Fear Street: Prom Queen’s killer twist pays homage to the iconic series that inspired Netflix’s horror franchise. Ever since Netflix released the original Fear Street trilogy in 2021, fans have been eagerly waiting for the next entry in the franchise. The first three Fear Street movies, which were all based on novels by R.L. Stine, were big hits for the streaming service. Unfortunately, reviews for Fear Street: Prom Queen have been quite underwhelming, with Screen Rant’s own Ferdosa Abdi giving it a score of 6 out of 10.
The first three movies in Netflix’s horror franchise were all closely connected, but Prom Queen surprisingly tries to distance itself from the original Fear Street trilogy. While not entirely disconnected, Prom Queen doesn’t embrace the lore of the Fear Street movies that much, which is disappointing. However, it can’t be denied that Fear Street: Prom Queen includes many deaths, which still ensures that it is an entertaining slasher film. Additionally, the killer reveal in Prom Queen is reminiscent of Scream VI’s twist, which makes sense since the Fear Street movies have all been inspired by Wes Craven’s horror franchise.
Fear Street: Prom Queen’s Family Of Killers Mirrors Scream 6’s Twist
Fear Street: Prom Queen Has Three Killers
Throughout the most recent Fear Street movie, the mysterious masked killer is hunting high school students who are running for prom queen and their closest friends. During Melissa’s death, it is revealed that there are actually two killers. However, the end of Fear Street: Prom Queen includes yet another twist and reveals that there were three killers all along. At the end of the film, Lori Granger learns that all three members of the Falconer family were the ones killing the prom queen candidates and the other high school students.
Fear Street: Prom Queen and Scream VI both feature three killers who are part of the same family.
This reveal is reminiscent of Scream VI’s killer twist. At the end of Scream VI, it is revealed that the film’s three killers, Detective Bailey, Quinn, and Ethan, are all members of the same family who are working together to kill Sam. In the film, Detective Bailey, Quinn, and Ethan are seeking revenge since they were also related to Richie, one of the killers in the fifth Scream movie who was killed by Sam.
Therefore, Fear Street: Prom Queen and Scream VI both feature three killers who are part of the same family. This similarity makes sense since it has always been clear that the Fear Street movies take inspiration from the Scream franchise, which has been one of the most successful horror series for the last three decades. Since there was only one killer in the Fear Street: Prom Queen book instead of three, this significant change proves just how much the Scream franchise has rubbed off on Netflix’s horror series.
How Scream Also Inspired Netflix’s Original Fear Street Trilogy
Scream Paved The Way For Fear Street To Become A Movie Franchise
In addition to clearly inspiring the recently released Prom Queen, the Scream movies also served as inspiration for the films in the original Fear Street trilogy, which were all directed by Leigh Janiak. Even though they were not released until 2021, movies based on Stine’s Fear Street novels have been in development since 1997, just one year after the release of the first Scream film. The success of the first Scream movie and its subsequent sequels proved that a Fear Street film franchise could also work.
Since the Scream franchise has found so much success, the Fear Street movies have adopted a similar tone. Just like in Scream, characters in the original Fear Street trilogy prove that they are familiar with the horror genre’s tropes, and often use this knowledge to their advantage when facing killers. Even though Fear Street: Prom Queen isn’t as connected to the original movies as many fans hoped it would be, it is still clearly taking inspiration from the Scream franchise. Therefore, after Fear Street: Prom Queen, future movies in Netflix’s franchise will likely continue to be inspired by Scream.
