REVIEW: ‘Fear Street: Prom Queen’ Delivers Fun Gore Over Lore

Fear Street Prom Queen is the latest installment of the Fear Street franchise on Netflix. This adaptation continues R.L. Stine’s fan-favorite book series with director Matt Palmer at the helm. The film is written by Palmer and Donald McLeary, with a cast featuring India Fowler, Suzanne Son, Fina Strazza, Ariana Greenblatt, Chris Klein, and Katherine Waterson.

The film takes place in 1988, in Shadyside, as teenagers excitedly prepare for the biggest night of their high school lives, prom. Lori Granger is an unpopular outsider who hopes to change her life by becoming prom queen. But Lori has the odds stacked against her as she runs for prom queen against “The Wolf Pack”, the popular girls at her high school, led by her neighbor and bully, Tiffany Falconer.

Not to mention, Lori has spent all of her life haunted by the accusations that her mother killed her father on their prom night years ago. Unfortunately, Lori’s prom night dreams take a bloody turn when the other prom queen candidates go missing.

Horror slasher thrills meet petty high school drama in Prom Queen. The horror elements in the film deliver the shock and excitement you would expect from a horror movie set in the ’80s. Visually, the kills are bloody and a bit gory at times, but the filmmakers are not gratuitous with it, which strikes a nice balance for this teen horror.

The film excels, stylistically speaking, as the late ’80s aesthetic is captured pretty well through costuming and set design. From the over-teased bangs and copious amounts of hairspray and vibrantly colored prom dresses and makeup, the film oozes nostalgia for the period. Paired with the backdrop of a classic slasher story and Palmer’s direction, the story balances the suspenseful slasher with dark humor and sarcasm.

Fear Street Prom Queen leans into traditional horror movie tropes.

The film works best when it heavily leans into the traditional horror movie tropes. Teenagers sneaking off to have sex in a basement only to be murdered. A murderous masked figure creeps around the school. And of course, the final girl who beats the odds to survive and outwit the killer. Maybe it’s the nostalgia for the period, but there is something very satisfying and entertaining about watching these iconic horror tropes play out from a modern perspective.

Overall, the cast delivers a decent performance. Fowler’s performance as Lori provides a grounded and steady final girl character from beginning to end. She does a great job of conveying Lori’s trauma and determination well. Still, the script and huge cast did not give her many moments to develop her character’s personality, which made her feel very one-dimensional for most of the film.

Although entertaining, the film’s plot does not quite land the more profound mysteries and supernatural elements that Fear Street fans enjoyed in the predecessor films. The film’s biggest misstep is that it makes little effort to make a deeper connection to the broader Fear Street lore, beyond a few easter eggs. Aside from briefly mentioning the 1978 summer camp massacre and a fleeting nod to the town’s curse in the post-credits, the film’s plot mostly sidesteps the town’s mythology.

There is no mention of Sarah Fier or the supernatural evil that grips and haunts the Shadyside residents’ lives throughout the film. Instead, the story repeatedly alludes to the town being a dead-end place where nothing good ever happens or changes, which is very on-brand for a Fear Street flick. However, audiences may be slightly disappointed if they hope the film will explore some more profound mystery or a connection to the main trilogy more profoundly.

The Netflix film thrives when focusing on the character dynamics. 

Instead of building off the series’ lore for the killer’s motivations, the plot primarily roots the killings as a result of someone’s petty jealousy and personal vendetta. It is a more grounded motivation for the plot than what some fans may expect, which is also why it is so underwhelming until the easter egg moment that ties in that the killer may have been motivated by the curse in the end.

The original Fear Street Trilogy succeeded because the stories are layered with themes of generational trauma and the cycle of evil that haunts the townspeople. Although Prom Queen barely scratches the surface of the series’ rich lore, it is still entertaining as a standalone teen horror instead of playing a deeper role or continuation of the Fear Street mythos.

Fear Street Prom Queen is stuffed with many characters, mainly used as red herrings to help misdirect the killer’s identity. While it helps keep the audience guessing, it also makes the film feel overstuffed. The film is at its best when it focuses on fewer characters and their relationship dynamics for more meaningful development.

For example, our final girl, Lori, and Tyler, the boyfriend of Tiffany, Lori’s bully and prom queen rival, have some moments of chemistry and connect emotionally, suggesting there is more to Tyler than a stereotypical popular boy. But this movie is not about a popular guy going through some moral metamorphosis to fall for the unpopular girl and saving the day.

Prom Queen deviates from R. L. Stine’s series. 

Thankfully, Prom Queen resists this cliche to make Tyler a better person or the hero just because he likes Lori. This film is good because it is not interested in redeeming every character or wrapping up their arcs neatly to pull at the audience’s heartstrings. Tyler’s narrative arc in Prom Queen is fitting and wraps up in a way that allows for Lori to be the hero and have focus on her arc.

Fear Street Prom Queen is a pretty significant departure from the R. L. Stine novel. The film and book seem only to share a broad premise and title. Each has a different cast of characters and a murderous mystery centered around prom night.

The most significant difference between the book and the film is that the book focuses more on the mystery and psychological suspense behind the killings. In contrast, the film is more of an outright slasher horror that matches the tone of the other Fear Street films. The film could have benefited from adding more mystery elements into the plot to keep audiences engaged, but it doesn’t make it unwatchable.

Fear Street Prom Queen is a decent watch and an addition to the Fear Street cinematic franchise. The film would have benefited more by contributing to the series’ lore and using more mystery elements. However, it still succeeds in delivering an entertaining, nostalgic, blood-soaked horror.

Fear Street Prom Queen premieres exclusively on Netflix May 23, 2025.