Fear Street: Prom Queen. What was the point?
This Movie Had No Business Being a Fear Street Film
This movie feels like someone at Netflix wanted to create a cheesy 80s prom slasher and slapped the Fear Street name onto it just to draw attention. It doesn’t feel like a true instalment in the franchise but rather a standalone script awkwardly retrofitted to fit into the Fear Street universe. Despite the original trilogy’s flaws, I genuinely love it. But with this new entry? There’s just nothing to like. This surprised me because it had the perfect recipe of elements that I would typically enjoy. The defence I have heard for this film is that it’s supposed to be silly and unserious; however, as a lover of silly, unserious horror films, this movie doesn’t excel in this category either. I’m going to split this review into two parts: one through the lens of a Fear Street movie and the other through the lens of a standalone film.
Let’s start with its place in the Fear Street franchise, or lack thereof. I’m aware that this movie is a loose adaptation of the R.L. Stine book of the same name however when you’ve established a cinematic universe for a franchise the ay the original trilogy did you can’t blame people for expecting the next movie to AT LEAST be slightly connected to the other movies but this isn’t. The original three films wove a mythology where Shadyside and Sunnyvale weren’t just backdrops, they were the heartbeat of the story. The curse, the socioeconomic divide, and the supernatural possession linked to a single family; these things defined the universe. Even in 1978, set at a summer camp, those core themes remained present and driving the narrative. Here, those towns are just window dressing. Sarah Fier, once a looming and omnipresent force, is barely even mentioned outside of a little be of high school graffiti..
The original trilogy set up a rich mythos with several other killers whose stories could’ve been explored. So why was this the next film chosen? Yes, it’s loosely based on an R.L. Stine book, but it feels more like someone wrote a generic 80s slasher, then retroactively connected it to Fear Street just to sell it. The film ignores the core rules of the universe: in this world, murder stems from supernatural possession. Having people or families killing for no reason, with no link to the curse, breaks that logic entirely.
Also, in the other 3 movies, we got some pretty cool kills, including one of my all-time faves with the breadcutter kill. I cannot recall any of the kills in this one at all; they were all forgettable, which is a major letdown.
Even if you ignore its connection to Fear Street, it still doesn’t work. On paper, it has everything I’d want: an 80s setting, a prom night massacre setup, and a fun subgenre. But it’s flat, forgettable, and uninspired. I don’t mind a silly, over-the-top slasher. I like those kinds of movies, but they need to be fun or at least visually engaging. This is neither. I don’t find most of the jokes to be funny, and the motives for the killing were supposed to be a bit satirical, but I caught myself audibly groaning at it; it's just been done so many times before. We don’t even get a unique-looking unmasked killer. I swear I have seen this killer several times before. Why not make him go over the top? It seems they wanted to lean into comedy? Why not make his disguise a ridiculous baby blue tuxedo and an 80s cookie mask? Lord knows the '80s loved their plastic Halloween masks.And if you're going to set a movie at an 80s prom, make it look like the 80s. The dresses look like early-2000s deadstock. Throwing on some sparkles and polyester doesn’t make it era-accurate. They didn’t even try with the hair — not a single teased do? I’ve seen better '80s recreations on TikTok. Netflix isn't known for period precision, but they managed to pull it off decently in 1978 and 1994. There’s just no excuse here. You had the perfect setup to have so much fun with 80s fashion, and you did less than the bare minimum. It comes off like the filmmakers didn’t even really care.
This movie had no business being part of the Fear Street franchise. It ignores the core mythology, squanders its period potential, and brings nothing fresh to the table — either as a Fear Street film or as a standalone slasher. I sincerely hope this misstep doesn’t prevent us from getting future entries, because when handled with care, there’s still a lot of gold left to mine in the Fear Street universe.
