Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
The year is 1988. Shadyside High is your average American high school, where all the teens are excited about their upcoming senior year prom. Among the top runners for Prom Queen are members of the popular clique called the ‘Wolfpack’, and protagonist Lori Granger is often bullied by them. So Lori signs up to be competition to the bullies and bring “some change.” Sounds a little like ‘Mean Girls‘? Well, the 2025 slasher Fear Street: Prom Queen is indeed like a mash-up of ‘Mean Girls‘ and ‘Scream‘, so amidst all the “who will be Prom Queen” drama, a serial killer is out brutally murdering the teens one by one.
“Everybody always said I’d end up this way, that my last name is cursed, and I’d be dead or a killer before graduation.”
Directed by Matt Palmer, Fear Street: Prom Queen starts off with an intriguing cold open, where someone is walking with a bloodied tiara in their hands, while a narrator talks about being “cursed.” India Fowler plays lead Lori Granger, an aspiring writer often tormented by ‘Wolfpack’ leader Tiffany Falconer (Fina Strazza). Luckily for Lori, her best friend Megan Rogers (Suzanna Son), a feisty emo prankster, always has her back. In a not-so-unpredictable twist, Lori has the hots for Tiffany’s boyfriend Tyler (David Iacono), also a Prom King candidate.
While Lori is busy doing extra shifts to buy a prom dress that will help her win the crown, a serial killer is on the prowl for the Prom Queen candidates. The gory murders begin pretty soon, and the violence is hilariously over the top, which will make viewers both flinch in horror and crack a laugh. Yes, ‘Fear Street: Prom Queen‘ is that kind of movie. It’s got all the usual high school drama tropes that are usually centered around proms, throwing in some ghastly “guts spilling on the floor” violence.
Fina Strazza, as Lori’s primary tormentor Tiffany, is charmingly deviant as the “bad girl” on campus and might remind some of a young Winona Ryder. Tiffany is the sort of popular girl who is worshiped by some peers and just cannot stand anybody even attempting to upstage her, much like Regina George from ‘Mean Girls’. India Fowler’s Lori is the bland “good girl”; her character, unfortunately, is so boring that many viewers might not care whether she survives or dies. In a few scenes where Lori does get to stand out, the actor doesn’t really add any extra zing to those moments. Ella Rubin, who plays Melissa, Tiffany’s BFF, makes a more memorable onscreen impression in ‘Fear Street: Prom Queen‘, despite maybe just five minutes of screen time. Interestingly, I couldn’t help thinking how much Ella Rubin looks like Anne Hathaway, only to realize she had played Hathaway’s daughter in the romantic comedy ‘The Idea of You‘.
The cinematography weaves in some scenes that are shown through an old-school, grainy camcorder lens, giving the movie a throwback vibe, sometimes making it seem like a “found-footage crime documentary.” The background track, too, of course, is from the ’70s and ’80s, featuring some cool hit tracks that will have nostalgia enthusiasts thrilled.
But the plot, of course, is very basic, and the climactic events, especially the “serial killer” reveal, were underwhelming. With its 90-minute runtime, this retro-slasher film is on the leaner side, so despite the familiar plot, it ends before it can become overbearing. If you keep your expectations low, ‘Fear Street: Prom Queen‘ is a decent one-time watch for fans of the genre. Although, the 2023 teen slasher ‘Totally Killer‘ is a lot more fun and shakes things up with time travel.
Rating: 5 on 10 stars. Watch it on Netflix.
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