Directed by Leigh Janiak. Written by Janiak, Phil Graziadei and Kyle Killen. Based on the books by R.L. Stine. Starring Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr., Julia Rehwald, Fred Hechinger, Ashley Zuckerman, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Jeremy Ford and Jordyn DiNatale.
Plot: after a series of brutal slayings, a group of teens face an evil force plaguing their notorious town.
We open with Heather, who works at B. Dalton’s book store. God, I remember spending a lot of days there. The nostalgia was nice. Anyway, Heather ends up being killed by her friend Ryan and then Ryan gets killed by a cop. Turns out Ryan has killed a few people in the mall. People think Sarah Fier, a supposed witch from 1666, placed a curse on their town and possesses people so that they kill. She herself was executed and she’s pissed, rightfully so.
We then follow the main protagonist, Deena (Madeira), who doesn’t believe in the witch, but whose brother, Josh (Flores Jr.), does. Deena is estranged from her girlfriend, Sam (Welch) who recently moved to the neighboring and much more prosperous town of Sunnyvale. Sunnyvale and Shadyside – where Deena lives – are always at odds. Fighting on and off the football field. And sidenote: Deena’s best friends, Simon (Hechinger) and Kate (Rehwald) are selling drugs to eventually help get themselves out of Shadyside. Bad idea in our opinion.
Later, when Deena’s house is broken into, she thinks it’s Peter (Ford), Sam’s new boyfriend, but it isn’t. And they soon find out that the truth is far more sinister when Peter is killed right in front of them. Turns out killers from the past have started coming back to kill a whole new group of people.
Now, people say that this new saga is inventive and ground breaking and wonderful. Well, we disagree. While I liked this one movie a little bit, I’m a die-hard and long time fan of the Fear Street books and I don’t think these movies did them justice. If you know of the books, you’ll also wonder why this saga isn’t about the Fier’s and the Goode’s fighting. And you’ll wonder where Angelica is. And you’ll miss them. Like I did.
The killer’s were creepy, the kids were good-looking, the acting was good, the pace was nice and the effects were just great. But the motive sucked and the characters weren’t all that likable, except Josh – Josh was cool. And like I said, it really didn’t hold up to the source material. While I say maybe you should give it a small shot, DJ doesn’t even think you should do that much.
My score: 45. DJ’s score: 39.
BLOOD RED REVIEWS 