After a fine-if-lackluster first entry, Fear Street Part Two: 1978 takes the action in a different direction as 1994’s Deena (Kiana Madeira) and her brother Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.) seek help from a survivor (Gillian Jacobs) of a previous Sarah Fier encounter, in hopes of saving Deena’s possessed girlfriend Sam (Olivia Scott Welch). Jacobs’ C. Berman had a run-in with Shadyside’s infamous homicidal witch as a teenager at Camp Nightwing; 1978 tells her story and makes some connections to contemporary Shadyside and Sunnyvale figures, including shifty Sunnyvale mayor Will Goode (Matthew Zuk).
Keeping with period-specific genre trends, 1978 is a summer camp slasher in the vein of Sleepaway Camp and Friday the 13th (as with 1994, this story is set a couple of years ahead of when these movies actually defined the zeitgeist). Shadysider Ziggy (Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink) attends Camp Nightwing, which hosts kids from Shadyside and Sunnyvale, and the class divide between the towns established in 1994 is in full swing. Ziggy is tormented by a trio of Sunnyvale mean girls, and on the outs with her counselor sister Cindy (Emily Rudd), who’s preoccupied with her boyfriend Tommy (McCabe Sly). Ziggy finds an ally in Sunnyvale counselor Will Goode (Brandon Spink), who’s nursing a crush on her.
On the night of the camp’s annual Shadyside/Sunnyvale color war, the ghost of Sarah Fier possesses Tommy and turns him into an axe murderer. While Ziggy and Will try to save the terrified campers, Cindy and fellow Shadyside counselor Alice (Ryan Simpkins), armed with a mysterious notebook, explore the caves below the camp trying to end the curse. The solution they discover may provide the answer that Deena and Josh may need to save Sam 16 years later.
1978 ups the kill count significantly from 1994, and includes a surprising amount of child death (fans of Pen15’s Gabe, I’m sorry in advance). The proximity of the cast to the actual ages of the characters they’re playing ups the ante as well, in ways that sometimes feel a little uncomfortable. It’s one thing to laugh at horny teens getting busy and getting mangled when they’re played by actors clearly in their late 20s; it’s another when they actually look 18.
Aside from a few teenage tales of woe that veer toward Afterschool Special territory, 1978 is rougher and nastier in ways that 1994 only hinted at in its more intense moments. Stephen King is a noted reference in this entry as well, which is particularly apparent in the dialogue. Sink exudes teenage badass attitude as Ziggy; she’s essentially playing an older, more alienated version of her Stranger Things character Max, but it’s a character type she’s skilled at selling. The filmmaking this time around is, thankfully, a departure from 1994 as well, making appropriate use of the camp’s sun-drenched natural surroundings.
Fear Street Part Two: 1978 still feels like a nostalgia exercise, but at least it’s willing to dig in a little harder than the previous entry. The second Fear Street installment introduces interesting characters and builds on existing lore in ways that make the upcoming final movie, Fear Street Part Three: 1666 something to look forward to. 1978 sticks to the formula established in 1994, but at least displays a welcome and deeper interest in getting down and dirty. 
B
“Fear Street Part 2: 1978” streams Friday on Netflix.
