Netflix’s new horror trilogy Fear Street kicked off in superlative fashion last week with 1994, and tomorrow will travel back in time to 1978 for the second part of the cyclical mass murder mystery. A clip has been released of an intense moment from the film, focusing on the story’s legacy of puritanical witch-hunting hysteria.
The video sees teenager Ziggy Berman (Sadie Sink, the breakout star of Stranger Things’ second season) accused of being possessed by the spirit of Sarah Fier, whose execution for witchcraft three centuries previously is held as local lore as being the source of the curse that plagues Shadyside with periodic violent tragedy. Chiara Aurelia’s mean girl Sheila discussing the various ways witches were killed as Ziggy is strung up helpless is pure sadism, and likely marks her as one of the principal antagonists of the story.
Perceiving someone’s life as expendable will also likely be used as a further example of the attitudes the residents of the prosperous Sunnyvale have towards the downtrodden Shadyside, seeing their rivals as lesser people, while the dichotomy existing between the two settlements is likely to ultimately have greater significance than mere economic disparity.
As the inaugural installment of the triptych was a homage to slasher movies of the ‘90s – Scream in particular – so this one takes us back to the horror of the ‘70s and ‘80s where the subgenre was truly formed. The setting is obviously inspired by Camp Crystal Lake from the Friday the 13th movies, as well as the trailer featuring a riff on an iconic moment from Carrie, and you can rest assured they will be only the tip of a litany of references both subtle and overt.
The middle installment of a trilogy has the unenviable task of continuing the story the opener laid down while also setting things up for the concluding chapter, but part 2 of Fear Street looks to be just as compelling as its predecessor, and we’ll see for ourselves when it drops soon.
