Fear Street Scenes You Should Never Watch Alone
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Right now, you might already be celebrating that time-honored tradition of soaking up all the scary movies you can handle this spooky Halloween season, and if so, the "Fear Street" trilogy is a must for your scream-streaming queue. The films give screen life to the creepy world of R.L. Stine's beloved teen books, bringing audiences to the truly cursed town of Shadyside, which has been the site of generations of grisly murder sprees.
The action begins in 1994, as yet another killer emerges to terrorize the town, and a group of local teens decide to stand up and get to the bottom of what's haunting Shadyside once and for all. As these young heroes come together to fight back against the tide of bloodshed, though, they face a new set of horrors. So not only do they have to fight for their lives, but they also have to take a deep dive into Shadyside's history if they hope to ever put an end to the madness.
This journey is grueling and, at times, very grisly, and there are some scenes in the "Fear Street" movies that will make your own blood curdle. So to celebrate this gnarly film series, here's a look at the "Fear Street" scenes you definitely shouldn't watch alone. Beware the spoilers!
The Skull Mask Killer strikes
The "Fear Street" trilogy wastes no time in offering up some spine-chilling scares. In fact, "Part One" begins with a mall massacre that will definitely make you scream. The film introduces us to Heather (Maya Hawke), a witty bookstore cashier who seems to love a good horror novel. At first, things seem cheery enough as the mall closes up, and she and her fellow mall store employee Ryan Torres (David W. Thompson) have some lively little chats. But then, things take a terrifying turn. Her store's security gate fails to fully close, and when Heather goes back inside to clean up, she discovers she's got some unexpected company.
There's someone sneaking around in the store, and she finds out the hard way that this isn't just some silly prank to spook her as the Skull Mask Killer leaps out and attempts to stab her with a knife. Heather manages to evade it at first and crawls away to another store, but the killer closes in quick. She briefly outsmarts him by using some of the Halloween props in the store as a diversion, but her attacker is fast and relentless — as evidenced by all the dead bodies in the food court — and he eventually catches up to her to stab her again and again.
As if all of that weren't ghastly enough, Heather unmasks the killer in the middle of the attack and discovers that it's none other than her own friend, Ryan, who's responsible for all of this sudden carnage. While Sheriff Goode (Ashley Zukerman) manages to shoot Ryan, it's not in time to save Heather. The scene is not only reminiscent of that iconic opening from "Scream," but it's even more bold and brutal to watch.
The horror at the hospital
Another scene that's bound to give you nightmares also involves Ryan Torres — in a way, at least. After the mall massacre, the whole town of Shadyside is rocked again, and the rivalry with the very privileged and violence-free neighboring town of Sunnyside reaches an all-time high. This bitter feud leads to a car accident, and a teen named Sam (Olivia Scott Welch) ends up bleeding on the side of a remote road. That's when she inadvertently touches the buried body of the supposed Shadyside witch Sarah Fier and unknowingly unleashes undead hell in her former hometown.
Shortly after the automobile accident, someone wearing a Skull Mask Killer costume shows up while Kate (Julia Rehwald) is babysitting and scares her, her friend, Simon (Fred Hechinger), and Sam's ex-girlfriend, Deena (Kiana Madeira). Convinced it's Sam's new boyfriend trying to taunt them, Deena takes her friends and her true crime-obsessed brother, Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.), along as she confronts the couple at the hospital and has a fiery fallout with Sam. But then, they all find out that this is definitely not a joke as Sam's boyfriend is suddenly stabbed in the back by the Skull Mask Killer.
Sam and Deena run screaming to her crew as the Skull Mask Killer gives chase through the dark and dreary halls of the hospital. In a moment of panic, Simon, Kate, and Josh realize they don't have their car keys to escape and set out to steal an ambulance while Sam and Deena discover a freshly dead body and watch as another nurse is mercilessly murdered right in front of them. The Skull Mask Killer then gets ahold of Sam, but Deena jumps in to fight him off long enough that they can take off in the EMS truck.
Before they get away, though, they're in for one more terrifying scare. The killer's skull mask is again lifted just enough for them to get a good glimpse of Ryan's face — only this time, he's still sporting a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. So not only is this a murderer they're dealing with, but he's also a zombie murderer. Add that one to your list of nightmare creatures.
The return of Ruby Lane
Ryan isn't the only killing corpse guaranteed to give you goosebumps in "Fear Street." While Sam and Deena try, unsuccessfully, to convince a police officer about what they just witnessed at the hospital, Simon is greeted by another of the town's most notorious killers who's inexplicably returned to reality. While waiting on the otherwise empty street, he hears something of a siren song and spots a girl singing to herself on the road.
When Simon gets close enough to see her scarred, haunting face, he realizes he's in big trouble, and his fears are confirmed when she brings out a razor and slices his ankle. Just as his friends realize he's no longer with them, Simon finds himself being pinned down in the middle of the road, helplessly flailing as this girl — who's later revealed to be the vintage mass murderer Ruby Lane (Jordyn DiNatale) — prepares to slash him to pieces.
Just in time, Deena uses a stolen gun to stop the girl in her tracks, but then they all watch in shock as she slinks back into motion, unfazed by the bullets and ready to sing — and sling her blade — again. The sight of her face repairing itself right then and there is chilling already, but her sinister melody makes the moment even more disturbing. Plus, her presence brings on a sickly sinking realization that the kids are dealing with more than just one undead monster on the loose.
The grisly grocery store encounter
Perhaps the scariest moment of all in "Fear Street Part One" comes near the end of the film, after the teens have discovered that multiple killers from the town's history have come back, and all of these ghouls are ultimately after Sam. Our heroes have already tried to trap and destroy the beasts with an explosion, but it wasn't enough. So now, they're resorting to extraordinary measures. Upon discovering that the lone survivor of a previous summer camp slaughter made it out alive after dying and being revived, they decide that killing Sam is the only way to save her.
In this intensely climactic scene, the teens take shelter in a grocery store while Deena tries to stop Sam's heart for just long enough to end the dead serial killers' siege. Unfortunately, they aren't fast enough to stop Shadyside's most notorious from strolling in and doing their worst. First, the Skull Mask Killer shows up, and Kate is able to use an "Arachnophobia"-style torch to buy Sam and Deena more time. But then the killers get even more aggressive.
In a moment that will linger in your subconscious forevermore, we see the now-truly skeletal Skull Mask Killer use a devastating new weapon — a bread slicer — on Kate's face. And while Simon is initially able to resist Ruby Lane's efforts to attack him again, the Nightwing Killer uses the element of surprise — along with his signature ax — to give Simon a gory end as well. The superkillers then saunter up to Josh and Deena as she desperately tries to drown Sam in a lobster tank, and when Sam's eyes finally go blank, perhaps the eeriest sound is the silence that follows as the murderers immediately disappear without a trace. Good luck looking at the bakery aisle the same after this horrifying sequence.
The bloodiest vision
There are tons of scary moments to be found in "Fear Street Part Two," which takes us back to 1978's notorious Camp Nightwing Massacre, as camp counselor Tommy Slater (McCabe Slye) turns into the ax-wielding Nightwing Killer and torments a bunch of unsuspecting young campers and colleagues. One scene that's bound to creep into your worst dreams from this installment comes when Alice (Ryan Simpkins) discovers a giant, pulsating blob in the caves beneath the camp.
Alice is compelled to reach out and touch this monstrosity as it whispers her name, and immediately, she's hit with some of the most ghastly visuals imaginable, including a montage of the many gruesome murders in Shadyside's history playing out before her eyes. And that's not all. After lifting her hand, Alice sees that her friend, Cindy Berman (Emily Rudd), suddenly looks like a blood-soaked specter, and when a terrified Alice runs off screaming, she finds a new corpse lurking around every corner until she finally falls and hurts her own leg.
The mess hall melee
Another "Part Two" scene that's bound to get burned into your memory comes when Cindy and her kid sister Ziggy (Sadie Sink) are simultaneously drawn to the mess hall. Cindy is attempting to escape the never-ending cave below by breaking through a vent while Ziggy is trying to hide from the Nightwing Killer. Ziggy smartly turns on the radio in hopes of drowning out whatever sounds she might make so she can catch Tommy by surprise, but the noise turns off just in time for the Nightwing Killer to find her.
Even after Cindy manages to break through the grate and put a knife in Tommy's back, their relief doesn't last long because the Nightwing Killer might be dead, but he's not done with them yet. After Alice catches up with the Berman sisters and explains her theory on how to end the curse, the Nightwing Killer makes a surprising return and slashes her down. Even Cindy beheading him with a shovel only delays matters, and as Ruby Lane and other Shadyside killers begin crawling out of the woodwork, literally, the tension is at full tilt.
The Berman sisters do everything they can to stop the curse based on Alice's suggestion, but they soon discover it doesn't work, and they're being circled by every creepy killer in Shadyside's history. Cindy tries to fight for her sister, but she's quickly overpowered by the Nightwing Killer, who used to be such a sweet boyfriend to her at the start of the story. Meanwhile, Ziggy tries to run and is greeted with a knife to the gut by the reanimated Harry Rooker, aka "The Milkman." And that's just the start of the brutality in this devastating scene, as the girls watch each other being gashed to death over and over again, helpless to save themselves, let alone each other.
The pastor takes no prisoners
Like the first two films, "Fear Street Part Three" has some downright devastating moments, from the grim vision of a town suddenly beset by blight to an entire community being riled up into pitchfork-raising mobs to a terrible miscarriage of justice that marks the town for centuries. Set largely in 1666, this final installment finally reveals the true origins of the curse on Shadyside and the real story behind Sarah Fier's trial and execution for witchcraft.
One of the most horrific moments in the entire series comes when we get to witness the aftermath of the very first mass murder event in the town. It begins with a moment of mass panic, as the people in town realize that their pastor, Cyrus Miller (Michael Chandler), has trapped many of their children in his church. Upon breaking through the barricade, Sheriff Nick's ancestor, Solomon Goode, makes a shocking discovery that simply cannot be unseen. With a hook, Cyrus has gouged out the eyes of all of the little ones in town, along with his own. As the parents race in to find their children's mutilated corpses, it's pretty much the stuff of anyone's worst nightmares.