Fear Street Part One: 1994 ENDING EXPLAINED

Friday 2 July saw the first part of a Netflix movie trilogy known as Fear Street become available for streaming. The retro-style slasher is the first of three parts and focuses on a group of teens living in the ingeniously named town of Shadyside where, if you haven't already guessed by now, some pretty shady things have been going down for a long time, unlike its neighboring town Sunnyvale (we wonder where it got the idea for that name from). In fact, those shady things span three centuries, hence the two subsequent sequels' subtitles Part Two: 1978 and Part Three: 1666, indicating a modest time-reversal followed by a pretty major one.

Check out the trilogy trailer:

But while the trilogy is being advertised as a horror anthology of sorts, that doesn't quite appear to be the case in terms of the narrative, and if the triple-threat trailer and all three of the movie's subtitles – or rather, their respective years - are anything to go by, it's obvious that the sequels will go further back in time in order to explain what's going on in Shadyside. Let's find out what happened in Fear Street: Part One 1994, and see if we can explain just what happened in the film's final scenes.

Warning: The following contains spoilers from Fear Street: Part One 1994. If you haven't already seen it, watch it and come back here. But if you're happy to keep reading…

Fear Street Part One: 1994 is the first in the Fear Street Trilogy, which is based on the book series of the same name by author R.L. Stine, who is most famous for the world-famous Goosebumps book series. Directed by Leigh Janiak, the film instantly takes a leaf (and then some) from the hit Netflix series Stranger Things (which takes plenty of leaves from other things), instead opting for the 90s over the 80s.

But before any of those Stranger Things vibes, we get an opener that's so similar to the first ten minutes of Scream, it perhaps transcends parody and enters the realm of plagiarism, as we get a scene-for-scene stalk-and-kill that screams Drew Barrymore (although this time it's Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke's daughter Maya Hawke, who, to no surprise, is a cast member fromStranger Things Season 3).

Heather Watkins (Hawke) is brutally murdered by the killer, who turns out to be a friend we met moments before, who seemed pretty normal. But before we even get a chance to fully recognize him, a police officer shoots him in the head, killing him. A montage-style intro then vomits exposition all over the screen, in the form of newspaper clippings and reports, telling us that Shadyside, Ohio is no ordinary town and that this isn't the first slasher-made massacre. We never would have guessed from the name.

Meanwhile, Sunnyvale is a safe haven, a thriving and flourishing place that's only a stone's throw from its dark counterpart. It's believed that Shadyside has been cursed by a witch named Sarah Fier in 1666 (very subtle), who was consequently executed for witchcraft. It's this backstory that serves as the bedrock for the trilogy, and will likely tie all three films together.

We then meet Deena Johnson (Kiana Madeira), the star of the piece, who is quickly joined by a gang of quirky teenagers, her brother Josh and Sam, and Kate (although, refreshingly, there are no bikes in sight). Deena is heartbroken over her closeted ex Sam, who has moved to Sunnyvale – which apparently is a frowned-upon decision despite Shadyside being such a grim place to live.

It doesn't take long for the town to show its true "shady side", though, as famous local serial killers that span decades past – each of whom are also dead, including the most recent mall-massacre killer from the film's opening sequence – begin to stalk and slaughter the teens. However, it turns out that these living dead-slashers are actually after Sam, Deena's ex, who earlier on accidentally disturbed the grave of witch Sarah Fier, which at the time led to some creepy visions and premonitions witchcraft-esque in nature.

Thus ensues plenty of slasher mayhem, in which the gang tries any means necessary to stop the undead killers. During the chaos, they call the sole survivor of Shadyside's Camp Nightwing Massacre in 1978 (not too on the nose yet, right?), to try and get some help to stop their violent pursuers, but fail to reach her. But upon learning that the survivor died at the time of that particular massacre and was brought back to life, then going on to live an apparently peaceful life, they decide to try the same with Sam, in an attempt to repel the relentless killers.

Cue a retro-fitted supermarket with lots of dark, creepy aisles and plenty of Saw-worthy apparatus for some grotesque kills. With two teens down – Simon and Kate, both of whom meet incredibly grizzly fates (even by a slasher movie's standards) - Deena drowns her ex-girlfriend Sam (after failing to overdose her on pills), which does the trick. The killers leave and Deena successfully brings Sam back to life using several adrenalin shots and CPR.

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But this is a horror movie, so naturally, there's some bad news. Simon and Kate are blamed for the murders by the police, while Deena and Sam have gotten back together. However, while at home, the female camp survivor finally returns Deena's call, warning her that there is "no escape" from Sarah Fier. Like clockwork, Sam becomes possessed by the witch and attacks Deena. Deena manages to tie up her girlfriend, and the film ends with Deena telling her brother Josh that she intends to "bring Sam back".

So it turns out that the witch's curse is pretty foolproof. As the teens tried to ‘outsmart' the curse by tricking the undead into retreating by temporarily killing Sam, the witch's spirit – which lives on through the curse – simply isn't having any of it, hence her possession of Sam. However, it's also possible that the witch was able to possess Sam while she was dead, and that the witch is also the one possessing each of the corpses of Shadyside's historical killers.

Another plot element that can't be overlooked is the feud between Shadyside and Sunnyvale, something that will likely be explored in the 1666 installment, which is when the town was split into two parts. While the next film jumps back in time to 1978, and the third one all the way back to 1666, it's likely we'll be seeing Deena, Sam, and Josh again before the trilogy concludes. Either way, we'll find out more in the next installment.

Check out the trailer for Part 2 below:

Fear Street Part Two: 1978 and Fear Street Part Three: 1666 are coming to Netflix on Friday, July 9 and July 16, respectively, as part of Netflix's promise to deliver a new movie each week in 2021.