MOVIE REVIEW – The fourth installment of Fear Street stumbles through every horror cliché imaginable, recycling tired tropes instead of delivering genuine chills. Netflix’s latest stab at the slasher genre falls flat despite the nostalgic allure of R.L. Stine’s legacy, failing to serve up anything but mediocrity and wasted opportunities. Who knew a prom queen title could feel this bland, unnecessarily stretched out, and so utterly devoid of thrills—both literal and figurative?

Everything in Fear Street: Prom Queen revolves around a flimsy plastic crown, in what’s supposed to be a bold adaptation of R.L. Stine’s legendary teen horror franchise. While the 2021 Netflix trilogy (Fear Street: 1994, Fear Street: 1978, Fear Street: 1666) thrived on connected storytelling, Prom Queen stands alone and thankfully avoids dragging the baggage of earlier films. Once again, Shadyside is our home base, though this time we’re dropped into the neon haze of 1988. With the era’s horror DNA baked right in, there’s plenty of opportunity for retro fun and clever nods—but this film fumbles not just its drama, but also its visuals, wardrobe, and (worst of all for a slasher) the actual carnage.

Plastic Throne, No Blood

Senior Lori Granger (India Fowler) is singularly obsessed with wearing the prom queen’s crown on graduation night. But despite her classic looks, Lori’s very much the odd one out; the school’s reigning “wolf pack” clique has the social game rigged from the start. The group’s venomous alpha, Tiffany Falconer (Fina Strazza), never misses a chance to weaponize Lori’s family tragedy—her go-to taunt: “Hope your dad rots in hell, Granger!” That’s just in the opening minutes. Only Lori’s best friend, Megan Rogers (Suzanna Son, Red Rocket), a weed-loving horror nut, bothers to have her back, even though Megan can barely hide how little she cares about the whole charade. The only other wildcard is punk rebel Melissa McKendrick (Ella Rubin), whose anti-establishment streak (and side hustle as the local dealer) makes her more of a disruptor than a real contender.

Paper Cutters Instead of Blood, Gray Instead of Gore

As prom night creeps closer, something evil starts thinning out the pool of hopefuls—plus a few of their dates for good measure. Not that any adults notice; they’re oblivious, just like the audience, since nearly all the kills are neutered and bloodless. The only moment with any edge involves a guillotine-style paper cutter; otherwise, director Matt Palmer keeps cutting to black or red before anything juicy happens. Vice principal Breckenridge (Lili Taylor) is more worried about rebranding the school’s image, eyeing Lori’s innocence as a potential win. Meanwhile, Nancy Falconer (Katherine Waterston) is determined her daughter Tiffany will win at any cost, justifying every ruthless move. Lori’s own mother (Joanne Boland)—rumored to have murdered Lori’s father at their own prom 18 years ago—is so checked out you’d forget she’s supposed to be a cop.

Scattershot Script, Cardboard Characters

Writers Palmer and Donald McLeary can’t seem to keep the story on track for more than five minutes. Though Lori’s mother’s dark past pops up again and again, she’s barely a presence in the plot. Supposed generational grudges between teachers and parents are reduced to throwaway lines, like half-finished thoughts between Breckenridge and Nancy Falconer. Suspects abound—a creepy janitor, a pair of Tiffany’s sycophantic lackeys, an overly mellow principal—but no one’s fleshed out enough to feel like a real threat, so the “big reveal” is about as shocking as a wet napkin. There’s even a faint suggestion of romance between Lori and Megan (who rocks a sharp suit on prom night), but whether this was lost in editing or the writers just have no clue how teenage girls work is anyone’s guess. At least a wink to Jennifer’s Body or Mean Girls might have brought something extra, but nope. Meanwhile, Tiffany’s boyfriend Tyler (The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Dylan Iacono) randomly starts crushing on Lori, with zero buildup—there’s not even a shameless Carrie-style ripoff to justify it. The movie refuses to parody or embrace the classics, but doesn’t bother inventing anything new either. It’s hard not to mourn that Chloe Okuno (Watcher, V/H/S/94 “Storm Drain”) didn’t get to direct—her eye for female-driven horror and era-specific style might have actually given this some bite.

Netflix Slasher Lost in the Dark

The cinematography is so relentlessly dark that all the ‘80s set design is wasted—whether it’s the school’s creepy boiler room or the over-the-top gym. Only Megan’s bedroom (on-screen for maybe 15 seconds) pops, decked out with a Lucio Fulci poster and gothic flair, but barely any light. There are brief flashes of VHS-style camcorder footage that hint at what could’ve been, but Palmer never fully commits; these textures just end up underscoring how bland the rest of the film looks. Fear Street: Prom Queen delivers neither genre winks, nor splattery slasher fun, nor even a whiff of real retro style—it’s a Netflix knockoff too timid to even copy what works.

– Gergely Herpai “BadSector” –