Back in July of 2021, Netflix made the audacious choice to release a slasher movie trilogy over the course of three weeks. The movies were inspired by the popular Fear Street book series from author R.L. Stine. Unfortunately, the quality of the three films ranged from so-so to all-out terrible. Overall the trilogy wasted a really cool idea that had the potential to stand out from the many movies that clearly inspired it.

For better or for worse (depending on your opinion of the previous movies) the Fear Street film franchise hasn’t gone away. “Fear Street: Prom Queen” is a new standalone installment with very little in common with its predecessors outside of taking place in the same cursed town and once again disappointing in its execution. It’s a woefully unoriginal slasher that offers no tension, no scares, no humor, and no distinct flavor of its own.

The story is as cliche and conventional as can be. With Shadyside High School’s senior prom only days away, the candidates for prom queen are preparing for their big night. Among them are three Mean Girls from a pampered and popular clique who call themselves the “Wolfpack”. Then there’s the pot-selling rebel who’s only entered to stir things up. Then we have our protagonist, Lori Granger (India Fowler). She’s your prototypical inoffensive good girl who is easy to like and root for.

Pretty much all of that is revealed through a drawn-out opening info-dump. From there the film tries to give the soon-to-be fodder some semblance of personality. Sadly it doesn’t work. Outside of Lori, the movie is littered with uninspired characters, from the thinly sketched teens to the dimwitted adults. They’re neither interesting or amusing which makes caring about what happens to them all but impossible.

Everything leads to prom night where the candidates for queen (and any unfortunate soul with them) become the target of an ax-wielding masked killer in a red rain slicker. The kills that follow are fittingly bloody and gruesome with some being outlandish enough to qualify as comically entertaining. But the semi-inventive hacking, impaling, and disemboweling can only carry the movie so far. And while director Matt Palmer clearly has a love for the genre, he desperately needs more to work with.

“Prom Queen” doesn’t even make the most out of its ripe 1980s setting. Aside from the soundtrack (which features great tracks from Duran Duran, Laura Branigan, Billy Idol, and more) and a few cool references (“Phantasm II”, Fangoria magazine, etc.), the movie could easily be set in modern day. It’s one of the many frustrations that steadily mount as the movie mercilessly makes its way to its ludicrous finish. “Fear Street: Prom Queen” is now streaming on Netflix.