Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (2021)

July 16, 2021 8:07 AM

Shadyside, 1978. School's out for summer and the activities at Camp Nightwing are about to begin. But when another Shadysider is possessed with the urge to kill, the fun in the sun becomes a gruesome fight for survival. Part One's fanfare thread

too bad I can't quite link them as a proper trilogy on Fanfare

posted by cendawanita (10 comments total)

Part Three fanfare
posted by cendawanita at 8:10 AM on July 16, 2021

In the context of the trilogy, this is legit the darkest and the saddest, since it's 'just' one of the Shadyside episodes with no happy ending. But also, very much a Fear Street installment.

Who is RL Stine's agent? How come they can get crazy good adaptations, that's so unnecessary considering the source material?
posted by cendawanita at 8:20 AM on July 16, 2021

I didn't like this one as much as part 1 but it was still lots of fun. Also far more bloody then I expected. I guess after part 1 I shouldn't of been so surprised but that they actually killed off (all be it off screen) a few of the tween campers was surprising. Also after part 1 I knew not to get too attached to...well anyone except for one of the sisters, though it was fun how they kept us guessing till the very end which one was telling the story (I incorrectly had predicted that both survived with one being possessed like Sam and the other sister keeping her in the basement or something).

I'm looking forward to watching part 3 this weekend and seeing how they tie it all together.
posted by Captain_Science at 10:08 AM on July 16, 2021

For some reason this one isn't available on Netflix Korea. I watched the first one, this one was advertised as coming out Friday (a couple weeks ago) and then suddenly it disappeared. Odd, to say the least.
posted by Literaryhero at 3:30 PM on July 16, 2021

This started off a bit rough, with characters so true to the era's horror that a viewer could be forgiven for looking forward to their deaths. It got better and better as it settled in though, and by the end, I thought it was easily superior to the first film. Looking forward to seeing the ending.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:24 AM on July 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

It's kind of absurd yet perfect that they apparently just built the mall around the tree.
posted by ckape at 5:56 PM on August 11, 2021 [2 favorites]

I may have just blinked and missed it but did we ever get a resolution on what happened to Shiela? Last I saw Ziggy had knocked her out in the outhouse shortly before Tommy arrived but I don't know if being knocked out in there doomed her or saved her.
posted by Navelgazer at 11:35 PM on June 4, 2022

Also, one touch I enjoyed here: in 1994, while Deena and Sam were hooking up, Kate and Josh were kissing, and Simon was handling his own needs, the song on the soundtrack was the Cowboy Junkies' version of "Sweet Jane." Here, when ZIggy and Nick kiss, it's the Velvet Underground version of "Sweet Jane."
posted by Navelgazer at 8:29 PM on June 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

I may have just blinked and missed it but did we ever get a resolution on what happened to Shiela?

I think the implication is that Tommy was only killing Shadysiders so she and any other Sunnyvaler were safe as long as they didn't get caught between Tommy and a Shadysider.
posted by ckape at 11:42 AM on June 8, 2022 [1 favorite]

Overall, this was a lot of fun, although it would have been nice if they had caught some of the sweaty grubbiness of the 70s slashers -- the camera work was too polished, and the cast too well groomed, but I get that it was a callback rather than a recreation. There was a little too much time spent in the absurdly overbuilt underground labyrinth, but I guess that, when you have a couple hundred years to chill out underground, you will take up a hobby or two.

I am also looking forward to Part 3. If I have one criticism of Part 2 (and Part 3, now that I've started it) is that, if your horror film runs more than 90 minutes, you probably want to consider if you're being a bit leisurely with your script. This isn't a huge issue with Part 2, but I feel like 15 minutes could have been trimmed to the general benefit.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:40 PM on November 10, 2024