Fear Street Part 3: 1666 movie review — A satisfying twist and sharp commentary cap Netflix’s horror trilogy

In 1692, during the peak of the Salem Witch Trials, 19 people were executed by hanging after being convicted of witchcraft. Fourteen of them were women. Historians have found that these women were targeted for their property or poverty, for being ‘different’, or too assertive or vocal, or ‘not moral enough’, for being threateningly influential or completely powerless — in short, anything that a vengeful mind deemed to be against the ‘natural order’. Across the world, and across time, the script has stayed remarkably unchanged: Women make for easy scapegoats when things go wrong, when crops fail, or livestock sicken, when people fall ill and/or die, or simply when hate needs an outlet.

Fear Street Part 3: 1666 underscores this historical reality in the final instalment of Leigh Janiak’s trilogy, based on RL Stine’s popular YA horror series.

Parts 1 and 2 of Fear Street took us to 1994 (the present day within the story’s universe) and then 1978. Both parts are situated within the neighbouring towns of Sunnyvale and Shadyside — the former a prospering idyll, the latter an oppressive dump. For three centuries, Shadyside and its citizens have been subject to a sinister curse; local lore traces it to a lynched witch called Sarah Fier.

On Firstpost — Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is a fun ode to Stranger Things, slasher films and high school horror

If Part 1 saw a group of friends — Deena, Sam, Simon, Cathy — and Deena’s brother Josh become the latest to fall prey to the curse, Part 2 saw Deena, Josh (and Sam) approach Christine Berman, a survivor of one of Shadyside’s massacres, who helped fill in some of the gaps in their understanding of Sarah Fier’s mythology. Part 2 ended with Deena trying to ‘unite’ the witch’s remains at the burial site, in the hope of ending her malevolent grip over Shadyside.

Also read — In Fear Street Part 2: 1978, a killer on the loose at a summer camp for teens equals an effective horror romp

Part 3 picks up the narrative right at that point, transporting us — and Deena — to 1666, and a Puritan settlement known as Union. (With the Amazon Prime series Them also recently dedicating an entire episode to unearthing the historical settler origins of the horror afflicting the protagonists, there is the mildest sense of déjà vu; despite having some genuinely creepy scenes, Fear Street Part 3: 1666 is in no way as queasy/traumatising a watch.)

Sarah/Deena is a scrappy young woman, capable, industrious, a canny manager of the household where she lives with her widowed father and a younger brother, Henry/Josh. She is close friends with Hannah/Sam, the daughter of Union’s pastor. On a full moon night, the younger Union residents plan a rave bonfire festivities involving wine, carousing, the shedding of inhibitions, and hallucinogenic berries. After helping Hannah fight off an over-amorous suitor, Sarah flees with her into the woods. There, they give in to their attraction to each other and begin to make love, but are disrupted by the sounds of an intruder. They rush back to their homes, hoping that their secret will not be revealed, because the punishment for such a ‘sin’ would be hanging.

Still from Fear Street Part 3: 1666

By the next morning, rumours about their predilections are all over Union. This coincides with a blight on the settlement: all the produce is rotten, animals behave strangely, the pastor loses his mind. The people conclude that this is the work of a witch — two witches in fact, Sarah and Hannah. Both must be destroyed.

The misogyny and ignorance play out in a depressingly predictable way for the women. At the same time, the origin of the Shadyside curse is revealed with a satisfying twist and a sharp (if not new) moral. (There’s also a clever inversion of a motif made ubiquitous by works such as The Crucible.) Deena, back in her world in 1994, must now use the insights she gleaned into Sarah’s story to end the curse for good, and save her loved ones. Of course, that’s easier said than done.

The Fear Street trilogy is a pretty fun romp, and fans of classic slasher horror will find this a particularly enjoyable and well-made Netflix offering. The world-building is engaging, the transitions between instalments are seamless and the backwards-travelling story arc is charted niftily. The trilogy’s low-key cool is a testament to Janiak’s assured direction.

Still from Fear Street Part 3: 1666

That said, Part 1 remains the weakest of the films, especially since its homage to horror tropes comes off, at times, like a regurgitation of genre stereotypes. This impacts the second half of Part 3 as well, when we leave the Union of 1666 and return to the Shadyside of 1994. Stock moments like Deena delivering a rousing speech just before launching into the final battle against her supernatural pursuers don’t help Team 1994 any. However, the lovely use of Oasis’ ‘Live Forever’ at an apt point in Part 3 makes us inclined to (nearly) forgive and forget the ho-hum aspects of the present-day storyline.

The Fear Street trilogy is among the early arrivals of Netflix’s new push for ‘scream teen’ content. It’s a solid start, one that elevates the prospect of more binge-able horror stories to come.

Rating: ★★★

Fear Street Part 3: 1666 is currently streaming on Netflix. Watch the trailer here —