Netflix released a refreshing addition to the horror and slasher genre this summer with their Fear Street trilogy. Loosely based on a book series written by R.L. Stine of Goosebumps fame, the movies were something a little different and generally well-received. The overall tone was a lot of fun, but still had a healthy amount of brutality and social commentary.

These elements of the film echo a lot of other classic slasher and horror films, which is something else people really enjoyed from the series. One of these films, that's very similar in tone and execution, is Halloween classic Trick 'R Treat. The 2007 anthology slasher is often highly acclaimed for its take on both the horror and anthology genre, and is seen as a classic amongst horror fans. When looking at the elements of Trick 'R Treat that are echoed in Fear Street, it paints a picture of a direction the trilogy could have taken that could have made it even more of a success than it was.

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While Fear Street is loosely based on source material, the overarching story is actually a completely original one. While the story is really well written and played out, some were disappointed that there wasn't more exploration into the series that they grew to love from the books. There was a way that they could have paid more homage to the original stories in the books and keep it as one big cohesive story, and to do that it would have been smart to take some notes from Trick 'R Treat.

Sam in Trick 'r Treat

The story of Trick 'R Treat is technically an anthology, as in it's essentially a series of short segments as opposed to one narrative, but what makes the movie great is how beautifully they're intertwined. They all take place on the same day, on the night of Halloween, and the characters are all vital to more than one segment. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like an anthology, because of how well it all flows and ties together. Fear Street already had the fun yet brutal tone that Trick 'R Treat does, and it could have been made in a very similar way.

The three films that make up the Fear Street trilogy are not bad by any means, and they do have somewhat of an anthology feel at times. However, at the end of the day, only one story really has importance. With the setting being one town that is allegedly cursed, there was a lot of opportunity to showcase a lot more of the smaller horror stories that take place there with characters that play parts in multiple segments. This might have been a little more tricky to do, as anthology generally is, but there was a lot more opportunity to make something that would please already existing fans of the Fear Street books.

The ending of Fear Street is really wrapped up well and in a satisfying way, but it is only one story arc that was explored in three films. They could still have done a trilogy, as that was a really effective way to tell the story. But all of those could have been in a more anthology-style executed similarly to Trick 'R Treat. It still could have felt like one singular, tightly woven, narrative. But they could have added so much more stuff. Not only characters that fans of the books might recognize, but also opportunities to do some more interesting things.

Fear-Street-Part-1-1994

Both films have similar strengths. They both maintain a strong sense of fun and lightheartedness that makes for a great Halloween slasher, while also not being afraid to get brutal. Both also have some very gory violence, and don't shy away from things like killing kids. And they're both joys to watch, but part of the fun of Trick 'R Treat is seeing how all of these little stories come together and engaging in all the twists and turns. Fear Street doesn't have that. It has something similar, but it just doesn't quite get there. And what's a bit of a shame, is that it easily could have.

The world of Fear Street seems so interesting, with a lot of lore and stories that haven't been explored by the films yet. If the trilogy had been made in the Trick 'R Treat style, more of that would have probably come through. It would have been a bit of a risk because a good anthology is really hard to do, as some segments will naturally work better than others. But with the tone that already existed in the series, and how tight the writing already was, it's not a hard reach to think they could have pulled it off. Fear Street was very much a success in its own right and probably more well-known than Trick 'R Treat to mainstream cinema lovers. However, it's always kind of fun to think about what could have been.

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