Rating: 3/5
This movie picks up right where the previous one left off, so
** SPOILERS FOR FEAR STREET 1994 ARE INEVITABLE. DO NOT READ AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED IT ** I WILL NOT SPOIL 1978 ***
In the previous film, C. Berman told Deena that, despite what they thought, Sarah Fier would never stop coming after them. Sam gets possessed by the witch, and Deena and Josh restrain her. Deena promises Sam that she will get her back.
The sheriff left a note for someone saying, “It’s happening again.” We see that the note was for C. Berman.
C. Berman (Gillian Jacobs) lives a solitary life. Her home decor seems trapped in the 70s, and she keeps dozens of clocks, each with alarms for events like “Jeopardy,” Dinner,” or “Locks.” The “Dinner” alarm goes off, and she makes herself a microwave dinner and pours herself a Jim Beam on the rocks.
In the middle of the night, Deena and Josh come to Berman with Sam tied up in the trunk, begging for help. Though reluctant, Berman lets them in. C. Berman pulls out a book and a Polaroid of her and her sister, taken on July 12th, 1978 — one week before the Camp Nightwing massacre.
1978 Ziggy Berman (Sadie Sink) runs through the woods. Will puts his arm out and clotheslines her, giving her a bloody nose. A group of girls, led by Shiela, emerge. They string Ziggy up and try to burn her, but camp councilors arrive in time to stop them.
Cindy Berman (Emily Rudd) cleans the outhouse with her boyfriend, Tommy. Cindy is a do-gooder that the other councilors sort of hate. One of them comes to her to talk about Ziggy.
Ziggy goes to Nurse Lane’s cabin and finds a book with newspaper clippings about her daughter, Ruby Lane, and a drawing labeled “Witch’s Mark.”
Nurse Lane goes ham and tries to stab Tommy.
I’m sorry, I can’t save you. One way or another, you’re gonna die tonight.
The camp plays a game of capture the flag, Sunnyvale vs. Shadyside.
I don’t love camp movies, and I’m pretty bored with period movies set in the 70s.
Thankfully, the movie has a lot of witch lore to cover as well. We learn the answers to a trillion things that seem conveniently written or handed to the characters that would have been helpful for the kids in the first movie to know.
I was delighted to see Dylan Gage, who had a prominent role in Pen15.
Similar to 1994, this movie has period music. Most of it is conventional, but we get some Buzzcocks and Runaways. Also, covers in the first movie appear, such as Sweet Jane.
They use Carry On, Wayward Son twice — what is this, Supernatural?
The movie touches a bit on similar class issues from the first movie, but it’s more in the background.
By the way, don’t read a word of the Wikipedia pages for any of these movies — even their summaries are backfilled with things you learn later on.
My only gripe is that we’re supposed to be told this story from C’s point of view, but the story has an omnipresent third-person perspective to convey everything.
I’m still invested!