Warning: This article contains spoilers for Fear Street: Prom Queen!The Fear Street franchise has become one of the most inventive horror sagas in recent years, and Fear Street: Prom Queen keeps that tradition alive with a new, stylish story and chilling mystery. Based on R.L. Stine’s teen horror novel, the Netflix film reimagines the high school slasher formula for a modern audience. Like the previous Fear Street trilogy, the film balances brutal scares with a sharp tone and clever plot twists. This time, the mystery is just as compelling as the kills, and a lot of that comes down to the performance and inspiration behind the killer.

Fina Strazza, who plays Tiffany, one of the killers in Fear Street: Prom Queen, recently revealed that her performance was heavily inspired by an iconic slasher villain from Scream. In an interview with ScreenRant, Strazza explained how Skeet Ulrich’s portrayal of Billy Loomis influenced the tone and energy she brought to the character. The actor explained how Billy Loomis’ sincerity, unpredictability, and motivation helped her create her performance as Tiffany. Read her full comments below:

But, yeah, I think that I thought a lot about Scream. I really love the Scream franchise, and what I love in particular is how in the first Scream, when you re-watch it, Skeet Ulrich is so obviously the killer, and he’s so crazy the whole time, and he’s so genuine in everything that he says, even when he’s like, “I’m gonna cut your guts out.”

He’s saying that, and he means it, and you think he might be joking, and you think, “Oh, that’s far too obvious for you to be a murderer”. But I just love how, because he’s so genuine in every scene, it kind of steers you away from him, and from any suspicion. So, I think with every scene, I just wanted to bring that genuine nature to it, and then see how it all got put together, and see how it worked out.

What This Means For Fear Street: Prom Queen

Billy Loomis Influenced The Killer’s Performance

Strazza’s approach shows just how impactful legacy horror performances can be, even decades later. By using Skeet Ulrich’s portrayal of Billy Loomis as a blueprint, Strazza brought a self-aware intensity to Tiffany that fit perfectly within the Fear Street universe. The success of this portrayal proves that horror villains don’t need to be masked monsters to be scary; sometimes, their humanity makes them terrifying. In an era where slashers are getting smarter and more character-driven, this kind of grounded, performance-based reveal might become a new standard.

Slasher movies have always depended on subversion, and Tiffany’s arc is a great example of how modern horror can evolve while still paying tribute to its roots. By borrowing inspiration from Scream, Strazza tapped into the classic formula of a killer who seems too obvious to actually be guilty. Nonetheless, that familiarity works in the movie’s favor, creating an eerie sense of déjà vu that increases the tension. It’s a performance that’s both homage and originality, helping Fear Street: Prom Queen earn its place as a worthy new entry into the viral slasher franchise.

Our Take On Fina Strazza’s Comments

Scream Is Still A Horror Blueprint

Strazza’s decision to channel Billy Loomis was a brilliant one, and it paid off in spades. The way she captured his mix of instability and sincerity gives her performance a timeless feel that complements Fear Street: Prom Queen‘s nostalgic but modern framework. With Fear Street continuing to grow into a multi-era horror anthology, performances like this continue to set the bar higher for future installments. If the franchise continues to draw from slasher royalty while crafting its own terrifying icons, it could become one of Netflix’s most enduring horror legacies.