Review: Fear Street Part 3: 1666
The big summer slasher event on Netflix came to end this past weekend with the third and final entry in the Fear Street trilogy, 1666, which finally revealed the truth behind the curse that has affected Shadyside for centuries and what the 1994 crew can possibly do to end it once and for all.
Picking up directly from the end of Part Two: 1978, Deena (Kiana Madiera) had tried to restore Sarah Fier’s body by combining her severed hand with her body to try and end the curse in 1994. Instead, she experiences a vision where she lives through what happened to Sarah back in 1666, with other cast members from 1994 and 1978 appearing as new 1666 characters. After learning the truth, Deena rallies her brother Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr), Ziggy Berman (Gillian Jacobs), and Shadyside Mall janitor Martin (Darrell Britt-Gibson) in a final battle to free Shadyside. As there aren’t any movies that it can emulate from 1666, that section of Part 3 seems to take more inspiration from stuff like The Witch and maybe other A24 style modern horror. The 1666 section definitely has some of the more disturbing images from the trilogy as the settlement of Union, the predecessor to Shadyside, is plagued by “witchcraft” and food spoils and the town pastor ultimately goes mad and performs the first horrific murder spree in Shadyside history. The movie also does a great job recreating the puritanical setting and, like Camp Nightwing, it’s a completely new location with new costuming and the combined 1994/1978 cast puts on English accents to mostly success. As it’s the final chapter, there are big reveals and things ultimately play out in a satisfying fashion but a lot of viewers probably correctly guessed what was ultimately causing the curse back in the previous two movies. Once things are back in 1994, the movie returns to the fun of the first movie, especially the 1994’s ability to come up with clever plans and traps for the undead Shadyside killers as they come up with a plan to use everything they’ve learned to turn Shadyside Mall into a final stand, which also brings the trilogy back around full circle to where everything started from the opening scene in Part 1. There’s a great bit later on that feels like something out of Cabin in the Woods where the 1994 crew figures out a way to get the killers to fight themselves, for example.
Kiana Madiera continues to anchor the trilogy as the driving force pushing the plot and she and most of the cast do a great job with their dual roles. Of the cast members in the 1666 section, McCabe Slye is the standout after playing Tommy in Part 2, playing Mad Thomas here and giving a terrifying and crazed performance as one of the driving forces that whip the settlement of Union into a witch-hunting frenzy. Ashley Zuckerman also finally gets put in the spotlight after lingering in the background as the mysterious Sheriff Goode and he returns as that character as well as his ancestor, Solomon Goode, both of whom have pivotal roles in what is ultimately going on with Shadyside. It’s also great to have Gillian Jacobs back in a more substantial role after bookending Part 2 and she has a great mix of world-weariness and snark.
This entire Fear Street trilogy has been a highlight of the summer and Part 3 ends the trilogy on a satisfying note, even if the ultimate reveal may be somewhat predictable. The 1666 setting is well-realized and lends the most disturbing imagery to the trilogy and the return to 1994 ends things with a fun and creative final set-piece. If you haven’t been watching the trilogy, with all of them now available on Netflix, there’s no reason now not to binge them and if you’re a horror fan, there’s so much fun slasher action and homages to classics like Friday the 13th and Scream. There’s an indication that more Fear Street might be on the way and I would be 100% ready for more.