Fear Street: Prom Queen
R.L. Stine adaptation is fine like wine and has a spine ... that might get torn out.
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If you like me are a fan of R.L. Stine’s “Fear Street” books, filmmaker Leigh Janiak’s Netflix “Fear Street” trilogy from a few years back or slasher flicks in general then I suspect you’ll have a good time with “Fear Street: Prom Queen” (now streaming on Netflix).
It’s 1988 in the fictional town of Shadyside, Ohio. Lori Granger (India Fowler) is a good kid who hasn’t been given a fair shake at Shadyside High. Her mother Rose (Joanne Boland) is assumed to have killed her father. Lori’s classmates largely in the form of queen bee mean girl Tiffany Falconer (Fina Strazza) give her a hard time about the accusations.
Lori doesn’t have many friends outside of horror-obsessed outcast Megan Rogers (Suzanna Son) and a mutual attraction between she and Tiffany’s boyfriend Tyler Torres (David Iocono) isn’t helping matters.
When Lori is nominated for Prom Queen alongside Tiffany and her gal pals Melissa (Ella Rubin, late of “Until Dawn”) and Debbie (Rebecca Ablack) it draws unwanted attention. Bad girl drug dealer Christy Renault (“Barbie” actress Ariana Greenblatt) gets a nod too. Tiffany’s parents socialite Nancy (Katherine Waterston) and schoolteacher Dan (Chris Klein … “Friends call me Nova, as in Casanova”) have taken a vested interest in Tiffany being coronated as Queen while Shadyside Vice Principal Dolores Breckenridge (Lili Taylor) appears to be putting her weight behind Lori.
As prom arrives hair gets Aqua Netted, the punch gets spiked and bodies begin piling up. There’s a masked and cloaked killer on the loose who’s looking to sway Prom Court results by offing candidates and their dates.
“Fear Street: Prom Queen” is a fun slice of retro, slasher horror with an appealing cast (I especially liked Son who showed great promise in “Red Rocket” and further pays it off here. It’s also fun to see “American Pie” actor Klein make a comeback of sorts.) and an awesome, period-appropriate soundtrack (both in needle drops and a sick, synth-y score by Mike Flanagan’s regular composers The Newton Brothers). It’s loaded with gnarly kills that’ll whet the bloodlust of even the most ardent gorehounds.
English writer/director Matt Palmer steps in for Janiak and does a more than admirable job. The script penned by he and his “Calibre” actor Donald McCleary serves as the basis for a breezy (it’s a mere 88 minutes with nary an Al Pacino in sight) and sleazy (hands get chopped off and faces get buzz sawed) horror romp.
In the year of our Lord 2025 it’s a good time to be a genre fan what with Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” Josh Ruben’s “Heart Eyes,” Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence,” Oz Perkins’ “The Monkey” and last week’s “Final Destination Bloodlines” being unleashed upon us and more horrors are sure to abound with the Philippou brothers’ “Bring Her Back” and Sean Byrne’s “Dangerous Animals” dropping in the coming weeks. “Fear Street: Prom Queen” is yet another belle of this brutal ball.