Movie Breakdown: Fear Street Part Three: 1666

Pre-Screening Stance:

The first two films in Netflix’s Fear Street Trilogy each had some issues, but overall they were both pretty dang good. I’m excited to see how the whole thing wraps up.

Post-Screening Ramble:

You can essentially divvy Fear Street Part Three: 1666 into two distinct sections.

The first chunk takes place in 1666, where Deena (Kiana Madeira) experiences the genesis of the whole Sarah Fier (Elizabeth Scopel) mess, and boy is it a colonial doozy. Not scary, really, but the plot reveals are a lot of fun and really well done. Also, I appreciated that there’s a scene where a group of kids go into the woods to do drugs and fool around. Some things never change!

Part two begins after Deena unravels the entire mystery of what’s really been going on in Shadyside and then returns to 1994. Here she must team up with Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.), Ziggy (Gillian Jacobs) and Martin (Darrell Britt-Gibson) to bring down the great big baddie that’s been behind everything. I won’t spoil any of it, but I would like to note that the finale rightfully takes place at the mall.

If were I asked to pick right now, I’d say that Part Three: 1666 is my favorite of the three films. Whether it’s the breakneck pace, or the clever way in which everything comes together, or the two distinct horror settings – this one just really worked for me. And while the first two entries are certainly worth your time, it’s this film that pushes the entirety of the trilogy over the top and makes it something worth revisiting. Congrats to director Leigh Janiak on a job well done.

Fear Street Part Three: 1666 hit Netflix today, July 16.

One Last Thought:

I didn’t find the roster of rampaging murderers in these flms to be all that scary – they’re more just relentlessly violent than anything – but the kid with the mask and a pole did legit creep me out.