What It About
A circle of teenage friends accidentally encounter the ancient evil responsible for a series of brutal murders that have plagued their town for over 300 years. Welcome to Shadyside.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
The acting is a bit stiff by today’s standards, but Fear Street Part One is the most adult movie to date by R. L. Stine. It started off fine, but it was very noticeably an R. L. Stine film after the intro. There’s just something about his movies that give them a young-adult, high school feels. And no matter who stars in his films, the acting is always the same. It could be Goosebumps, Scary Stories, Mostly Ghostly, or whatever. There’s a definite Stine style. Fear Street Part One has that same feel, but it takes it farther. The added scare factor helps, and the decision to make this rated “R” was the best idea so far. The acting is still subpar, but now the chance of someone getting killed in a very gruesome and graphic way is possible. The other issue is the same as the first. This is an R. L. Stine book made into a movie. To be exact – a collection of teenage books from 1989. By today’s standards, there was nothing scary in the films of that era. This explains the dated look and feel of Fear Street. It suffers horribly, which makes me wonder, was anyone in charge of giving this movie a 2021 makeover? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great story on paper, but the transfer to the screen was sorely lacking. The first hour moves along at a snail’s pace, with a few scares thrown in to keep you watching. The last third has what the first half should have had, but two more films to go. Hopefully, all the boring and campy last century stuff is over, and Fear Street can evolve into a great movie.
OUR RATING – IN NEED OF A DO-OVER 5