Netflix has never viewed the horror genre as being particularly important to the platform’s plans for total world domination, but as the early viewing figures for Fear Street Part One: 1994 are making abundantly clear, there’s definitely a huge audience out there keen to be scared out of their seats.
The adaptations of Goosebumps author R.L. Stine’s literary series marks an ambitious undertaking for both Netflix and director Leigh Janiak, who co-wrote and directed three interconnected films that combine to form one sweeping arc that unfolds over the course of centuries, all of which will be released in consecutive weeks.
That means that Fear Street Part 2: 1978 is less than seven days away already, and Fear Street Part 3: 1666 is coming the week after that. There are plenty of cast members showing up across all three installments to provide even more connective tissue, with the majority of the action set in the town of Shadyside, Ohio.
1994 is an ode to the self-aware slasher boom that the decade experienced following the success of Wes Craven’s Scream, with a teenager and her friends going up against a malevolent force that’s been haunting Shadyside for hundreds of years. This will directly inform the jumps into the past as the mythology builds itself out in reverse, which is an intriguing spin on any multi-film series, never mind a horror property.
Reviews have generally been strong across the board, with Fear Street Part One: 1994 currently holding a strong Rotten Tomatoes score of 87%, indicating that Netflix and Janiak have stumbled on to a real winner. The even better news for fans who loved the movie is that there’s barely even any time at all to wait until they get their next fix.
