Fear Street Part Three: 1666

The final chapter in the Fear Street trilogy ends in tremendous fashion. The closing chapter still possesses all the teen scream flavour of its predecessors, as well as both heightening and concluding this time-spanning drama in satisfying and surprising ways.

As with Part Two, this flick commences where the last ended. In this case it was with final girl Deena (Kiana Madeira) being magically transported to 1666 into the body of Sarah Fiers, the vengeful witch who’s kept a tight chokehold on the town for 300 years. But everything isn’t as it seems, and, as Deena relives what happened to Sarah, the sinister truth about the town’s curse is revealed.

Taking place in a 17^th century Puritan settlement overrun with paranoia and superstition, a striking comparison can be made between 1666 and Robert Eggers’s period chiller The Witch. But viewers shouldn’t expect the slow-burn atmosphere of Eggers’s debut or the all-out slasher romps of Part One or Two here. Rather, Part Three plays out like a twisted historical drama with a teen horror edge. It’s fast-paced, periodically gruesome, and consistently engaging, even if the plot beats follow a familiar trend. Once more, an ensemble cast comprised of key players from previous entries (now with Irish accents) give their all to squeeze the most out of the script.

At around the halfway mark Sarah’s story begins to come to a head. Though this section is rather short-lived, the modern storyline that was set in motion in Part One still needs to be concluded. Jumping straight back into the neon-and-blood-drenched fray after experiencing an hour of folk horror is initially jarring, but director Leigh Janiak makes it work by tying the lingering plot threads from each chapter together in an adrenaline-fuelled climax.

The slasher savagery makes a welcome return here, but it’s in the emotional resonance generated by the ending that the trilogy sticks its landing. Three centuries of heartache and tragedy are etched in how the surviving players cope with their ordeal and find a way to move on. The conclusion is enjoyably cheesy, in keeping with the rest of the trilogy’s tone, and an unexpected feel-good note to end their night of terror.

Though the Fear Street trilogy got off to a slow start, Part Three is the culmination of what these films have been building towards. It doesn’t disappoint.

Andrew Murray

Fear Street Part Three: 1666 is released on Netflix on 16^th July 2021.

Watch the trailer for Fear Street Part Three: 1666 here: