“Fear Street: Prom Queen” – a slasher that doesn’t reign

Following a well-received adaptation of “Fear Street”, Netflix dips back into the catalogue of RL Stine for their latest horror feature in “Fear Street: Prom Queen”. Matt Palmer directs the film from a script co-written with Donald McLeary.  Prom season at Shadyside High is underway, and the school’s wolfpack of It Girls is busy with its usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider puts herself in the running, and the other girls start mysteriously disappearing, the class of ’88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night.

One would think that growing up in the nineties, my introduction to the works of R.L. Stine would have been with the “Goosebumps” series, but the Fear Street books first caught my eye. I still remember reading “The Babysitter” series at age 11 and always thinking it would make a good series of films.  While that hasn’t happened yet, Netflix struck gold when it introduced viewers to the world of Shadyside with the trilogy in 2021.

So, how does the next instalment of the blood-soaked Fear Street franchise measure up? Sadly, not as strong. The film begins with the usual eighties teen-flick/horror tropes, introducing us to our characters and deciding who we will root for and who we want to see die. One would think that the bulk of the girls running for prom queen are supposed to be mean girls, that the script would tap into memorable one-liners and quips, but none of that occurs.

Instead, we get a slasher film that possibly wants to be meta but doesn’t know how to embrace the magical time of the eighties. The actresses playing the competitors for prom queen aren’t interesting, and I was waiting for them to get picked off. India Fowler and  Suzanna Son try their best to elevate the material but to avail.  As for the accomplished actors in the film, including Chris Klein and Katherine Waterson as parents and Lily Taylor as the vice principal, their performances were only here for a paycheck.

Furthermore, perhaps I’ve been spoiled by the “Terrifer” series, but the kill scenes are routine at best, although there was one in the third act that I did rewind to see again. While “Fear Street: Prom Queen” is a red flag in the franchise, RL Stine has plenty of books left to explore, and I’m hopeful that the next one will get it right.

Final Grade: C-

“Fear Street: Prom Queen” is now available on Netflix.