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Slasher movies are in the midst of yet another renaissance thanks to recent releases like Josh Ruben’s Heart Eyes, the upcoming reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer, and the seventh Scream film, set to continue Ghostface’s masked rampage in 2026. It makes sense, then, that the new instalment of the Fear Street franchise would lean into the stabbiest of horror subgenres. But perhaps no-one told director Matt Palmer that, while harvesting the fertile crop of slasher films gone by, it’s also possible — and desirable — to sow something fresh, too.

The original Fear Street trilogy, based on the books by R.L. Stine, was directed by Leigh Janiak and released as something of an event by Netflix in 2021, over the course of three weeks. But this new film relies primarily on the goodwill generated by that event, rather than bringing much in the way of original ideas...

As enamored as I was with the Goosebumps books at the public library when I was growing up, I was just as obsessed with R.L. Stine's Fear Street novels. There was something more dangerous about them, more edgy, more slasher-y. While Goosebumps sparked my imagination with frightful fun, Fear Street gave me something to look forward to fearing when I was old enough to cross the street to Shadyside.

I was fortunate to even own some Fear Street books at a young age, when an older cousin gave my family several grocery bags of books for my sister and I to enjoy. Nestled between used paperbacks of The Baby-Sitters Club and Full House stories were a stack of Stine's Fear Street titles (as well as a couple of Christopher Pike books), and ocassionally I would gaze at the eerie covers of these books, wondering what types of terror awaited me within its yellowed,...

Set in 1994, 1978, and 1666, respectively, Leigh Janek’s Fear Street trilogy is, in many ways, a perfect encapsulation of the streaming era. The films’ period settings are little more than justifications for needle drops, while the costuming and set design are so broad in their presentation that the characters feel like modern teens dressed up in historical drag. For the first two films in particular, the reference points are closer to Stranger Things, Bridgerton, and American Horror Story than to the slasher films of the mid ’90s or late ’70s, and the same can be said of the series’ newest incarnation, the 1988-set Fear Street: Prom Queen.

Also based on R.L. Stine’s long-running book series, Prom Queen continues the earlier films’ offbeat, often awkward melding of YA drama and R-rated gore, here set to the tunes of Bananarama, Billy Idol, Tiffany, and Duran Duran, among others. The Shadyside-versus-Sunnydale town rivalry...

Today must be a day that ends in “Y” because Lionsgate is back with another high-profile casting for its upcoming Hunger Games prequel. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ralph Fiennes will play President Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. President Snow is a staple of the Hunger Games series, serving as one of the franchise’s primary antagonists in most cases. President Snow is an autocrat who ruled over Panem for over two decades.

After losing his parents at a young age, Coriolanus – or Coryo, as his cousin Tigis used to call him – climbed through the social ranks to restore his family’s name. He graduated from the University with exceptionally high marks and briefly served as a Peacekeeper before becoming a Gamemaker. His strategy involved instituting several new reforms and the establishment of Victor’s Village. He continued to vanquish his enemies until he ascended to the presidency of Panem.