Prom Queen’ Steal 90 Minutes From You

We are nowhere near Halloween, but that didn’t stop the original trilogy of Fear Street movies which Netflix released in July of 2021. Now, with Fear Street: Prom Queen, there’s only one new one and unfortunately, it’s very, very bad.

The original Fear Street trilogy, 1994, 1978 and 1666 were well-received by fans but especially critics. Now? Fear Street: Prom Queen is getting trashed by both. Here’s the breakdown:

• Fear Street Part One: 1994 – 84% critic score, 63% audience score
• Fear Street Part Two: 1978 – 88% critic score, 81% audience score
• Fear Street Part Three: 1666 – 89% critic score, 76% audience score
• Fear Street: Prom Queen – 33% critic score, 38% audience score

What changed here? Well, the answer appears to be not just the cast, but perhaps more importantly, the director and writers. The first three Fear Street films were all directed by Leigh Janiak who also co-wrote two of them. Prom Queen is directed by Matt Palmer who also co-wrote the film with Donald McLeary, neither of them having worked on the original trilogy. So, you change everything, the cast, writer and director, and that’s how things can go disastrously wrong.

Here’s the synopsis for Prom Queen, which seems to be channeling something like I Know What You Did Last Summer more than other offerings that perhaps came across as somewhat more original. Here’s the synopsis:

“When the “it” girls competing for prom queen at Shadyside High start to disappear, a gutsy outsider discovers she’s in for one hell of a prom night.”

Netflix, of course, does not show reviews at all on its app, so Fear Street: Prom Queen has debuted at #1 as people just wanted to see a new film in the franchise. But neither critics nor audiences are on board. Here’s a critic sample:

• Comicbook.com: “A shallow imitation of its predecessors, Fear Street: Prom Queen ditches compelling characters and surprising scares for tedious predictability and a betrayal of the franchise’s core themes, making for a bloody, boring letdown.”

And an audience review:

• “What a sad excuse of a movie. Tainted the iconic Fear Street trilogy. It’s like they decided to add the name Fear Street to a lazy excuse of a horror film to gain attention. Nothing related to the original plot of the trilogy. They used the 70s/80s aesthetic to make it “camp,” but it failed.”

Even if you liked the original, it does not seem like Prom Queen is going to be worth your time, even at just 90 minutes.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.