31 Days of Halloween: Fear Street: Prom Night

2025, Matt Palmer (Calibre) -- Netflix

This movie is another in the RL Stine based (movie) series that started with a trilogy on Netflix exploring a pair of communities that were subject to a curse (explored in the third movie) that left a shadow across both. Shady Side's curse leaves it dubbed the murder capital of America with more than its fair share of serial killers. This is one of those stories.

If the first trilogy of movies was impressive in that it wanted to explore and upend the misogynistic tendencies of slasher movies, this one is for today's world where that woke agenda is worthy of eye-rolling.

slash s, to denote sarcasm, as the kids would say. They don't, but I just did.

The point is that this movie abandons any desire to comment on the genre and just embraces runs with it in the most pedestrian, BINGO card manner, but also considering that current culture is more fine with beheadings than it is sex, we cannot have anything naughty in this movie, which in itself is a commentary on the genre. And yes, I will lay the blame entirely on the current political climate, just cuz.

In case you are shouting, "But its from books for kids !!!" the last movie was able to be both catering to youth but not pandering to the chaperone at the prom.

Its 1988, Shady Side. Six girls are competing to be Prom Queen: four beauty queens, one Tough Chick (Ariana Greenblatt, 65) and one Normal Girl (India Fowler, The Nevers). Instantly, because the Tough Chick is played by the Recognizable Face, and I guess the Drew Barrymore thing is a thing now, Christy is killed by a killer in an elaborate rain poncho and mask -- if anything, the killers of Shade Side have some flair. After a wee bit of attempt at "get to know the girls", we are at Prom Night and only a few people care that Christy is nowhere to be found, including the Normal Girl Lori's best friend Megan (Suzanna Son, Red Rocket), suggested lesbian and horror movie fan. Sorry, those are all the same girl.

Anywayz, Poncho Guy shows up and starts killing off the rest of the Beauty Queens, one by one, and any boyfriends who happen to be around at the time. To be honest, its not worth recapping because... yawn, its so perfunctory and vanilla in its presentation, you could almost think its an actual late 80s Made for TV Movie, except its not trying to be that ironically. But yeah, all the main girls are killed off, leaving Normal Girl (or Final Girl, if we may) to run away and reveal that it was one of the Beauty Queen's family, her Dad (Chris Klein, American Pie), who is the killer. Blah blah, his daughter had to win, chop off a few more heads and limbs, yawn.

And even a requisite Fake Out, cuz Mom's (Katherine Waterston, Inherent Vice) in on it too. And their little daughter Tiffany (Fina Strazza, Paper Girls) too!!

Stifled yawn, no cackle.

I just don't know why they will produce something with so evident lack of energy or effort. Sure, I cannot fault any of the actors, as they power through the pablum they are given with devotion. But again, no flair. They left that for his rain poncho, only.