This article contains spoilers for Fear Street: Prom Queen.
This article contains descriptions of violence and death, which some readers may find upsetting.
Fear Street: Prom Queen was the long-awaited continuation to the Fear Street franchise, bringing the series back to Netflix after the end of the original trilogy in 2021. While all the Fear Street movies were individual stories to some extent, the previous three did have an overarching, interconnected story told throughout with a beginning, middle, and end. On the other hand, Prom Queen had an entirely new cast and story, featuring a fun appearance by one of Hollywood’s most up-and-coming actors, Ariana Greenblatt, who played Christy Renault in the film.
Even though Prom Queen‘s story is very separate from the rest of the franchise, it has plenty of references to the events of the previous films, and while many are in-universe plot points that lead back to the central story of the Fiers’, Greenblatt’s character seems to be calling back to a major moment in Fear Street Part 1: 1994. Prom Queen‘s reviews have been more mixed than the previous movies in the series, but it definitely still has the same R.L. Stine charm, and this reference in particular is a fun callback.
Ariana Greenblatt’s Character Death In Prom Queen Is Reminiscent Of Maya Hawke’s Twist In Fear Street: 1994
The Two Characters Share A Remarkably Similar Fate
One of the most interesting moments in the first Fear Street movie was when Maya Hawke’s character, Heather, was one of the first people to be killed during the opening act of that film. Heather was a bookstore employee at Shadyside Mall, who, in classic horror movie fashion, had to close up the shop late at night, before being brutally killed by a masked man wielding a knife. It was a great way to start the film, subverting expectations, as Hawke could have easily been expected to last the entire film.
While Maya Hawke and Ariana Greenblatt aren’t exactly superstars, when a big actor is brought into a smaller project, the ᴀssumption is that they will be the main stars.
Greenblatt’s character suffered a similar fate, though there were a few notable differences between the two moments. Christy’s death didn’t occur right at the start, and it was significantly less drawn out than Heather’s was. Heather ran around the mall for a few minutes, barely escaping her killer before ultimately being murdered, while Christy was caught completely by surprise. The killer slammed an axe into her shoulder, then killed her off-screen as the movie cut away to a new scene, giving her a much less brutal death than Heather, whose demise remains one of Fear Street‘s best.
While the idea of killing off a random character at the beginning of a horror movie has been a staple of the genre since its inception, the difference in this franchise is that the characters who were killed off were played by pretty famous and well-known actors. While Hawke and Greenblatt are not exactly superstars, when a big actor is brought into a smaller project, the ᴀssumption is that they will be the main stars, which the Fear Street franchise used to subvert expectations, taking out the biggest names attached to the projects within the first act.
Ariana Greenblatt’s Brief Role In Fear Street: Prom Queen Proves The Actor Needs To Star In A Horror Movie
Greenblatt Could Be A Fantastic Horror Star
While Greenblatt’s untimely fate in Prom Queen was a fun subversion, it also reinforced the idea that the actor would be a great fit for a bigger role in a horror movie down the line. She had a very small role in the movie, but still managed to make her character shine, and giving her a meatier role in a future project seems like it would be a great fit for her. Thankfully, Greenblatt’s burgeoning career is already off to a great start, and she will undoubtedly have time to prove herself in the genre in future years.
Ariana Greenblatt’s next movie is Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, which is set to release in November of this year.
While Greenblatt doesn’t have any more horror movies currently in production, there have been so many horror movies and franchises surfacing in recent years. Thus, it seems almost inevitable that she will get her chance to star in one. From long-running, continuing franchises like the Saw films, to resurrected series that haven’t been around for years, like Final Destination, to original IP that brings something new to the genre, like Sinners, horror movies are only growing in popularity, and Fear Street: Prom Queen is certainly not going to be Greenblatt’s last dive into the genre.
