Have you checked out Fear Street Part 1: 1994, yet? If not, this is the only time I’ll tell you to stop reading one of my articles and fire up Netflix instead. Director Leigh Janiak‘s throwback horror homage flick is a total blast, taking the standard raised by the Scream franchise (the still-ongoing franchise, we should say; we’ll see how the next installment shapes up) and adding her own distinctive flair to all sorts of familiar genre tropes and archetypes. Of course, readers of R.L. Stine‘s novels are well-aware that this is only the beginning of the story and, after acquiring the trilogy from Disney-owned 20th Century Fox, Netflix is set to release the two sequels over the course of the next few weeks.

Now, we have the trailer for Fear Street Part 2: 1978 to contend with. As shown in Part 1‘s final shocker of a scene, that pesky witch clearly isn’t giving up without a fight. The answers that Deena (Kiana Madeira) and her brother Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.) seek to save her witch-possessed girlfriend Sam (Olivia Scott Welch) just may lie in the past. Watch the Fear Street Part Two: 1978 trailer below.

Fear Street Part Two 1978 Trailer

You couldn’t have missed the short teaser Netflix attached right to the end of Part 1, helpfully reminding viewers that you won’t have to wait very long at all for the next installment. The trailer above is slightly different, showing off a few snippets of new footage that give further context to the 1978-set Camp Nightwing that was teased throughout Part 1 and will serve as the nightmarish killing ground for the sequel. Continuing the action right after the closing moments, the synopsis for Fear Street: 1978 is as follows:

“Shadyside, 1978. School’s out for summer, and the activities at Camp Nightwing are about to begin. But when another Shadysider is possessed with the urge to kill, the fun in the sun becomes a gruesome fight for survival.”

fear street trilogy trailer

First Impressions

None of this might feel particularly novel for genre fans with even a passing familiarity of, say, Stephen King‘s It, the recent two-part film adaptation, or any number of horror classics. But what’s impressive to me, nonetheless, is how Janiak weaponizes this foreknowledge to her advantage in Part 1 and simply uses it to add texture to the proceedings. Neon-drenched malls and high schools are traditional horror locales, of course, but the emphasis on populating them with believable, charismatic, and well-rounded leads played by performers (some of whom are new to the acting scene!) who know precisely the kind of movie they’re in is an immense advantage. Part 2 looks like more of the same, but in the best possible way.

And while some may get hung up on a few anachronistic needle drops, the Part 2 trailer spends even more of that bottomless Netflix budget on Gloria Gaynor’s appropriately 1978-release of “I Will Survive.” Am I going to use this as an excuse to brag about how Gaynor herself graced us with her presence at my rain-soaked college graduation years ago to deliver a great speech and perform that very song? You better believe it.

Anyway, Fear Street Part 2: 1978 drops on Netflix on July 9, to be promptly followed up by Fear Street Part 3: 1666 on July 16.

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