Fear Street Part One: 1994
Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): July 2, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
IGNKristy PuchkoJun 30, 2021
Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is a film rich with character, world-building, Easter eggs, and scares. Horror fans will be grinning over a visual allusion, then be pulled to the edge of their seat by this slaughter-packed adventure, then catch themselves screaming at a harrowingly portrayed murder. Read full review
83
The PlaylistAnya StanleyJul 8, 2021
It warms the coldest of hearts to see an adaptation that not only seizes the spirit of the source material but provides a potentially formative experience of its own for any who may dare to hit “Play.” Read full review
82
PolygonToussaint EganJul 2, 2021
It’s unclear yet whether this attempt at the MCU-nification of young-adult horror will come together in a satisfying way, but at the very least, Fear Street: 1994 lays a solid foundation. It’s a spooky, pulse-pounding horror romp with likable characters and terrific scares. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreJul 2, 2021
Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is a nasty, effective slasher. Read full review
80
Paste MagazineJim VorelJul 2, 2021
The tone has more of the edgy, joyfully nihilistic streak present in something like Heathers. Tack on some legitimately brutal deaths, and you have a very effective modern black comedy/horror hybrid in the making, enhanced by an evocative score, crisp cinematography, lively camera and appropriately grungy soundtrack of early ‘90s classics. Read full review
80
EmpireIan FreerJul 2, 2021
Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is a wild ride through ’90s horror tropes that somehow feels affectionate and fresh. It is, as they said back then, insane in the membrane. Read full review
80
Total FilmJack ShepherdJul 1, 2021
A popcorn-friendly horror romp, Fear Street is a colorful addition to Netflix’s catalogue. Read full review
80
The GuardianBenjamin LeeJun 30, 2021
There’s real, seat-edge fun to be had here, the sort of fun that’s too often missing from modern horror. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comNick AllenJul 2, 2021
It’s a full cast of rising young stars, like Stranger Things before it, and Fear Street gives that palpable sense of having fun while hanging out with them, but worrying that one of them might abruptly die. Read full review
75
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiJul 1, 2021
1994 plays more like television than a theatrical film. The more limited scope isn’t bothersome, though, because you can only watch it on your TV, after all, and two more films/episodes are soon on the way. Read full review
75
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaJun 30, 2021
Fear Street is like a big soup pot full of everything – there are shades of Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Stephen King’s It, Halloween, Friday the 13th, and more. Watching Fear Street brings back memories of wandering around musty video stores and browsing the HORROR section for the most lurid VHS box art you can find. There was something sacred about that experience, like going to church. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeJul 2, 2021
While it probably won’t have you triple checking the locks on your door, it’s likely to keep you entertained enough to come back for more. Read full review
69
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJun 30, 2021
While Janiak is able to easily tick off the hallmarks of the genre, and perhaps convince those actually alive in the nineties that the entire decade must have been backlit in aggressive neon, her film doesn’t quite scream (or Scream) out for two more films’ worth of context. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 5, 2021
The film is R-rated R.L. Stine — simple, catchy, punchy and playfully derivative. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesMichael OrdoñaJun 30, 2021
The dialogue can be clunky and easy to guess in advance, and there’s an unfortunate reliance on jump scares. The thing to remember is this is all part of a larger story, and without spoiling anything, that story does get significantly more interesting. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeJun 30, 2021
“Fear Street” may look like countless horror movies that have come before, but it’s desperately trying to be original, and that may pay off in the two installments to come. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Jun 30, 2021
1994 channels that legacy of give and take, between teen horror of the page and screen, into a polished nostalgia object of secondhand thrills, a throwback to a throwback. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJun 30, 2021
If the Day-Glo antics of Fear Street Part 1: 1994 are as tonally insecure as its teenage characters and a bit too broad to get under your skin, rest assured that this overstuffed slasher cuts much deeper when it’s contextualized as the latest chapter of an American horror story that’s been in the telling for more than 300 years. Read full review
50
Screen RantMolly FreemanJun 30, 2021
Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is a perfectly fine throwback slasher horror movie, but is weighed down by setting up the rest of Netflix's trilogy. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinJul 2, 2021
There’s an unmistakeable timidity to director Leigh Janiak and Phil Graziadei’s screenplay: it feels odd to watch an 18-rated horror that feels as if it’s going out of its way not to offend. Read full review
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