Fear Street Part Two: 1978

The 70´s created some really wonderful horror films, that still stands just as strong today. Depending on what kind of horror film you like, the 70´s offered a big variety for horror fans, where you could find some really wonderful titles. There are several films that you should check out, if you have not seen them. Such as the 1977 horror film The Hills Have Eyes from director Wes Craven, the 1976 film The Omen, and of course the 1978 cult classic Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. When we enter the slasher genre in the 70´s, there is especially one title that i think most horror fans can agree is one of the best. And that is the 1978 film Halloween, from legendary director John Carpenter. When ever i hear especially young people today, who have no idea what film Halloween is, i roll around the floor out of frustration. This is one of those films that you need to know about, or i would not call you a true horror fan. This film tells the story of a young boy called Michael Myers, who murder his teenage babysitter. For the next 15 years, Michael is incarcerated at Smith´s Grove Sanatarium. On October 30, 1978, Michael´s psychiatrist , Dr. Samuel Loomis ( Donald Pleasence ) and his colleague, Marion Chambers ( Nancy Stephens ), arrive at the sanatarium to escort Michael to court to a hearing. But Michael escape, steals a white mask from the hardware store, prepared to kill anyone who gets in his way. Halloween is a very effective classic slasher horror film, where legendary director John Carpenter brought us one of the most iconic horror slasher characters to the big screen, known as Michael Myers. This was also the film that really gave legendary actress Jamie Lee Curtis a lot of respect as the character Laurie Strode. Halloween is a must see film, and i still see this one as one of the better films in the slasher genre. Some of the sequels are alright ( except for Halloween: Ressucrection, really bad ), and i suggest you at least see the first film. Netflix released a trilogy called Fear Street this summer, that are supposed to tell the story from 3 different time periods. I enjoyed the Netflix film Fear Street Part One: 1994, that i reviewed this month. So here we are with the second film in this trilogy, where we go back to the year of 1978. Is this sequel even better than the first film, or is Fear Street Part Two: 1978 a big disappointment?

In 1994, Deena Johnson ( Kiana Madeira ) and Josh Johnson ( Benjamin Flores Jr. ) restrain Samantha Fraser ( Olivia Scott Welch ), Deena´s girlfriend who is possessed, and travel to C. Berman´s ( Gillian Jacobs ) house for help. She survived the Camp Nightwing massacre in 1978. Berman is not sure about letting them in, but agree eventually, where she tells the story of what happened at Camp Nightwing that year.

If you read my review of Fear Street Part One: 1994, you might remember that i noticed that they didn´t really try hard enough to capture the 90´s look, and even made some mistakes with the soundtrack, including songs that did not even exist in 1994, but was released later. In Fear Street Part Two: 1978, they finally got things right. This film does not only capture the feeling of the 70´s with the right colors, the soundtrack match better as well to the time period, and the costume design looks like the late 70´s. The summer camp looks really good, especially capturing the right look of a summer camp, at that time period. And i am so happy that they really tried harder on this film, to capture the 70´s, because that helps the film become more interesting. One of the things that works better with this sequel, is that the characters are actually more interesting in this film. Not that the characters in the 1994 film are not interesting, but in this sequel you actually feel more connected with the main characters, and what they are going through. Now, we have to talk about the actors for a while. Actress Sadie Sink ( who plays the character Maxine "May" Mayfield in Netflix TV series Stranger Things ) is really good as the bullied girl Ziggy Bearman. Ziggy is one of those personalities i think a lot of us can relate to, at her age. We all went through some rough times in our teens, and some of us might have had some really rough moments. So to have a character like Ziggy in this film gives this story a lot more depth, than the first film. Actor McCabe Slye ( who is also in the first Fear Street film ) as Tommy Slater, shows us what a talented actor he is. To be able to turn from a camp leader, to a brutal killer and give us a completely different look, shows that this guy could be one of the better actors in a younger generation of actors. I am really looking forward to see what he does next. The brutal kills reminds me of the Friday The 13th franchise, and this also makes this sequel become even more fun. The conenction to the witch Sarah Fier becomes even more clear in this film, and the mystery surrounding her is explained better in this sequel. Fear Street Part Two: 1978 is not only a better sequel than the first film, it is also a really fun slasher horror film as well. I have to applaud director Leigh Janiak for making this sequel even more entertaining than the first film, that does not happen very often when it comes to sequels. If you enjoyed the first chapter of Fear Street, you have to see this film as well. I have a feeling you won´t be disappointed.

Rating: DDDD