If you found yourself wondering just how Leigh Janiak would possibly manage to finish her Fear Street trilogy without blaring pop music due to the 1666 setting worry not, she still finds a way to sneak it in there in the better-than-expected grand finale. Everything finally comes to a head as we learn the true history of Sarah Fier and her curse before wrapping up our original nineties-set story in a surprisingly emotional, rousing ending that provides a satisfying conclusion to the last three weeks of gore, spooks and speculation.
Now transported back to the days of puritanical settlers in what will become Shadyville, Deena (Kiana Madeira) finds herself inhabiting the body of Sarah Fier, living out her final days leading up to the infamous curse she placed on the village. Janiak slows the breakneck pacing of the first two films down considerably with this section of the film, establishing Sarah as a normal girl whose secret relationship with the preacher’s daughter Hannah Miller (Olivia Scott Welch) threatens to rock the small community to its core. The decision to cast the actors from earlier instalments as members of the village helps to highlight the similarities between Deena and Sarah and the challenges they both face and Madeira is much more likeable in the role of Sarah, free from the baggage of having to play a stereotypical angst-ridden nineties teen and able to build a more sympathetic character.
The central villain of this time period proves to be the creepiest of the bunch, with the possessed preacher Cyrus Miller (Michael Chandler) taking centre stage as he tears the eyeballs out of the village children’s heads. It isn’t as gory as you might expect but the imagery utilised is incredibly unsettling, even if it is almost immediately overshadowed by the townspeople’s terrifyingly prejudiced response, with wild accusations of witchcraft leading to bloody tragedy. Combined with the costuming, production design and excellent score by Marco Beltrami, it makes for a welcome reprieve from the franticness of the nineties and seventies, establishing an ominous and genuinely frightening tone that has seemed absent throughout the series to this point. There’s been killings and gore aplenty, but nothing truly terrifying until now.
A jarring tonal shift marks our return to the nineties, as Deena, now fresh from her visit to the past, must assemble brother Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.), Camp Nightwing survivor Ziggy (Gillian Jacobs) and mall repairman Martin (Darrell Britt-Gibson) in a final effort to end the curse and defeat the witch at the heart of the terror. This results in a scene that might just be the best in the series to date: an all-out skirmish at the mall against the conjured killers of Shadyville. All the intriguing murderers we’ve heard so much about finally get their chance to shine, from baseball wielding child murderer Billy Barker to the housewife-slaying, milkman murderer Harry Rooker (Kevin Waterman) – and the result is cheesy carnage at its finest.
Even Deena’s return can’t spoil things as there isn’t enough time in the script left for her to be pissy about too much, with the killers hot on the groups heels from the get-go. The return to Shadyville essentially splits the film into two halves and because of this, it feels long, with the slow, measured pacing of the 1666 scenes making you feel like you’ve been watching for far longer than you have. The constant exposition dumps at the mall soon become unbearable, and the slew of corny one-liners feel even more tired than they already would have been, inducing groans instead of the knowing laughs that were intended. Despite the pattern of exposition, action and intentionally bad one-liners essentially repeating until the credits roll, it is a satisfying conclusion nonetheless to everything that has come before and one that pays off on the promise of the varied lineup of killers.
Leigh Janiak sticks the landing with 1666, ending Fear Street on a high note of murder, mayhem and mystery as the curse of Sarah Fier is finally unravelled. Whilst the creepy first half might be quickly forgotten in the madness of the big finale, it is still the best storytelling of the franchise, providing sufficient spooks and much needed backstory that enhance the previous films’ adventures. This is a franchise that will only get better on repeated viewings, with fans able to pick up on various easter eggs and hints, and while it might not have been the most high concept or scariest of horror offerings, Fear Street is proof that Netflix can pull off this kind of experimental, appointment viewing home event scarily well.
Fear Street Part Three: 1666 stars Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch, Ashley Zukerman, Benjamin Flores Jr., Julia Rehwald, Fred Hechinger, Matthew Zuk, Michael Chandler, Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, McCabe Slye, Jeremy Ford & Gillian Jacobs – Streaming on Netflix now.
