TheFear Streettrilogy is a horror film series that put a unique spin on slasher horror. We all love anold classic slasher, and Leigh Janiak’s Netflix take onR.L. Stine’sFear Streetbook seriesgives us exactly that. The series is split into three films, exploring the story of teenagers who attempt to break a curse that has been lingering around their town and ruining lives for hundreds of years. The result was a violent puzzle that might be one of the best recenthorror movie trilogies.
The first installment,Fear Street Part 1: 1994, sets the scene in gloomy Shadyside, Ohio, where we are introduced to the group of friends not only as they clash with their rival town, Sunnyvale, but as they are thrown into their very own horror story. The group must battle through a series of terrifying, grisly, murderous events as they attempt to unravel the cause of the curse. This then leads intoFear Street Part 2: 1978, as we experience what can only be described as a wonderfully classic slasher bloodbath. Digging deeper into the story of the curse, we head back in time to a summer camp that turns dark and into a nasty massacre; while it doesn’t necessarily provide many clues as to how the curse started, it definitely doesn’t disappoint those horror lovers that like a bit of gore in their lives.
However,Fear Street Part 3: 1666, takes a step even further back and does give us everything we need to bring the story together. Delving right into the history of the curse, its origins, and how it has been spreading all this time, fans weren’t quite ready for what they were about to hear. In a shocking plot twist and a brilliant conclusion, all three installments of the trilogy finally make sense. For those horror fans who have yet to slash their way through the trilogy, let’s take a look at the group and everyone involved in Shadyside’s terrifying tragic fate in this character guide and description.
Heather Watkins (Maya Hawke)
Stranger Things’Maya Hawkeintroduces us to Part 1 as Heather, an employee of B. Dalton’s in the Shadyside Mall. Heather is a huge fan of horror fiction, but she never expected her life to turn into one. For viewers, Heather serves us as not only an introduction to the town’s curse, but as a flash of horror right at the beginning of the franchise to get us really in the mood and interested in what is to come. While Hawke (acontender forKill Bill Vol. 3) might only appear on our screens for a short time, she definitely leaves an impression and plays her part fantastically.
Deena Johnson (Kiana Madeira)
One of our main characters, Deena Johnson, is a confident, outspoken member of Shadyside. While she can be seen as a bit of a misfit, she strolls through life even though she is struggling with a nasty breakup with girlfriend Sam and an alcoholic father. The odds really aren’t in her favor when she finds herself, Sam, and the rest of her friends dragged into the mystery of the town’s curse.
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Her breakup and father are suddenly the least of her worries when witches, dead but resurrected murderers, and a nasty curse is chasing her. Deena battles her way through with courage, but is it enough? Fans might also recognize Madeira as Moe Truax in the Netflix originalTrinkets.
Samantha Fraser (Olivia Welch)
Deena’s ex-girlfriend and the newest cheerleader on Sunnyvale’s cheer squad, Sam left her past in Shadyside when her parents got divorced. Not only is this seen as a betrayal by Shadysiders, but it makes her breakup with Deena even harder to comprehend. Despite attempting to move away from Shadyside, Sam finds herself dragged into the bloodbath along with Deena and what she doesn’t initially realize is that she’s closer to the curse than she thinks as the story unfolds. Welch is also recognizable as Heather Nill on the Prime Video seriesPanic.
Josh Johnson (Benjamin Flores Jr.)
Part of the group is Deena’s incredibly helpful computer nerd brother Josh, played by Benjamin Flores Jr. There might be a murderous curse lingering in Shadyside but not to worry, with Josh’s useful tech skills, they can find out everything they need to know about Shadyside’s dark and mysterious past.
Not only is Josh impressively smart, but he is also funny, witty, and totally adorable with his little crush on Kate. Among the horror, blood, and guts, the audience truly believe that with his help, the group might actually survive this. Flores Jr. also appeared in the seriesYour Honoras Eugene.
Kate Schmidt (Julia Rehwald)
Head cheerleader and Deena’s best friend, Kate is a fierce competitor, unafraid and easily able to make her mark. Yet, when they are hit with a bloody curse, how fiercely can she fight? She is a loyal friend and brings a wonderful atmosphere to the group, but that might not be enough to keep them alive.Fear Street Part 1was Rehwald’s debut, and we definitely won’t forget her.
Simon Kalivoda (Fred Hechinger)
As the group’s comedian and class clown, Simon brings the comedic relief to this horrific slasher trilogy. Nevertheless, he is also courageous and a loyal friend, but that doesn’t mean he won’t suffer a fate far worse than we imagine. Fans will also recognize Hechinger fromThe Woman in the Windowand theSeth Rogen seriesPam & Tommy, and his star has been on the rise ever since his phenomenal performance in thegreat HBO seriesThe White Lotus.
Sheriff Nick Goode (Ashley Zukerman & Ted Sutherland)
Now, Sunnyvale and Shadyside wouldn’t be complete without its very lovable Sheriff, Nick Goode, played by Ashley Zukerman as an adult and Ted Sutherland in his younger years. Lovable, well that’s what they think. Goode must complete his duties by investigating all the mysterious deaths that are happening but is holding a dark secret that is lurking in the background.
Cindy Berman (Emily Rudd)
Fear Street 1: 1994ended with many questions that we needed answering, so when Part 2 showed the massacre of Camp Nightwing, we were left not only horrified but still with plenty of questions. In Part 2, we meet Cindy Berman, who is a perfectly innocent counselor at the camp and wishes to start fresh and leave Shadyside behind.
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Unfortunately for Cindy, she gets caught up in the horrors of Camp Nightwing and must find her strength to escape her once innocent, now ax-murdering boyfriend Tommy Slater (played by McCabe Slye in Part 2 and Lloyd Pitts in Part 3), who goes on a killing spree and kills all the Shadysiders he can find.
Christine ‘Ziggy’ Berman (Sadie Sink & Gillian Jacobs)
C. Berman is first mentioned in Part 1 as a survivor of the 1978 Camp Nightwing massacre, who holds incredibly important information about the horrors that surround Shadyside. In Part 2, we are introduced to Cindy’s younger, rebellious sister Ziggy (played byStranger Things' Sadie Sink), who is also at Camp Nightwing.
As the sisters fight for their life as their friends are being brutally murdered around them, we later discover that C. Berman is in fact a grown up Ziggy (played by the great Gillian Jacobs), who managed to survive the 1978 terrors. Ziggy is now trying to help Deena end the curse that she discovered throughout her many years of grieving.
Sarah Frier (Kiana Madeira & Elizabeth Scopel)
InFear Street Part 3: 1666, we take a step back in time and are shown the events that took place and followed the story of the witch, Sarah Frier, who actually created the curse. Back in 1666, we take a look at Sarah’s side of the story as she was executed for witchcraft (or for actually crushing on the preacher’s daughter, Hannah). When they confess their love for each other, they are unaware that they are being spied on.
When multiple children are killed in this dark entry into theunderrated slasher movietrilogy, Sarah and Hannah are blamed for making a deal with the devil and for being witches, but to save her love, Sarah sacrifices herself and makes a false confession that she is a witch and cursed Hannah to be her slave. However, she knew her story would be heard, and the curse will one day be solved.
