I thought I’d reviewed this movie after watching and reviewing the other two in this trilogy, but apparently not…so I will rectify that now, after having rewatched the Fear Street trilogy.
After spending two movies with the setup of Sarah Fier as the main villain of the piece, as the witch who’d cursed the entire town of Shadyside, setting up this movie to show Sarah’s history and the path she took towards the feared witch of the present day was a really interesting idea. I thought it was a clever idea to reuse the actors who had appeared in the later movies to portray their 1666 counterparts, since there was already an emotional connection to many of them.
In the town of Union, back in 1666, Sarah isn’t a witch. She isn’t an outcast. She’s a girl only the same age as Deena from the modern day, who finds herself in Sarah’s body back in the past. And Deena, in Sarah’s body, finds herself embroiled in a witch hunt that ultimately ends in tragedy…a tragedy that hits home all the more because it’s not what the previous movies have set you up to expect.
One thing this movie does especially well is showing the effects of a witch hunt. Sarah puts it incredibly well when she tells Hannah, the girl she loves, that she doesn’t fear the devil; that what she fears are the neighbours who would accuse her, or the mother who would allow her daughter to hang for no other reason than because the people need a scapegoat…someone to blame when things go wrong.
Deena’s return to the present day comes with the knowledge of the true history of Union…and the real person who is responsible for what those in Shadyside have been going through over the last three centuries. And breaking the curse isn’t as simple as reuniting Sarah’s hand with the rest of her body, because, of course, Sarah wasn’t the one who cursed Shadyside in the first place.
I really liked the way this movie drew everything together from the previous two movies. The characters were intelligent and worked well together. I liked the plan that Deena and the others came up with at the end, to save their town from the evil that’s been plaguing it. And I loved the relationship between Deena and Sam. (I’m not the only one getting Supernatural vibes from Fear Street, am I?)
When I originally started watching the Fear Street trilogy, I assumed it was just going to be a normal slasher horror movie with very little plot or originality. But by the time I reached this one, I found there was a lot more going on under the surface. If you enjoy horror with characters you actually care about, I recommend this trilogy as one to watch.
Ink of Blood 