers more than she bargained for.
In 1994, once Deena learns the truth of what happened in the past, she, Josh, and C. Berman devise a plan to end the town curse forever.
*Spoilers ahead*
This movie is the finale in the Fear Street trilogy (see my reviews of Fear Street Part 1: 1994 and Fear Street Part 2: 1978 for more info.) I’m pleased to report this one returns to the level of the Fear Street Part 1: 1994 (I may have been too harsh on Fear Street Part 2: 1978 —apparently others liked it, but I still think it has its flaws). Once again I found myself riveted—and while I had a couple theories going in that turned out to be true, many parts still surprised me.
What Worked
The first two movies established quite a bit of information about Sarah Fier and the curse, but that info turns out to be almost entirely misdirection, in a good way. It’s not the most surprising thing that the true events weren’t actually what everyone expected—after all, we’ve seen that sort of twist before in stories like ParaNorman. In this case, though, Sarah isn’t even a witch in the first place, and none of the evil happening in Shadyville over the years is her doing at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. She doesn’t even cut off her own hand like the legend says.
Reusing the established actors was a nice touch. As each townspeople is introduced, it’s fun to see who plays them and how they connect to their 20th century doppelgängers. Furthermore, the surnames of many of these characters clearly establishes early on how far back the family trees of the future characters go, which serves to become a huge plot point later on – when the true “witch” is uncovered.
Goode is evil. I freaking knew it! I mentioned in my earlier reviews that something seemed off about him from the first second he showed up, but they threw me off in Fear Street Part 2: 1978 by making him seem to be a good guy who was only suspicious because he believed in the curse and wasn’t admitting it. I loved the twist that his family is the true threat, because it fully fleshes out the Sunnyside/Shadyville disparity. I thought it might be a flaw in Fear Street Part 2: 1978 when the curse specifically targeted Shadyvillers but Cindy mentioned something about the two towns not being separated back then (either that, or I just misunderstood what she said). Here, though, that all has a new meaning. The reason Sunnyside—and the Goode family—is so successful is directly linked to the curse. The Shadyville massacres are the sacrifices paid for that success. Such a great twist that was right there in front of our faces the whole time, but it wasn’t obvious to look in that direction because we were fed lies the whole time to keep us from looking.
I was a little nervous when they started hitting hard on the concept that the lovebirds might have brought the curse on the town unwittingly because they were gay, but I figured there was an unrelated reason for the curse and they were just the scapegoats. Since that was true, I do find the subject matter to be an interesting one to tackle. It’s hard enough for Deena and Sam to be openly gay in the 1990’s, but the 17th century was all that much more oppressive towards the LGBTQ+ community.
This was the big finale, so it’s fitting that they bring in even more reanimated cursed killers from history. It’s also clever of the main crew to use those killers to their advantage, tricking them into using their violent natures in different ways that help the crew survive.
Since Deena witnesses Sarah’s experiences, she’s able to use what she saw to guide her in her present, even though she’s never been to the caves before in person. Her magical journey helps her not only learn the truth, but navigate the next steps she takes.
There are some nice callbacks throughout this one. Sarah escapes the cave the same way Cindy did in Fear Street Part 2: 1978, and when C. Berman tries to pull down the bookstore’s gate, it gets stuck in the same spot it did in Fear Street Part 1: 1994.
What Didn’t
Despite the many great things about Fear Street Part 3: 1666, there are some issues—though they’re more disappointments than plot holes. While it’s great that more past killers are brought in, there is still only a small number of them compared to the hundreds of those possessed over the centuries. When the crew realizes they are in even greater danger now, I expected full swarms of unkillable killers, but we only get a couple we haven’t seen before.
Everything ends the moment Sheriff Nick Goode dies. I thought for sure they were going to realize that’s not the true way to end the curse, because after all, many Goodes have died over time and that never ended the curse before. I thought they were going to have to destroy the mess of pulsing flesh in the cave to truly end it. But I guess an heir has to be established for the curse to carry on? I still don’t see why Mayor Will Goode’s existence doesn’t keep the curse going. Speaking of Mayor Goode, is he the one who gets in a car wreck at the end? That event was rather random and it’s unclear why it happens, except maybe just to indicate that Sunnyside is not protected anymore?
None of the main crew dies. Also, all of the massacre deaths in 1666 happen in one fell swoop off screen. Granted, there’s still plenty of violence, and the reveal that a dozen children have been mutilated is gnarly, but it would have been nice to have more on screen deaths like in the other movies. After all, it is a slasher film.
The only reason Deena reunites Sarah’s hand with the rest of her skeleton is because of the legend, which is otherwise almost entirely false. However, this one aspect does actually work and gives Deena the information she needs to end the curse after all. The thing is, there’s no real reason why that aspect works after all. Sarah doesn’t sacrifice her own hand to cast a spell, she just loses it during her fight for life. She doesn’t even mention her hand in her final speech, which is the closest thing she does to casting a spell. Basically, Deena just does something on a hunch based on a slew of misinformation and by pure coincidence this act has the magic needed to do the thing she wants.
Trilogy Ranking
Overall, I like both Fear Street Part 1: 1994 and Fear Street Part 3: 1666 a lot, despite a couple of issues with both, so they’re pretty much tied in my opinion. But I still don’t think Fear Street Part 2: 1978 is particularly good. The flaws to enjoyment ratio is way higher, and now that the whole story has been told, that part is almost less necessary because it doesn’t really give us much information that doesn’t turn out to be completely false.
Conclusion
While there are a few parts that aren’t spectacular, as a whole this movie is a great ride, and a fitting end to the trilogy. I’m so glad it restores the tension from the first movie. All in all, this has been an enjoyable series and I’m glad they all came out so close together so I didn’t have to wait a year or more between each installment.
Score: 8/10