Horror has never really been viewed as an integral part of Netflix’s strategy to relentlessly deliver new movies to its customer base of over 200 million subscribers, but that could all be set to change if the upcoming Fear Street trilogy manages to draw in big viewership numbers.
Adapted from the books of the same name by Goosebumps author R.L. Stine, Leigh Janiak has co-written and directed three interconnected horror movies spanning centuries, and Fear Street Part 1: 1994, Fear Street Part 2: 1978, and Fear Street Part 3: 1666 will arrive in consecutive weeks between July 2nd and July 16th. Several cast members will show up in each of the installments, too, which are set to tie together into one three-film arc of R-rated terror, all taking place in the town of Shadyside, Ohio.
1994 finds a group of teenagers discovering that a string of horrific events may be connected, and they’re the next ones in the firing line. One week later, Fear Street jumps back two decades, with 1978 taking place at Camp Nightwing, where a disparate band of campers and counselors discover that the rival town of Sunnyvale has a dark connection to Shadyside.
Finally, 1666 revolves around a witch hunt that has consequences that continue to reverberate centuries in the future, jumping back and forth across the timeline to the first two movies as events come to a head. It’s certainly an interesting concept, and only a streaming service would be bold enough to take a risk on a trio of horror movies releasing on a weekly basis that tell a single overarching narrative. There’s also a suitably solid ensemble in place across the entire Fear Street trilogy, so this is definitely a project worth keeping an eye on.