Stanko's Stance

“Shadyside, 1978. School’s out for summer and the activities at Camp Nightwing are about to begin. But when another Shadysider is possessed with the urge to kill, the fun in the sun becomes a gruesome fight for survival.”

Director: Leigh Janiak
Writers: Zak Olkewicz, Leigh Janiak, Phil Graziadei
Staring: Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, McCabe Slye, Gillian Jacobs
Streaming: Netflix
Release Date: July 9, 2021

The second part of the Fear Street trilogy, Fear Street Part Two – 1978 brings the audience into the narrative story told by the elder C. Berman…also better known as Ziggy.

So for spoilers alert, at the end of Fear Street Part Two – 1978 it is revealed that Gillian Jacobs is not Cindy Berman…rather she is C. Berman…AKA Catherine Berman…AKA Ziggy. So here is my question: was this a surprise to anyone?

From the get-go, if you watched the initial trailer for the trilogy as a whole…this seemed really obvious. They would not staff Sadie Sink as young Ziggy Berman for a one-off.

Fear Street Part Two – 1978 has received more praise than the first of the trilogy, Fear Street Part One – 1994. This is where I have to respectfully disagree.

Fear Street Part Two – 1978, while it still pays solid homage to the horror movies of the time, does not have the same personable touch as the young kids in the early 90s.

Benjamin Flores Jr. as Josh, Julia Rehwald as Kate are two indelible parts of the initial movie and added some different personality compared to the two main parts of Deena (Kiana Madeira) and Samantha (Olivia Scott Welch). There are development and cemented resentment between Sunnyside and Shadyside in the 1994 story as well.

The least interesting part of Fear Street Part Two – 1978 came when Cindy Berman (Emily Rudd) and Alice (Ryan Simpkins) where galavanting in the cave after Tommy Slater (McCabe Slye). The acting of the movie falls at the fear of Emily Rudd. Terribly sorry, hate to pin the blame, but didn’t love her portrayal of the goodie tooshoo.

In the end, Fear Street Part Two – 1978 was perfectly fine and had some great looking shots to make up for the subpar acting. They story opened up the world of Fear Street a bit which is exciting, but the scares and charms didn’t have the same expanse.

STANKO RATING: C (2.5/5 Stars)

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