Fear Street trilogy (2021)

[SeanC]

The former 20th Century Fox's loss is Netflix's gain with this trilogy of films adapted from the premise of R.L. Stine's Fear Street series, starting with Part One: 1994.  I was more of a Goosebumps age in the 1990s, so I don't have any personal attachment to the source material (though I gather this story is mostly original, which would be easy to guess anyway with the teenage lesbian relationship at the center of the plot, something pretty unlikely in a 1990s book aimed at younger readers).

Anyway, I liked it.  The lead actresses both sell their characters well.

The kills are unusually backloaded for a slasher film, in terms of major characters.  For a period there I was wondering if this was the kind of thriller-type story where nobody major died. 

[Anela]

I'm going to watch, hopefully in the next few days. I don't think I know anything from R.L. Stine. I thought this was just another "Scream" type of movie. I googled, and found that I was little, when he started publishing his books. I wasn't in the US, for most of my childhood, so maybe that's why I've never known who he is. 

There is an article that I didn't have access to, that stated in the headline, that he couldn't kill anyone when he started out. 

[Cranberry]

I really liked 1994! It was refreshing to see a group of characters who did (almost) everything right (but still had things blow up in their faces anyway, of course). The music was great, there were a lot of funny bits, and I liked all the main characters, especially the lead couple. Looking forward to 1978 and 1666.

(I also have to say, as someone who worked as a baker for years, I thought more than once about how the bread slicer looked like something from a horror movie...)

[Racj82]

At this point, I like to count how long it will be in a teenage centered production before I see a LGBT character or couple. Really didn't take long this time. I'm not saying this as a complaint per se. It just feels like a box that must be checked these days. Especially on Netflix. Diverse group of teens, someone queer in some form, and loads of needle drops. 

I did enjoy this a lot though. The group was diverse in terms of character traits while from the jump, they are all flawed but ultimately good. Even with the asshole jock. At the very least, he genuinely cared about his girlfriend.

Some of the kills were brutal.

People sometimes forget that a lot of slashers are back loaded with kills. After the initial kill we often spend a great deal of time establishing characters. Scream is the perfect example. Halloween as well. There is nearly an hour of non kills in both movies. Actually, Scream threw in a kill because there were none in-between the opening scene and the party.

Having Maya Hawke in the beginning felt almost too close to Strangers Things. It was like see her character in a fast forward to the 90s with the same kind of job but we are back in the big new mall again. It could have even been the same mall used for filming for all I know.

[JAYJAY1979]

I read the books as a kid...but Shadyville in the books was a middle to upper class town.  So having it be some working class town seemed off to me.

I loved the opening with nods to B Dalton and Music Land in the mall.

Lastly, while the 'woke' boxes were checked (diverse leads, young lesbian couple, etc).  It wasn't hitting you over the head with it.  Maybe more productions should take place in the 1990s :)

I'm awaiting the next installments.

 

https://youtu.be/fOalwZZdfPs

 

Edited July 4, 2021 by JAYJAY1979

[EarlGreyTea]

Yeah, I seriously wondered if that was the same mall set used in Stranger Things.

Overall, a bit too gory for me, but I'm in. I really like how diverse the cast is. Even if they're checking some kind of diversity quota, I don't care. This minority appreciates the effort.

Reminds me a lot of Cruel Summer on Hulu, also set in 1994. They even used some of the same music. If you liked Fear Street, I think you'd like Cruel Summer.

When it's all complete, I'd like to rewatch the series in chronological order.

[Racj82]

3 hours ago, EarlGreyTea said:

Yeah, I seriously wondered if that was the same mall set used in Stranger Things.

Overall, a bit too gory for me, but I'm in. I really like how diverse the cast is. Even if they're checking some kind of diversity quota, I don't care. This minority appreciates the effort.

Reminds me a lot of Cruel Summer on Hulu, also set in 1994. They even used some of the same music. If you liked Fear Street, I think you'd like Cruel Summer.

When it's all complete, I'd like to rewatch the series in chronological order.

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the effort. I'm a black man. I'm not against diversity. It's just something I notice Netflix productions. Especially teen ones. It just always feels like they are trying tick as many boxes as possible. It's not a bad thing. Just a thing I notice. 

There are clear agendas done by certain producers and studios in Hollywood. But, the term agenda is a dirty word this day and age. It doesn't have to be.

Back on track. I'm glad I didn't watch any promotional material for the show. I came in cold other than knowing it had slasher elements in it.

I wish scream queens on fox or recent American Horror Story were of this quality.

I also saw a wife of one of the duffer brothers is behind this one. It may be why some things feel familiar. But, she is a good director in her own right. Her movie Honeymoon was a trip. If you thought this was gory....This was child's play compared to some elements in that movie.

[Cranberry]

I was in high school in the 90s and while barely anyone was out then (although there were some), several of my friends (and myself) ended up coming out in college in the very early 2000s. So this isn't some "woke" "box-checking" thing to me -- it's real life. Lots of people are queer. Movies and TV shows are simply starting to reflect reality.

(My high school was nearly 100% white, but that's not the case in many other places, so I don't see that as unusual or box-checking, either. White is only the default in movies, not real life.)

[Scarlett45]

On 7/2/2021 at 8:17 PM, SeanC said:

The former 20th Century Fox's loss is Netflix's gain with this trilogy of films adapted from the premise of R.L. Stine's Fear Street series, starting with Part One: 1994.  I was more of a Goosebumps age in the 1990s, so I don't have any personal attachment to the source material (though I gather this story is mostly original, which would be easy to guess anyway with the teenage lesbian relationship at the center of the plot, something pretty unlikely in a 1990s book aimed at younger readers).

Anyway, I liked it.  The lead actresses both sell their characters well.

The kills are unusually backloaded for a slasher film, in terms of major characters.  For a period there I was wondering if this was the kind of thriller-type story where nobody major died. 

I read both goosebumps and fear street. Maybe I’ll save these for Halloween time. Thank you. 

[Racj82]

2 hours ago, Cranberry said:

I was in high school in the 90s and while barely anyone was out then (although there were some), several of my friends (and myself) ended up coming out in college in the very early 2000s. So this isn't some "woke" "box-checking" thing to me -- it's real life. Lots of people are queer. Movies and TV shows are simply starting to reflect reality.

(My high school was nearly 100% white, but that's not the case in many other places, so I don't see that as unusual or box-checking, either. White is only the default in movies, not real life.)

Again, I'm not saying any of this is necessarily bad. I'm just say it's deliberate. Which is fine. I didn't once say that it was unrealistic in either case. 

Going back and forth on this is derailing the conversation and I've made my point as clear as I can. 

[Racj82]

I wanted to give a shout out to the recent reboot of Are You Afraid of the Dark. It was first back in 2019. It was really good but I'm sure a ton of adults never saw it. It aired on Nickelodeon. It's streaming on Paramount plus. It's already had a second season. The first split into three parts ironically. It was supposed to be a theatrically released movie but they made it mini series instead. Hour long episodes. The first episode is on youtube. Just creepy enough to get under your skin but not gory. So, it doesn't go too far.

 

[Black Knight]

I just watched the first movie and am excited to see the sequels.

I was a teen when Fear Street books were coming out and although Christopher Pike was my number one YA horror author back then, I read plenty of the Fear Street books too (The Stepsister was my favorite). So there was never any chance I was not going to watch this movie! I don't know if I would have liked it as much if not for the Fear Street connection, but who cares, I liked it.

I didn't know anything in advance, but as soon as Deena mentioned her ex's name was Sam, I thought, "Hmm, that's a name that can be either girl or guy." It just tripped my radar. I don't think the couple would have worked quite the same way if it'd been a m/f couple though, so the writers did a nice job with addressing what would come up for a f/f couple instead of just changing the gender for one of them while keeping everything else the same. Both their fight and their calmer discussion later talking through their issues were well done.

Kate's death hit me hard but I get it, you can't only have people you don't like die in the later minutes of horror. There has to be some sense of actual loss.

I rolled my eyes at the overly complicated plan for killing Sam. As soon as it became clear that she needed to die, I thought of drowning. I know Game of Thrones wasn't out yet, but why anybody would choose to have their system overloaded with drugs, which can lead to all other kinds of body damage, was beyond me. It took way too long to think of the drowning option, and Kate and Simon would probably be alive.

The repetition of Josh never being able to hear anything drove me bonkers. Would someone as obsessed with horror as he was really continually make himself that unaware to his surroundings?

I'm not sure what we're to make of the main teen boy being named Simon. It's really hard for me to think that means nothing. There are a thousand names they could have picked for him that would have worked as an Easter egg nod to readers without having that level of canon significance.

[andromeda331]

13 hours ago, Black Knight said:

I just watched the first movie and am excited to see the sequels.

I was a teen when Fear Street books were coming out and although Christopher Pike was my number one YA horror author back then, I read plenty of the Fear Street books too (The Stepsister was my favorite). So there was never any chance I was not going to watch this movie! I don't know if I would have liked it as much if not for the Fear Street connection, but who cares, I liked it.

I didn't know anything in advance, but as soon as Deena mentioned her ex's name was Sam, I thought, "Hmm, that's a name that can be either girl or guy." It just tripped my radar. I don't think the couple would have worked quite the same way if it'd been a m/f couple though, so the writers did a nice job with addressing what would come up for a f/f couple instead of just changing the gender for one of them while keeping everything else the same. Both their fight and their calmer discussion later talking through their issues were well done.

Kate's death hit me hard but I get it, you can't only have people you don't like die in the later minutes of horror. There has to be some sense of actual loss.

I rolled my eyes at the overly complicated plan for killing Sam. As soon as it became clear that she needed to die, I thought of drowning. I know Game of Thrones wasn't out yet, but why anybody would choose to have their system overloaded with drugs, which can lead to all other kinds of body damage, was beyond me. It took way too long to think of the drowning option, and Kate and Simon would probably be alive.

The repetition of Josh never being able to hear anything drove me bonkers. Would someone as obsessed with horror as he was really continually make himself that unaware to his surroundings?

I'm not sure what we're to make of the main teen boy being named Simon. It's really hard for me to think that means nothing. There are a thousand names they could have picked for him that would have worked as an Easter egg nod to readers without having that level of canon significance.

Yeah, I can't believe that the name Simon means nothing. If they just picked it for that reason I'm going to be ticked. Simon was way too big of a character in the series to just throw the name away. I loved the Fear Street series growing up and read almost all of the books. I loved the movie. It was fun to see what came from which book. Deena was in the Wrong Number which the customer bought in the beginning of the movie. Cheerleader hit Sarah Fier's grave yep from the Cheerleaders series. Did anyone wonder when the Sheriff picked up the necklace in the street that it would be the Fear family amulet? 

I can't wait to find out why Sunnyvale is perfect and has no murder while Shadyside isn't. I have a couple guesses but can't wait to see. I love that the Goodes are present too. I can't wait to for the next one.

I loved that Josh was played by the same kid who played Freddy in the Librarians episode where Cassie goes to the "perfect" town. He was trying to figure out what was going on in that town too.

Edited July 6, 2021 by andromeda331

[Cranberry]

2 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I can't wait to find out why Sunnyvale is perfect and has no murder while Shadyside isn't. I have a couple guesses but can't wait to see. I love that the Goodes are present too. I can't wait to for the next one.

I've seen speculation that the line from the song: "She reaches from beyond the grave to make good men her wicked slaves" should actually be "Goode men" -- in 1994, the mayor and sheriff. That could help explain why one town is thriving while the other stagnates...

I'm really interested to see what they do with the next two installments. The cast lists on IMDB are interesting:

Spoiler

In 1978, we will see young Nick and Will Goode.

In 1666, Elizabeth Scopel is playing 'Real' Sarah Fier, while Kiana Madeira is playing both Deena and Sarah Fier. Many of the other 1994 actors are playing double parts, too, likely as ancestors (Ashley Zukerman is playing both Nick Goode and Solomon Goode, for example).

 

[andromeda331]

44 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

I've seen speculation that the line from the song: "She reaches from beyond the grave to make good men her wicked slaves" should actually be "Goode men" -- in 1994, the mayor and sheriff. That could help explain why one town is thriving while the other stagnates...

I'm really interested to see what they do with the next two installments. The cast lists on IMDB are interesting:

  Hide contents

In 1978, we will see young Nick and Will Goode.

In 1666, Elizabeth Scopel is playing 'Real' Sarah Fier, while Kiana Madeira is playing both Deena and Sarah Fier. Many of the other 1994 actors are playing double parts, too, likely as ancestors (Ashley Zukerman is playing both Nick Goode and Solomon Goode, for example).

 

That would have been a really good idea.

Spoiler

I hadn't checked the other two movies to see who was playing other parts. But I did wonder if it wasn't completely random on who kept getting killed in the murder sprees. That's interesting. So maybe their ancestors were part of those who accused Sarah.    

 

 

[Black Knight]

5 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I can't wait to find out why Sunnyvale is perfect and has no murder while Shadyside isn't. I have a couple guesses but can't wait to see.

Yeah, my working theory is a hellish compact with demons. The Sunnyvale team being named the Demons while Shadyside's is named the Witches seems like a clue.

Sam's case is interesting, because she had moved from Shadyside. Is she not viewed by whatever malevolent entities are in charge as a Sunnyvaler, and so Sunnyvale's protections do not apply to her? Was an exception made for her because she accidentally disturbed Sarah Fier's grave, and that exception would have been made even for a lifelong Sunnyvaler?

And would Sam be able to kill Sunnyvalers, or only Shadysiders? It's like Sam could be the crack in Sunnyvale's...whatever...that has kept the town safe and prosperous.

[natyxg]

I really, really liked this movie. A lot of fun with great characters. I was never bored and I can't wait to see the other two, I hope they don't disappoint. I'm really looking forward to seeing the answers to my questions, too. I might even watch it again before I see part two.

[TrininisaScorp]

As we waited out the rain on the observed holiday (the 5th), this felt like a good "day off and chill" movie.  We made some nachos and got some boxes theater candy and made an afternoon of it. I have to say that it was better than I anticipated it.

One of my favorite parts of a slasher is that opening sequence where it is chill, but slightly ominous and the shoe drops into horror.  As an 80s child/90s teen, I LOVE anything in a mall (I have such fun memories) and I was obsessed with book stores, so the start at the B Dalton's was nice.  I hope we see Maya Hawke again b/c I really like her.

I enjoyed the cast,  Yes, there was diversity of a few stripes, and I really like that b/c it feels more realistic to me from that period of my own life (thru now).  I particularly loved the dorky brother Josh and am happy we made it.  I was bummed that Kate and Simon got taken out at the very end b/c the actors were compelling.  Honestly, Sam was the weakest link for me.  It is a bit of a thankless role, but she was a bit boring compared to Deena.  That said, they actually made some smart decisions, which I appreciate in these types of movies. 

Sheriff Goode (of that name...we'll see him again, I'm sure) was excellent as that small town sheriff hiding some crazy truths.  I can't wait to get more into the history of Sunnyvale and Shadyside.  All that "sins of the past" stuff in history causing havoc in the future is always so compelling to me. 

My husband and I said we were 100% in for the rest of these. 

[bettername2come]

Yeah, I enjoyed this one. It indulged my 4th/5th grade childhood nostalgia (yeah, maybe the classroom library should've stuck to Goosebumps) while also making it appropriately R-rated. My favorite joke was the Fear Street-esque books being written by Robert Lawrence. Yes, that's what the R.L. stood for! I know better than to get attached to characters in the Fear Street series and yet, I was annoyed when Kate and Simon died, especially since poor Kate saw it coming. And Maya Hawk characters need to stop working at malls!

[Anela]

9 hours ago, bettername2come said:

And Maya Hawk characters need to stop working at malls!

I thought she was the same girl from Stranger Things, and the mall. 

I just watched it. I enjoyed it as much as I expected to (not as much as Scream, but more than others I've watched). I made the mistake of getting more bread and spinach dip, just as that pile of goo decided to slurp its way back into "human" form. Ugh. 

I don't remember either of the authors mentioned in this thread, unless it's just been too long. I was a teenager in the first half of the nineties, and when I wasn't reading what I had to, for school I was reading Dean Koontz, Stephen King, The Silence of the Lambs - things like that. I remember the one Dean Koontz book called "Phantoms" that ended up not being so good, but the first chapter sent a chill up my spine, like ice. 

[Cranberry]

The second one was pretty fun. I was surprised they killed so many younger kids! I didn't like the supporting cast quite as much as in the first movie, but the sisters and Alice were good. It was silly to have Deena and Josh surprised by C. Berman's identity, though -- it worked as a reveal for the audience (if they didn't read the IMDB cast list, anyway), but was she telling them the story in third person?

Chiara Aurelia (Sheila) has played two pretty awful teens in a row at this point! (If you haven't seen her in Cruel Summer, check it out -- it's a genuinely good show, and she plays essentially three very different versions of the same character very well.)

I liked that the hanging tree was the one in the middle of the mall. I noticed it in the first installment and wondered what such a big tree was doing there. I think the hand would have been buried further down by this point, though.

I saw a bunch of familiar faces in the 1666 trailer that played right after this movie ended. I assume most of them are playing ancestors, but is Deena a passive viewer essentially trapped in a flashback, or was her consciousness actually transported back in time? Will she simply watch what happened and hopefully spot a way to break the curse, or will she be able to act and change the past so none of it ever happened? I'm excited for part three!

[peridot]

I didn't realize that the neighbor from the first movie was the mother of Penny Lane.  Those campers were psychos - they just went along with the main psycho girl to set Ziggy on fire?!  

The only survivor thing wasn't entirely true - a lot of kids got away on the bus and the future sheriff survived too. 

I didn't entirely understand why C. Berman had all of those alarm clocks set up.  I half expected her to kill Sam once the other kids left to find the hand. 

[bettername2come]

Well, the girl from Stranger Things lived this time, so that's a plus. I think the core teens this time were a little more likable - Ziggy, Cindy, Nick and Tommy. I thought they were pulling a fakeout with which sister it would be who lived. In hindsight, it makes a lot of sense that she is Ziggy because the story starts with her near murder in the first scene. Seriously, that bitch with the lighter is insane. And she's not even possessed! I liked the Stephen King references. This one didn't feel as classic Fear Street to me, probably because of the 1970s, but it was a great Friday the 13th homage.

In regard to the rhyme, yep, I definitely think the line is "Goode men." So, good luck, Nick. Hope you're not evil. Hope you don't die.

Didn't guess it would be the mall built on top of the campgrounds with the hanging tree in the middle. 

[LilaFowler]

Re the rhyme: yeah, I totally think that Sarah Fier

Spoiler

was wrongfully executed and cursed the Goodes. Maybe the Goode ancestor(s) led the the persecution and Fier won't stop until the Goode descendants are dead?

Who moved Fier's body and put the stone there? Ziggy bled on the bones, was killed and then revived, but did not turn into a serial killer. Why is Sam a foaming-at-the-mouth killer when she had the same experience?

I preferred the second movie to the first, even though it was not scary whatsoever. In fact, I even shed a few tears at the end

Spoiler

(RIP Alice)

. I can't wait for the third movie.

I know it's not terribly important but

Spoiler

Gillian Jacobs and Sadie Sink do not look remotely alike. Where did all of Ziggy's mermaid hair go?

 

Edited July 10, 2021 by LilaFowler
no clue what to put under spoiler tags...

[Avaleigh]

I was pleasantly surprised with the second installment. I'm in the minority because I thought the 1994 chapter was a little disappointing, but I thought 1978 movie was fun and it definitely set things up so that I'm intrigued to see the final 1666 chapter. 

Regarding 1994, there were some things that I liked. I liked the opening, the mall setting, seeing a bookstore, the Robert Lawrence novels, etc. I didn't really connect to any of the characters but it was entertaining enough for me to check out 1978 which I think did a better job overall of characterization.

The sister thing surprised me since the actresses look nothing alike.

I was sure that Ziggy was the one who would die.

8 hours ago, peridot said:

I didn't realize that the neighbor from the first movie was the mother of Penny Lane.  Those campers were psychos - they just went along with the main psycho girl to set Ziggy on fire?!  

Yeah, that girl was insane and evil and nobody seemed disturbed enough by it. Made me think of the OTT bullying in the first chapter of the movie IT where that guy started carving into the kid's flesh with a knife. Even in that case the bully's friends were a little freaked out that this guy was such a psycho. The characters in this scene didn't seem nearly alarmed enough about the fact that this girl was trying to set a fellow camper on fire.

I thought the Shadyside vs Sunnyvale stuff was very odd. Like, why would any Shadyside parents send their kids to a camp where the Sunnyvale kids treat them all like shit? It’s treated as a given that Team Sunnyvale is going to win everything (since it's apparently been that way year after year) and the others are considered to be lucky to breathe the same oxygen as the Sunnyvale group. Also, given the way the Shadyside people are treated like second class citizens you wonder why the camp isn't exclusive to residents of Sunnyvale in the first place.

I was hoping that the Shadyside kids would get some kind of victory over the Sunnyvale group. It was especially a bummer to see those captured Shadyside kids get killed after spending their final hours being treated like shit from the Sunnyvale girl.

[Black Knight]

16 hours ago, peridot said:

The only survivor thing wasn't entirely true - a lot of kids got away on the bus and the future sheriff survived too.

Maybe the news meant that Ziggy was the only survivor of those Tommy attacked.

12 hours ago, LilaFowler said:

Who moved Fier's body and put the stone there? Ziggy bled on the bones, was killed and then revived, but did not turn into a serial killer. Why is Sam a foaming-at-the-mouth killer when she had the same experience?

My money is on the Goode family for the first question, and that moving Fier's body so that it couldn't be easily reunited with the hand (thus "the witch lives forever") is the compact they made with her to keep Sunnyvale safe while Sarah goes on killing Shadysiders for all time.

There's obviously more to Ziggy's story than we've seen yet, since the alarm clocks are still unexplained. But I also wonder about whether Cindy and/or Nick had an impact on Ziggy's outcome (beyond the obvious of Nick's resuscitation efforts). Cindy offered Sarah her hand back in exchange for letting Ziggy live, and Nick is a Goode and I feel the Goode family is in this up to their eyeballs. Maybe Cindy's attempted bargain worked, or maybe Sarah granted Nick Goode a favor by not turning Ziggy into a possessed killer. There was also that focus on that last moment the sisters had as they died together, about never being pulled apart again; Cindy might still be around protecting Ziggy in some way from Sarah. I'd like that, it would totally change what a bitter Ziggy said about how her sister sacrificed herself for nothing, and Cindy did make a big deal about how she hadn't been there for her sister and was going to change that.

I found both of the sisters really absorbing and really didn't want either of them to die. I wasn't sure at first who it would be, but once Cindy had the big speeches to Alice and Ziggy, I knew it would be her because she had completed her character arc. I've never seen Emily Rudd before, but she did a great job with Cindy, and the writers really did a nice job as well in fleshing her out. That character had a lot of interesting grit underneath the vanilla exterior. The writing didn't flesh Ziggy out as much, but Sadie Sink is charismatic enough to power through that.

We clearly saw the Sunnyvalers really are safe from Sarah Fier; even when there is one of her psychos running around a camp full of kids from both towns, only Shadysiders die. So I'm still wondering about Sam, who had moved to Sunnyvale. Once a Shadysider, always a Shadysider? A special exception made for her because she bled on Sarah's bones? Something else? Is it coincidence that Sam Fraser and Sarah Fier have the same initials?

[JAYJAY1979]

I'm wondering if only one killer can be picked at a time.  Since Nick was already selected before Ziggy's blood got on the bones..that is partly why she didn't get possessed.  And maybe her sister offering herself in Ziggy's place also prevented her from being possessed?

My theory on the clocks are possibly that she's attacked at certain times..and so sometimes when a clock goes off..she can relax a bit..but still be on guard.

And I'm wondering if Deena was possessed by Sarah at the end.  In the 3rd evil cheerleader book..the lead is possessed..but we don't realize it till partway through when the lead realizes.  Or maybe Deena is a descendant of Sarah Fier?

[andromeda331]

I loved the first one but this one was so much better. I loved the camp scene and the main characters Ziggy, Cindy, Nick and Tommy. Alice and Cindy making up and Ziggy and Cindy.

The first moments started out insane. No one was even possessed and they were already trying to hang and burn Ziggy? What the hell? The bully girl was horrible. I can't believe no one batted an eye at that or afterwards. They just let it go. Ziggy ends up the one getting a warning? That's messed up.  

I can't wait to find out what the Goodes part is in all of this. For Sunnyvale to be so perfect they had to have a hand in it. What happened to Sarah Fier? Was she falsely accused? Was she really a witch? 

I can't wait for the third movie. 

[Black Knight]

3 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

My theory on the clocks are possibly that she's attacked at certain times..and so sometimes when a clock goes off..she can relax a bit..but still be on guard.

You might not have been able to see this, because the labels were pretty small, but in front of each clock there is a label with a specific task for her to do. "check locks" "feed Major Tom" etc. That's why she immediately performs an action after a clock goes off. (Makes sense for an era in which people didn't carry cell phones they could set a whole bunch of reminder alarms on.)

Which seems to hint at problems with keeping track of time, which IRL I might think means some sort of dementia, but in Fear Street's world probably has some more sinister supernatural meaning...

3 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

I'm wondering if only one killer can be picked at a time.  Since Nick was already selected before Ziggy's blood got on the bones..that is partly why she didn't get possessed. 

I think you mean Tommy, not Nick. But Cindy had already killed Tommy when Alice showed up with the hand. So if there is a "only one killer at a time" quota (which makes sense given it's a possession), the slot was available again by the time Ziggy's blood got on the bone, as well as after she was killed and brought back to life. So I don't think that's the reason why Sarah is not possessing Ziggy. The possession ends when the possessed human first dies - Sarah is able to generate them again out of that goo, but it's not quite the same thing at that point. In the first movie we saw Ryan be her possessed killer, but he also was killed in the opening segment, and Sarah was able to take Sam later on.

[Brn2bwild]

Was there supposed to be some sort of ambiguity about which sister would die and which one would grow into an adult?  Because 

Spoiler

I assumed right away that Ziggy was the one who would live.

 

[scarynikki12]

13 minutes ago, Brn2bwild said:

Was there supposed to be some sort of ambiguity about which sister would die and which one would grow into an adult?  Because 

  Hide contents

I assumed right away that Ziggy was the one who would live.

 

Spoiler

A little since we know Deena had contacted C Berman but the dog's name being Major Tom was the hint that it was really Ziggy telling the story. That said, Cindy could have just named her dog to honor her dead sister so it wasn't that much of a hint. I think they did well with the ambiguity and I went back and forth until the blood landed on Ziggy's hand. No idea why that convinced me, since it made her the target for the witch soldiers and could have gone the opposite way of the first movie, but it did. 

 

[natyxg]

1 hour ago, Brn2bwild said:

Was there supposed to be some sort of ambiguity about which sister would die and which one would grow into an adult?  Because 

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I assumed right away that Ziggy was the one who would live.

 

Yes. Just like we were supposed to think that Sam was a guy until "surprise! It's a girl!" The trailers played a big role, but neither trick worked on me. At all.

[natyxg]

1 hour ago, scarynikki12 said:

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A little since we know Deena had contacted C Berman but the dog's name being Major Tom was the hint that it was really Ziggy telling the story. That said, Cindy could have just named her dog to honor her dead sister so it wasn't that much of a hint. I think they did well with the ambiguity and I went back and forth until the blood landed on Ziggy's hand. No idea why that convinced me, since it made her the target for the witch soldiers and could have gone the opposite way of the first movie, but it did. 

 

Spoiler

The fact that they never called Ziggy her real name, nor did they call C. Berman her full name, both things for no reason, was reason enough for me to know that C. Berman was Ziggy. Confirmation inside the plot before it was really confirmed at the end? That Alice saw that vision of Cindy dead, along with the other dead people in the cave.

 

[natyxg]

3 hours ago, Black Knight said:

I think you mean Tommy, not Nick. But Cindy had already killed Tommy when Alice showed up with the hand. So if there is a "only one killer at a time" quota (which makes sense given it's a possession), the slot was available again by the time Ziggy's blood got on the bone, as well as after she was killed and brought back to life. So I don't think that's the reason why Sarah is not possessing Ziggy. The possession ends when the possessed human first dies - Sarah is able to generate them again out of that goo, but it's not quite the same thing at that point. In the first movie we saw Ryan be her possessed killer, but he also was killed in the opening segment, and Sarah was able to take Sam later on.

I think Sam got possessed because she has some other connection to Sarah. Didn't Sarah Fier say "it's you" to her a couple of times when Sam saw her? Maybe she's the reincarnation of

Spoiler

her girlfriend from 1666? I'm putting this in spoilers just in case, but it's obvious from the trailers that Sarah had a female lover and that's probably why they went after her. It has "oh the crops are failing! It's because you're an evil witch that does perverted things and you must burn to save the town!" vibes all over it.

Either way, Ziggy told Deena over the phone that Sarah makes the rules. So she can do whatever she wants.

When Sam's name appeared on the rock there WAS someone there though, I think... and the rhyme says that Sarah made a deal to be immortal.. right? so I wonder if she's hanging out somewhere in the town or something, even if those are her bones or whatever. I suspect, though, that they will come up with some explanation that none of us can guess because we're lacking information. And this applies to pretty much everything.

[paulvdb]

9 hours ago, natyxg said:

The fact that they never called Ziggy her real name, nor did they call C. Berman her full name, both things for no reason, was reason enough for me to know that C. Berman was Ziggy.

Never calling C. Berman by her full name was strange. Never calling Ziggy by her full name not so much. If she always went by Ziggy it would have been stranger if someone had called her by her full name. I like that we get the three movies in consecutive weeks and don't have to wait forever to see how the story ends.

[Black Knight]

4 hours ago, paulvdb said:

Never calling Ziggy by her full name not so much. If she always went by Ziggy it would have been stranger if someone had called her by her full name.

Indeed. The tell there was more simply just the fact that she was going by a nickname that obviously isn't what's on her birth certificate. It was even more noticeable because she was the only character doing so. But I still did consider for a while that it might just be a red herring. They did a nice job in casting an adult actress who seemed like she could be either of them even though the sisters didn't look much alike (I didn't even recognize Gillian Jacobs - I had to look at the credits).

I was rewatching the beginning and AdultZiggy had a note saying "IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN". We don't know anything about that note, do we? She had it before Deena and Josh showed up, otherwise I might have thought that one of them wrote it to get her to open the door.

[Brn2bwild]

59 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

Indeed. The tell there was more simply just the fact that she was going by a nickname that obviously isn't what's on her birth certificate. It was even more noticeable because she was the only character doing so. But I still did consider for a while that it might just be a red herring. They did a nice job in casting an adult actress who seemed like she could be either of them even though the sisters didn't look much alike (I didn't even recognize Gillian Jacobs - I had to look at the credits).

I was rewatching the beginning and AdultZiggy had a note saying "IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN". We don't know anything about that note, do we? She had it before Deena and Josh showed up, otherwise I might have thought that one of them wrote it to get her to open the door.

I thought that came from Sheriff Goode?

[Black Knight]

2 minutes ago, Brn2bwild said:

I thought that came from Sheriff Goode?

When did that happen? In the first movie?

[Brn2bwild]

Just now, Black Knight said:

When did that happen? In the first movie?

I think so.  If I recall, he slipped it through her door.  But maybe I'm misremembering.

[calliope1975]

Just now, Black Knight said:

When did that happen? In the first movie?

The sheriff showed up at old Ziggy's house near the end of the first movie and slipped that note into the house, I think. Which makes him more of an asshole for dismissing the kids who came to him and basically telling them they were nuts/lying. 

[Black Knight]

Thank you! I'll go back and rewatch.

Nick Goode is a very mysterious character. I personally think when he was telling Ziggy about how his father had dumped this big burden on him, he wasn't just talking about his father's desire that he become sheriff. I think his dad told him about a compact with the witch or a demon or whatever that keeps Sunnyvale safe at Shadyside's expense. At the camp he's deciding which way to go with that. On one end Ziggy, the girl he likes, and on the other end, his family and town. Breaking the compact likely doesn't just mean that Shadyside will no longer be plagued with misery and murder, it means Sunnyvale would become a regular town, not cursed, but not blessed either, and the Goodes won't be as successful or prominent a family anymore.

Ziggy said she never saw him again after he didn't (pretended not to) believe her about Sarah Fier, just like he dismissed the teens in the first movie. Having to make a reference to the Judy Blume book club when she called to get hold of him seems to support that. But why is he writing her that note? To warn her to be extra careful? Seems like he may still be kinda "fuck the rest of the Shadysiders but I do want Ziggy to be safe." There was a tinge of that when it became known at camp that a killer was going around and Ziggy immediately wanted to find her sister and he made that sarcastic remark. He backed down fast when he saw Ziggy's reaction, but a more empathetic dude would've known Ziggy didn't really mean the stuff she said about hating Cindy and never made that remark in the first place. When Cindy was saying she needed to get to her sister Alice didn't make any sarcastic remarks.

I also wonder why AdultZiggy called Nick at all, and what Nick is going to do when he gets there. Maybe Ziggy wants to show Sam to Nick as proof of her claims (does she realize Nick wrote the note?). That would not be a great idea IMO. I don't think Ziggy wants Sam dead - her willingness to help came because Deena said she couldn't let Sam die, she loves her, which obviously reminded Ziggy of her sister - but I don't think Nick would have an issue with killing her, particularly since it appears the only way to save Sam is to break the curse.

[natyxg]

1 hour ago, Brn2bwild said:

I think so.  If I recall, he slipped it through her door.  But maybe I'm misremembering.

He did. He was going to knock on the door, but decided to write the note instead.

[Shorty186]

I really liked the first one. Anything set in the early 90s always makes me nostalgic. So I was prepared to like the second one less because I thought it'd be too much of a Friday the 13th ripoff *and* because the trailers flat out told us Ziggy died.

So I was surprised that I enjoyed it even more than 1994. I figured out Tommy was the Killer right away (although I'm pretty sure the first movie showed us his name on the rock), so I was real embarrassed I didn't figure out the sister twist till they were dying and it seemed real unlikely that Cindy would survive her multiple ax stabbings. Aside from the trailer, I just figured how worse it would make her feel that it was *her* BF murdering everyone, including her sister.

I was a little young for the Fear Street books but was a HUGE Goosebumps fan. Can anyone tell me the significance of the Simon name? I was reading the synopses of the books and it seems like most of the books were standalone and Fear Street was actually a street and woods in the books? While in the movies, "Fier" only refers to Sarah Fier? Is there still a Shadyside/Sunnyvale rivalry? Honestly, I don't know why more people wouldn't move out of Shadyside with all the shit that happens there.

Edited July 11, 2021 by Shorty186

[Black Knight]

3 hours ago, Shorty186 said:

I was a little young for the Fear Street books but was a HUGE Goosebumps fan. Can anyone tell me the significance of the Simon name? I was reading the synopses of the books and it seems like most of the books were standalone and Fear Street was actually a street and woods in the books? While in the movies, "Fier" only refers to Sarah Fier? Is there still a Shadyside/Sunnyvale rivalry? Honestly, I don't know why more people wouldn't move out of Shadyside with all the shit that happens there.

Spoiler

In the books, Fear Street is named after the Fear family (really there is no other reason why anyone would decide to name a street "Fear"). As you said, most of the books are standalone (though some of the standalones had sequels - I mentioned The Stepsister upthread as having been my favorite, and that had a sequel), but some tell the history of the Fear family, which was originally spelled Fier and changed in the 19th century to Fear by Simon Fier, the most prominent/best-known Fear/Fier member in the canon, in an attempt to circumvent a curse on the family. That's why it would be very weird for us readers if the first movie just casually used the name Simon for the teen boy we met. The name Deena was used in the "Wrong Number" book that's shown at the start of the movie, but that's just a fun nod to readers, as she has no importance to the mythology, whereas Simon is central.

It seems like part of the curse is that Shadysiders are generally trapped in the town. It takes money to move. Poverty seems to trap people, a certain malaise seems to trap people, and those who seem to have a real shot at getting out anyway have a knack for ending up dead. Kate was valedictorian and raising money through drugs; she's dead. Cindy appeared to be a Type A high achiever sort; she's dead. Sam's family managed to move, but she's spent a movie avoiding being murdered and is now a possessed psycho, so the move doesn't seem to have helped her much in that regard...

[SeanC]

 

[peridot]

I really liked seeing how it all started.  For some reason, I was halfway expecting English accents.  The Irish accents were surprising.  The first massacre was very gruesome, I wasn't expecting that at all.  I started getting emotional seeing how everything went down. 

The typical behavior for that time was disgusting and I hated how it all spiraled. 

Spoiler

I knew the ending would go like that!  Why on Earth didn't Deena and Sam destroy the book!

 

[Cranberry]

That was satisfying. None of it was really surprising, as I'd seen people guess the whole, "Sarah Fier was an innocent lesbian and the Goodes made a deal with the devil and framed her" thing in advance, but an ending doesn't have to be surprising to be satisfying. I'm glad all our leads got to live. I'm annoyed they left the book behind, but if it means we get more Fear Street movies, I can deal with that.

Am I crazy or were the accents not horrible? I'm used to David-Boreanaz-in-Buffy-level "historical" accents in all my genre shows, though, so anything besides that is gonna impress me.

When they first got to the mall, it occurred to me that there hadn't been all that much gore up until that point. The movie made up for that pretty quickly! That was a very smart plan and I liked how it tied back to Ziggy's initial Carrie-style revenge plot. 

[natyxg]

1666 was great! Super entertaining and satisfying, even though it had its flaws (like everything does).

[LilaFowler]

Spoiler

Who's this potential future villain? Those look like a man's hands and forearms.

I enjoyed the movies and I hope we get more. I saw a blurb that the director wants to make a movie about one of the old Shadyside serial killers from the 50s but I would like to move forward in the story, not back.

Widow Mary had the Devil's book in 1666, was she using it herself? There's no way that the rest of the Goode family didn't know about the pact.

Sarah Fier being a victim of a crime (who wants to show you the truth) felt like an homage to The Ring's Samara.

[Black Knight]

That was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. My only real complaint is Ziggy not getting to actually confront Nick, but I suppose it wouldn't have mattered anyway, given what he said to Deena later. He was in way too deep to feel any actual shame or guilt. I was rolling my eyes at the part where he had the nerve to talk about what the Goodes had sacrificed. STFU, Nick. Other than Ziggy not wanting to interact with you anymore because she thought you didn't believe her, what did you ever lose?

Using Deena's blood as both a way to get Nick attacked by the various killers and to get the killers to attack each other was brilliant. The mall was a great set piece for the finale.

And now we know why Ziggy wasn't turned into a killer and Sam was, because Nick controlled who became killers. He was willing to make an exception for Ziggy but he didn't want Sam running around alive to potentially figure things out and break the curse. The irony is that if he had just left Sam alone, everything would have worked out fine for him. She didn't have enough information. I guess it took Sarah's full body to get the full story, just interacting with her hand or her body wasn't enough.

And now that we know that Nick controlled who became killers and when, wow, it really takes a special level of sociopathic assholery to activate one of these killers at a summer camp where so many children are running around.