Fear Street: Prom Queen Fits Within The Franchise

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the entirety of Fear Street: Prom Queen.

Just like its predecessors, Fear Street: Prom Queen keeps the tension high, making viewers jump even when they know exactly what’s coming. Part of this is thanks to the soundtrack, which is mostly composed of ominous music that tells you something bad is about to happen.

That ominous feeling is interrupted and the tension is cut with songs like “Never Gonna Give You Up” and “Gloria,” bringing a more fun atmosphere to an otherwise creepy environment. Nevertheless, as tense as the movie makes viewers feel, it also delivers horrifyingly funny moments.

While every death is gruesome and there is too much blood taking over the screen, each of those deaths has a funny moment. The perfect example is Linda’s boyfriend having his hands cut off and then trying to open the door. Once again, the tension is cut through with specific details that remind us this is very much a camp movie.

If the viewer comes in knowing what Fear Street is about, they will expect the number of bodies that we see drop in Shadyside. It is nothing new that this tragic town suffers more deaths and horrific events than any other town around, particularly more than Sunnyvale.

The montage at the beginning of all the bad things that happened is just a reminder of that. And if one pays close attention to the tiny details like Sarah Fier’s name being written on a wall or the cops saying that the incident was worse than ’78, one can count the nods to the previous movies that tie this movie into the perfectly created franchise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen fits perfectly within the narrative that this franchise is creating. While the others focused heavily on making viewers aware from the beginning what year it was, this one introduces us to that detail later on, but then doesn’t let us forget it.

Every year is important because it will be remembered by a specific incident that drowned Shadyside further into the darkness, making it impossible for everyone to move on or change their destiny.

Lori Granger spends the entire film trying to escape her past and change what happened to her family to end it reclaiming her name to make it clear that no one messes with her. It’s a perfect full-circle moment that reminds viewers that, indeed, no one can escape the tragedy of Shadyside, but can proudly claim to be from there and accept what happens around them.

The vibes of the film make us feel as if no time had passed between this movie and the previous one. It feels like a perfect continuation of the story we had been introduced to before, and that is what makes this franchise stand out.

The big difference is that Fear Street: Prom Queen feels more camp than the previous ones. While they all had exaggerated deaths, lots of blood, and multiple characters screaming, those things are intensified in this film.

Everyone’s acting feels just as exaggerated and heightened as the special effects. Each death feels more theatrical than the last, reminding us that the movie is camp because certain moments are so bad they are good. The over-the-top kills and performances actually make the movie work perfectly, making us feel it wouldn’t have worked any other way.

Even within this over-the-top atmosphere, the plot twist is great. What we believe is one killer, shortly becomes two as we see them work together. However, before the film ends, we discover there are three killers. 

While it surprises us, there are clues throughout the movie that should have warned us about who the killers were and why they were doing this. Probably the most surprising fact connected to the plot twist is the revelation of who truly killed Lori’s father.

There comes a point where no Fear Street: Prom Queen death should surprise the viewer. The plot is quite predictable: all prom queen candidates end up dead alongside everyone who was with them when the killer found them.

However, Tyler’s death is the most surprising one. The viewer focuses so much on the tension between Tyler and Lori as she tries to get back to the dancefloor and he won’t let her, that by the time the killer shows up behind him, it’s too late for us to react.

But that’s exactly what makes this movie good. Even in its predictability, it finds a way to surprise us and keep up the tension throughout its 90 minutes.

In the end, Fear Street: Prom Queen delivers what viewers expected of a movie joining the franchise. By the time you are done watching it, you will wish another movie was coming soon.

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Fear Street: Prom Queen is now streaming on Netflix.

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