USA, 2025
Review:JA Kerswell
The latest in Netflix’s slasher adaptations of R.L. Stine’s young adult horror novels takes the action back to prom night 1988. Someone is killing the prospective Prom Queens ahead of the all-important vote on the evening. Will any of those on the short list survive, and what will be left on them? Dripping in on point rara skirt exuberance—fully realised by Netflix’s budget sheen—this megamix of ‘80s teen high school slaughter, however, risks drowning under the weight of its retro stylings. Ultimately, though, it’s just peppy enough to grab that Diamante crown.
Campaigning is underway for Prom Queen at Shadyside High, with rich mega bitch Tiffany (Fina Strazza) the odds on favourite. She is surrounded by her fawning clique, the Wolfpack: Linda (Llan O’Driscoll), Debbie (Rebecca Ablack) and Melissa (Ella Rubin). Her main rival is Christy (Ariana Greenblatt), the high school rebel who is running to piss them off. On the periphery is Lori (India Fowler), who thinks her only ticket out of Shadyside is to play against type and also run for Prom Queen. She is flanked by her Cramps t-shirt-wearing and Fango-reading best friend, and fellow outsider, Megan (Suzanna Son), who hates the high school girl clique as much as she does. Tiffany takes every opportunity to remind everyone that a tragedy from Lori’s past taints her rival. While her parents—Dan (Chris Klein) and Nancy (Katherine Waterston)—encourage Tiffany’s mean behaviour and tell her it would be unthinkable to lose to their poor neighbour.
In the shadow of the Camp Nightwing Massacre ten years previously (which made up the events of FEAR STREET: PART TWO - 1978), the High School is abuzz with preparations for the big night. However, someone in red latex robes and a hood, sporting a silver Golem-like mask, begins to whittle and chop the shortlist for Prom Queen down one axe swing at a time …
FEAR STREET: PROM QUEEN is an irresistibly heady concoction of ‘80s high school slasher hijinks. The main inspiration is, obviously, PROM NIGHT (1980) (it was even shot in Canada): featuring the expected creepy janitor and someone crossing off deceased Prom Queen candidates in the high school yearbook. It treats the ‘80s as a confectionary box of influences to pick from (although there is a pinch of CARRIE (1976) in there, too). The teenagers go and see PHANTASM II (1988) at the cinema (where MIRACLE MILE is also playing) and say things such as “What’s your damage?” to each other. However, as is probably to be expected, this feels very much like 1988 through a 2025 lens—and is firmly aimed at the same younger audience that enjoyed the retrofitting of the decade exemplified by Netflix’s own STRANGER THINGS (as well as the other FEAR STREET adaptations). This isn’t a bad thing, per se. Obviously, it is great to have a gateway for new audiences to rediscover the joys of ‘80s slashers, but it does miss some of the spikier edges of many of those films. Also, at times, the film’s slasher narrative bubbles under the surface; ironically, it risks being drowned out by the film’s onslaught of decade-specific nods and winks. However, ultimately, it is difficult not to get swept up in the sheer infectious '80s-ness of it all, especially with the prom night itself featuring music from the likes of Billy Idol, Laura Branigan, Tiffany, and the like. Although the pedant in me does question whether teenagers in 1988 would still be dancing to music released in 1983 at their prom? Hey, I was there!
Outside of the teased hair and sequins, the film is thankfully clearly made by people who know their ‘80s slashers. FEAR STREET: PROM QUEEN features more than one chase scene through the halls and basement of Shadyside High. It also features welcome '80s-style gore that pays tribute to some of the splashier slashers from that decade. From a buzzsaw to the face, cleaver to the forehead and—in the film’s best darkly comedic scene—one character unable to open a door to escape because his hands have been cut off with a paper guillotine. And to cap it off, it features not one but two heads rolling across the dance floor in a nod to the 1980 film.
India Fowler and Fina Strazza are great as the High School Ying and Yang—with Strazza a standout as the hard nosed mega bitch. The supporting cast is also generally good. Although, whilst it’s welcome to see Lili Taylor playing a Vice Principal, she is surprisingly given little to do in the film. Without giving anything away, the identity of the Prom Queen assassin works, especially given the movie’s exaggerated, campy premise.
Overall, although FEAR STREET: PROM QUEEN perhaps risks losing sight of its central mystery amongst its glitter-box of references, it ultimately does the job, and has You Spin Me Round fun whilst doing it.
BODY COUNT: 11
Female 6 / Male 5
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FEAR STREET: PROM QUEEN trailer