Being ostracized has left Ziggy with a bitter taste in her mouth, and through most of the plot Sink plays her with a hard, cynical edge. Ziggy is an outcast at the camp, bullied by other kids so intensely that they accuse her of being a witch and threaten to burn her. In the center is Ziggy Berman ( Sadie Sink). Their potential victims waiting to get picked off.
Instead of being smart and resourceful teens, these characters revert to horror movie types. While the body count is higher and the bloodshed is more abundant compared to the first film, the experience of watching it was more dour. However, the balance between horror and fun that gave 1994 a sense of revelation is absent this time around. Where 1994 drew heavily from ’80s suburban nostalgia – from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) to Stranger Things – 1978 makes clear reference to summer camp slasher flicks such as Sleepaway Camp (1983), The Burning (1981), and the granddaddy of them all, Friday the 13 th (1980). Since Janiak and her team have already established the mood and atmosphere of the trilogy, they have more room here to focus on the story and how it ties into the first and third films. Luckily, the needle drops that were so abundant at the beginning of 1994 are not as distracting this time. The neon-tinged lights of suburbia are replaced with cabins, trees, mosquitoes, and outhouses.
No matter how much you hate it there and want to escape, a piece of it will always remain with you.ĭirector Leigh Janiak (who cowrites this installment with Phil Graziadei) transfers the setting to Camp Nightwing, where a group of kids and their counselors are spending their summer. The setup is an allegory for anyone has ever felt trapped in a small town. In Fear Street Part 2: 1978 (2021), we jump back in time to see how the witch’s evil plagued the young people, some of whom grew up still carrying the curse on their shoulders. In Fear Street Part 1: 1994 (2021), we were introduced to the town of Shadyside, which developed the reputation of being “Murder Capitol, U.S.A.” It’s a place burdened by tragedy and loss, with folktales of a witch cursing all who live there.