Netflix's Fear Street trilogy pays homage to the past, and then moves the genre in a new direction with its unorthodox release strategy.
Many psychological thrillers or mainstream horror films make the audience wait for a big reveal or character kill. That's not the case, however, in slasher flicks like Scream subverts expectations, as Drew Barrymore's Casey Becker chats with a mysterious individual about horror movies and gets slashed to death moments later. In Fear Street Part One: 1994, director Leigh Janiak and co-writer Phil Graziadei deliver another classic opening scene in the slasher sub-genre.
Sarah Fier, portrayed by Elizabeth Scopel.
Aesthetically, the opening scene in Fear Street Part One: 1994 seems inspired by the aesthetic allure of Argento's movie Suspiria, the conceptual familiarity of Scream, and also an up-and-coming actress who would typically be the heroine of a modern horror film. Hawke receives little screen time yet arguably has the most instantly iconic scene in the movie.
Over time, Fear Street Part One: 1994's opening scene will take on new meanings. The second movie reveals that the Shadyside Mall was built on the same location where the Shadyside Witch, Sarah Fier, was hung three centuries before. It's also the same location of the Camp Nightwing massacre in Fear Street trilogy as a whole.
