Fear Street Part Two: 1978 is a 2021 American teen slasher film directed by Leigh Janiak, with a script co-written by Janiak and Zak Olkewicz, from an original story by Janiak, Olkewicz and Phil Graziadei. Based on the book series of the same name by R. L. Stine, it is the second installment in the Fear Street trilogy after Part One: 1994 and stars Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, Ryan Simpkins, McCabe Slye, Ted Sutherland, Gillian Jacobs, Kiana Madeira, Benjamin Flores, Jr. and Olivia Scott Welch. The film centers on a group of teenagers in Camp Nightwing who must come together to survive a possessed counselor's murder spree.
Produced by Chernin Entertainment, a film adaptation of Fear Street began development at 20th Century Fox in 2015, with Janiak hired in 2017. Filming for the trilogy took place back-to-back from March to September 2019 in Georgia, with the intention of a theatrical release beginning June 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, Chernin Entertainment ended their distribution deal with 20th Century Studios and sold rights to Netflix in August 2020.
Fear Street Part Two: 1978 premiered at the Los Angeles State Historic Park on July 8, 2021, and was released by Netflix on July 9, 2021. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the screenplay, direction and the performances of Sink, Rudd and Simpkins. The final installment in the trilogy, Part Three: 1666, was released on July 16.
Plot[]
In 1994, Deena and Josh Johnson restrain Sam, Deena's girlfriend who is possessed, and travel to C. Berman's house for help. Initially reluctant, Berman allows them inside and begins recounting the events of the Camp Nightwing massacre.
On July 19, 1978, Ziggy Berman from Shadyside is accused of stealing by Sheila, a Sunnyvale camper, and her friends. They accuse her of being a witch and in retaliation, hang her from a tree and burn her arm with a lighter before camp counselors Nick Goode and Kurt intervene. Ziggy's older sister, Cindy, and her boyfriend Tommy Slater are cleaning the mess hall when Nurse Lane, the mother of Ruby Lane, attacks Tommy, but he overpowers her and she is later removed from camp by police. The teenagers from Sunnyvale believe she was possessed by Sarah Fier, as was her daughter. While investigating the infirmary, Cindy and Tommy encounter counselors Alice, Cindy's former friend, and her boyfriend Arnie. They find Lane's diary which says that Fier made a deal with the devil by cutting off her hand on Satan's stone, thereby earning eternal life. They also find a map in the diary leading to Fier's house.
At the house, they find empty graves dug up by Nurse Lane and discover the witch's mark below the house. Alice and Cindy find a wall carved with the names of all the Shadyside killers and Tommy's name included. Tommy, now possessed, kills Arnie with an axe, and the girls escape into a cave. At camp, Nick helps Ziggy prank Sheila and lock her in the outhouse. As the two bond and share a kiss, Tommy reaches the camp and murders several Shadyside campers, including counselor Joan. Meanwhile, Cindy and Alice try to escape using the witch's mark in the diary as a map of the cave. They come across a pile of beating organs, which, when Alice touches, gives her flashbacks of all the past killers and their victims. After Alice injures her leg, she reconciles with Cindy and the two reach a cave opening beneath the outhouse.
After fighting an angry Sheila and knocking her unconscious, Ziggy and counselor Gary try to rescue Alice and Cindy until Tommy decapitates Gary. Ziggy hides with Nick until he is injured by Tommy and escapes to the mess hall. As the rest of the camp leaves via bus, Cindy finds a route to the mess hall while Alice stays behind. Tommy attacks Ziggy, but Cindy intervenes and kills him. Alice arrives and tells them that she found the witch's hand. She had started bleeding and realized that she was sitting near Satan's stone, where she dug it out.
The trio decides to end the curse by reuniting Sarah's hand with the body. Ziggy suddenly bleeds on the hand and sees a vision of Sarah Fier. This triggers the curse, resurrecting several Shadyside killers. A reanimated Tommy kills Alice before Cindy decapitates him. Ziggy and Cindy run to the tree where Fier was hanged, with the Shadyside killers in pursuit. They dig around the tree, only to find a rock with the words “The witch forever lives” carved. When Cindy realizes the killers are after Ziggy, she drops the hand and sacrifices herself. The two are murdered and the killers disappear. Nick later finds them and saves Ziggy via CPR.
Back in 1994, Deena and Josh realize that C. Berman is Ziggy, whose real name is Christine. They tell her that they found the witch's body and now, with the hand, they can end the curse. Deena and Josh go to Shadyside Mall, which was built after the closure of Camp Nightwing, and dig out the hand from under the same tree. They take it to the place where the body is buried and Deena reunites the body with the hand. Deena's nose bleeds and she finds herself back in 1666, where she is now Sarah Fier.