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S2:E18 - Fear Street: Prom Queen (2025 Film)
19 Plays2 days ago
The votes are in and murder is in the air. In this episode of Based on a Book, we head back to Shadyside High to cover the latest Fear Street Netflix installment: Prom Queen!
Join us as we break down the blood-soaked drama, 80s nostalgia, and slasher tropes that make this new addition to the Fear Street franchise so deliciously deadly. We talk final girls, killer clues, prom-worthy fashion, and how this one stacks up against the original Prom Queen book by R.L. Stine.
Hosted by Crystal with co-hosts Keri and Lindsey.
Books & Adaptations Mentioned:
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Thanks for listening to Based on a Book - see you in the next chapter!
Chapters:
(00:00) Introductions
(02:03) Non-Spoiler Movie Thoughts
(08:28) Movie Breakdown (SPOILERS)
(37:00) Favorite Death Scenes
(40:29) Visuals, Vibes, and Future Fears
(47:05) Slasher Superlatives
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Initial Impressions
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Based on a Book, the podcast apparently streaming from Shadyside this month. I'm Crystal, and I hate it here. I'm Carrie, and I've learned that at Shadyside Prom, we should keep our expectations as low as the survival rate.
00:00:25
Speaker
And I'm Lindsay, and this movie let me down harder than Carrie and Crystal did in our photo shoot. That's right, we are back on Fear Street, and this time we're visiting for prom.
00:00:37
Speaker
Netflix just released their newest movie, The Summer Slasher, inspired by R.L. Stine's Fear Street Prom Queen. If you checked out our bonus episode last week, we watched the Netflix Fear Street trilogy and read the R.L. Stine Prom Queen book in preparation for watching this movie together for the first time.
00:00:56
Speaker
We read it, we watched it, and boy do we have a lot to say.
Book vs. Movie: Key Differences
00:01:02
Speaker
After reading the book and watching the original trilogy, we had some pretty high hopes.
00:01:07
Speaker
The book follows Lizzie McVeigh and the other Shadyside High Prom Queen nominees as they one by one are murdered and the anxiety grows. The Netflix Fear Street trilogy leads us through time to uncover the origins of a curse terrorizing Shadysiders across centuries.
00:01:28
Speaker
The newest Fear Street Prom Queen movie follows Laurie Granger and the other 1988 senior prom court candidates. Although some elements of the movie line up with the book loosely, the character names, the sequence of events,
00:01:43
Speaker
The timeline and ultimately the responsible party or parties are vastly different. And though this is set in Shadyside and the curse is mentioned briefly at the beginning of the movie, as far as we can tell, it's not related to the Prom Queen movie.
00:02:01
Speaker
So that's where you find us scratching our heads. Ladies. If you would please, any non-spoiler vibes or thoughts about the movie experience?
00:02:17
Speaker
I think my intro kind of shows it all, to be honest.
Expectations vs. Reality: Connection to Trilogy
00:02:22
Speaker
yeah de I mean, if you listen to our bonus episode, we had so many theories going into this one about the connections that they may or may not make with the trilogy.
00:02:36
Speaker
think we kind of had this expectation that they weren't going to do a direct adaptation but a more of a connection with this trilogy. Right.
00:02:50
Speaker
But unfortunately, that wasn't the case on either end. And that was really disappointing.
00:03:01
Speaker
i I don't know. The vibes were off. And I think you could really tell that a completely different person was involved in creating the movie. Yeah.
00:03:14
Speaker
And it just like those that trilogy really hit the movies really hit. And this one just didn't hit the mark for me at all.
00:03:26
Speaker
Lindsay, your thoughts?
Setting and Aesthetic Disappointments
00:03:28
Speaker
I agree. And yeah, the movie let me down. I did read that the executive producer wanted this fourth installment to take place in the 1950s and they wanted it centered around the milk the milkman, which was Harry Rooker.
00:03:45
Speaker
But it changed and they decided they were going to do more of a direct adaptation of one of the books. And I think they should have just stuck with the original plan.
00:03:59
Speaker
Yeah, no, I think I agree. And even though they, like I said, it kind of lines up with the book a little bit. But it's not even, i wouldn't even consider it a direct adaptation of the Prom Queen book.
00:04:14
Speaker
now About the only thing we have similar is like it's set in Shadyside. There's a prom and there's a group of girls running for prom queen. And the title. And the title. Yeah. Yeah. That's basically it. I mean, even just like, I mean, it's set in what, 1988, right?
00:04:32
Speaker
And it, I mean, we kind of talked about this when we were together, The music, like the trilogy, when we watched the trilogy, we discussed how just the vibes, it was just whenever- felt like we were in the 90s. We felt like we were in the 70s.
00:04:53
Speaker
Yes, like just the vibes were on it with the music, the style, like- just like Just the overall, even um like the language used sometimes, even though sometimes it would be a little bit off, but you would still get the gist of it.
00:05:12
Speaker
With this one being set, I mean, in the 80s, the 80s is a very specific vibe. It is very specific. And like, you know, when you're watching something set in the eighty s And this, like, you could have fooled me and told me that this was set current day.
00:05:31
Speaker
Yeah. You really could. Because, I mean, that being said, the style, like, that style does is coming back. It is. But if it wasn't. day but ae You said it, you know, while we were watching it, that this feels like it could be right now.
00:05:45
Speaker
Yeah. And about the only thing that let us know it wasn't was that they weren't all holding cell phones. Yeah. Yeah. But like there weren't, so we didn't see any of the like classic 80s like fast food restaurants or or store or or food logos or even like the cars or you know And so I feel like Shadyside Mall in 1994 set... like We saw the mall. We saw stores in the mall that were very 90s shops.
00:06:18
Speaker
We didn't see that at all in in this one in 1988. We didn't see even like a television set that would have been clearly a CRT, big tube television. We didn't see anything like that.
00:06:32
Speaker
It was... You know, that classic 80s couch that every grandma had. We didn't see any of those. Yeah. I mean, the hair. The hair was actually what really.
00:06:43
Speaker
It was all flat. Bothered me. up The hair was so flat. Why was the hair so flat? I just. Like for prom too. Like this wasn't just like going to school every day.
00:06:55
Speaker
No. For prom. We're going all out for prom in the 80s. And they all had flat hair. And they all had completely flat hair. Like that was mind boggling to me. Flat hair and flat sleeves. I wanted some big poofy sleeves. Yes. Like that, like where, who was the stylist here? Like that felt so wild to me. It just, that it was just not there.
00:07:19
Speaker
No, it wasn't. And I mean, the music was okay. There was like some good songs on there and they it was pretty decent. The soundtrack was okay, but I just felt like it could have been more iconic.
00:07:32
Speaker
Yeah. It really could have. I feel like. could have had some more iconic songs on there. They had an opportunity and they missed it hard. Yeah. And honestly. No neon colors.
Character and Plot Engagement Issues
00:07:42
Speaker
No like.
00:07:43
Speaker
Yeah. And like the. can Like I felt immediately connected to characters when I first started like 1994. yeah And I felt no connection to these characters. Like there was like.
00:07:59
Speaker
There was no relationships established. I mean, it doesn't necessarily have to have relationships established, but like, even whenever we're introduced to certain backstories, there's nothing coming of it.
00:08:15
Speaker
Yeah. Like there's nothing significant about it. So i don't know. It just, it really bugged me. It's unfortunate. Yeah, I agree.
00:08:26
Speaker
But having said all that, We're going to tell you even more about it with a whole bunch of spoilers. And because I'm hosting this episode, this episode about scary movie, I'm taking a page from Lindsay's book and my spoiler warning is also ah content warning.
00:08:47
Speaker
We will be discussing bullying, teen pregnancy, sex, violence, gore, gruesome deaths, alcohol and drug use, and other adult themes.
00:08:59
Speaker
Please know yourself, proceed with caution. Your mental health is more important than you listening to this podcast. Although we do love you and we're glad that you're here, we'd rather you take care of yourself.
00:09:13
Speaker
So without further ado, let's get into those full- spoilers and talk about Laurie Granger walking into high school the day before prom and how we find out that she is running for prom queen against the wolf pack who are like the it girls, the mean girls.
00:09:35
Speaker
hu Very similar to the, the group in the book that was like the group of girls who, We find out that the wolf pack is...
Diverging from the Source Material
00:09:54
Speaker
is another one of those that like I feel like the 80s mean girl is such a vibe.
00:09:59
Speaker
And they were not the 80s mean girl. Yeah. I mean, to another big difference between the book and the movie is that they had like a friendship in the book i mean is it a friendship it was a toxic friendship it was a toxic friendship there was still like something there but this in the movie was like classic mean girl vibes yeah you know there was like bullying and they like just didn't like this girl pre
00:10:32
Speaker
it was very tropey It was very true. Or a high school prom. Lori's, like, mom is a single mom. You know, all the other girls have, like, two-parent households.
00:10:44
Speaker
You know, they all have names like Tiffany and Linda and Debbie and na Nancy. They're all very... um no, it was Tiffany. Nancy is the mom.
00:10:56
Speaker
Right. And they changed all the names from the book to the movie, too. So it's definitely not... I don't know how you could call this more of a direct adaptation. Whoever said that that's what they were doing.
00:11:09
Speaker
You missed the mark on a lot of things. I thought they were changing all the names because they were going to be making connections. I thought so too. I was like, okay, this is where we're going connect. And about the only thing that did connect is that we find out that Tiffany's boyfriend, Tyler, his last name is Torres.
00:11:30
Speaker
And so there may be a connection to Ryan Torres, who is the skull mask killer 1994. But we don't know. Yeah, that's just like an assumption we're making because they have the same last name. But like nothing is really like made of it.
00:11:47
Speaker
Right. And now as Laurie's walking in first thing in the movie... she does say that like bad things happen in Shadyside. And we get like kind of a little montage of a thing that says, like um remember Camp Nightwing and some you know graffiti that says, you know, Seraphir lives and you know a handful of little bits at the very beginning, kind of a little almost montage-y.
00:12:17
Speaker
And we also saw montage of very specific things people of stories that we don't know about yet. Right. Like, it was like of the grifter.
00:12:28
Speaker
and I can't remember of the other person that we saw, too. Not the Humpty Dumpty killer, but the kid with the mask. Billy Barker, think. Yes, we only saw those two specific people. And I thought that was either meaning that we were about to see a connection to them within this movie we're about to see, or I was thinking that might mean that we those will be the next stories right that we might see in the future, possibly.
00:12:57
Speaker
I mean, we can only help. But, like, who knows? Because they didn't do any type of connection in the movie. Right. right Which really sucked.
00:13:07
Speaker
We find out that Lori's mom is... Lori's father is dead.
00:13:19
Speaker
Lori's father was murdered...
00:13:24
Speaker
It's a little iffy. and Like at one point they were like stabbed him in the face. at another point somebody said cut his throat. Another point. So like it's a little iffy. Rumored. Rumored. But he was killed.
00:13:35
Speaker
And the rumor is that Lori's mom is the one who did it.
Reliance on Slasher Tropes
00:13:39
Speaker
But she was cleared. We know it wasn't her. But the whole kind of mean girl click talks about like, you know, Grangers can't have anything nice. They, you know, they, she you know, her mom's a murderer.
00:13:55
Speaker
they just, it's very, just mean girl bullying. It really, Lori is, is the one that is just constantly picked at and her running for prom queen kind of has a handful of people who are like, no, the mean girls are the mean girls. This wolf pack is like, we're voting for Lori.
00:14:14
Speaker
They're quietly doing it. It's very hush hush. And of course, of the other, there's like one other girl running for prom queen that's not in the wolf pack, but she's like known to be the druggie, the easy girl, the, you know, the one that even the administration is kind of like she's a troublemaker. Yeah.
00:14:37
Speaker
And so it's the day before prom. That night, everybody kind of goes home, goes about their business. But we get to see our first murder.
00:14:50
Speaker
And of course, it's the easy girl whose name I can't remember. christie Christy? Christy. Christy, yeah. Christy. Yeah. It's definitely kind of the same thing as like Maya Hawk. Pretty much. Yeah. um I have a whole list full of notes, but trying to keep track of everyone's names when they changed all the freaking names, you know? Yeah.
00:15:10
Speaker
Yeah. So she kind of disappears in the night. Of course, we all know she's been murdered, but the rest of the school thinks that she's just, you know, got high somewhere and didn't come back.
00:15:24
Speaker
They have some sort of weird prom queen practice or like prom court practice, how you know everybody's going to come up on stage and then we're going to announce the winner kind of thing. Almost like a little wedding rehearsal, but prom rehearsal is...
00:15:40
Speaker
A little weird. And we get to see a little bit more of like the kid with the boom box and then the kid with the ponytail. And so we see a little bit more. ponytail. I really wanted to grab it to snip it off.
00:15:54
Speaker
It was a really crappy ponytail too. It was so tiny. It's like this tiny little ponytail. It was hilarious. And then we see like Lori goes home and her mom goes to work or whatever and she's going to get ready for prom and she goes to prom.
00:16:10
Speaker
In the book, we have like like three weeks of lead up time, I think. Three or four weeks between the original, like the first murder of their, they found a body in the woods kind of thing to the very end of the book where they discover the murderer. But in in the movie, we literally are, we we show up on the day before prom and then we go to prom yeah the next day. The prom is literally one page in the book.
00:16:36
Speaker
Yeah. The very end after everything that's happened.
Pacing and Plot Development
00:16:41
Speaker
So throughout prom, um Laurie continues to be bullied. But one by one, the prom queens begin or the prom queen candidates start to disappear.
00:16:56
Speaker
And their boyfriends. who
00:17:02
Speaker
I think. This is when it to me, like it was just it was a very typical sp slasher movie. I think part of why love the original trilogy so much is that it was more than a slasher movie, you know, with the the curse and trying to kind of piece together where this was, you know, the whodunit part and the why and the how like that was.
00:17:28
Speaker
But this is such a slasher. And don't get me wrong, if you're into that, I think it was kind of good if you're into a slasher movie. It's just not my jam. Yeah. However, this first murder at prom is like, I can't.
00:17:45
Speaker
And I think I'm going to jump ahead a little bit because we wanted to talk about our favorite deaths in the movie because there were a lot of creative ones. Mm-hmm. This first one is definitely my favorite.
00:18:01
Speaker
Because it's the paper cutter. like The paper cutter is crazy. still like, I really have to think about whether it's even 100% possible. Like, I don't even know. Lindsay, as our slasher expert.
00:18:21
Speaker
Right. need you to tell me. It's possible.
00:18:26
Speaker
Is it possible? Probably. I'm going to go with probably. With enough force. And back in the 80s, maybe sharper.
00:18:38
Speaker
Those things are made out of metal, too. They were not plastic. They were like cast iron pieces. And I've used one before. yeah I didn't use it to chop off anybody's hands. But ah with enough force. Yeah.
00:18:53
Speaker
Well, I'm sure. um know somebody who lost a finger to one. well, chop off a whole hand and decapitate. Right at the wrist. Right at the wrist. Well, he wasn't decapitated with the paper cutter, was he? I can't remember.
00:19:04
Speaker
don't think so. I thought he was. No, because, okay, so he got the hand. Yeah. And then he tried to open the door. And then the other hand. And then he tried to open the door with his stubs. Mm-hmm. Oh, yes. Yes. For some reason, i thought he got decapitated, too. No. It was both hands.
00:19:20
Speaker
was screaming, don't decapitate them, but they didn't. That was me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I just, like, the bones in the wrist, fully going through the bones in the wrist, I don't know.
00:19:39
Speaker
don't know. Let's test it. I'm just kidding. I mean... Not it. Not it. I was just thinking, I know a butcher. i could probably get us some, like, joint bones or something and we could test it out.
00:19:53
Speaker
i feel like at the wrist, it's a lot more, like, delicate there. So maybe, i think, like, in the middle of... a bone maybe not but because it was at the joint maybe it was a little bit easier yeah like that was great and you would have had to really like bring that thing down fast i just my favorite part was just him trying to open the doorknob with his stuff at that point i was laughing i wasn't like cringing and hiding behind my blanket anymore
00:20:27
Speaker
Well, a lot of people, like, i was I was reading this article about, like, the most brutal kills that had happened in the movie. i was reading this article.
00:20:38
Speaker
I can't remember where it was from. Like, it maybe it was, like, Screen Rant or something. And I think they said right below that was...
00:20:51
Speaker
The girl, like that was the boyfriend. That was Bobby. it was the girl right below that that had died right before him. that with Linda, where her stomach was completely cut open and she's like holding her guts in her hand.
00:21:07
Speaker
That was like the most brutal right along with that. I don't think that was that bad. Yeah. I mean, that's a horrible way to die, but we didn't see the majority of that. We just saw her walking out holding her gun. was like, eh, that's nothing.
00:21:22
Speaker
I will say, though, while the movie did have some pretty unique deaths, I don't... The reactions to the death blows...
00:21:34
Speaker
Just weren't there. Like in the Fear Street trilogy, I feel like when they were being murdered, you as the viewer almost felt it. Like they were reacting. Yes. Like they were being killed. And in this movie. No, I was laughing.
00:21:48
Speaker
The reactions were there. Like the girl who took the axe to the shoulder, she just turns around and then falls backwards. But like there's no reaction to this this wound in her shoulder. like Right. Right.
00:22:00
Speaker
Yeah, there's some kind of disconnect there. And I didn't
Lack of Depth and Audience Impact
00:22:03
Speaker
like that. No, I i was invested in the Fear Street because I i like the character, or the the original trilogy, because i like the characters. the The way they were all being killed was like because of this curse or whatever.
00:22:14
Speaker
But like also, i felt like you said, like I kind of they acknowledged this death that was happening. They were, you know, there' this wound, whatever. it was more serious.
00:22:28
Speaker
I felt like this was really campy. See, I like campy and I didn't even feel the campiness. Yeah. And I don't know if it's the acting or just the storytelling. That's right. yeah Like I can't tell what the problem is.
00:22:45
Speaker
Because I don't think the acting was necessarily bad. Yeah. I just feel like there wasn't a story here. There wasn't. yeah The only story was someone's killing the prom queens.
00:22:57
Speaker
We find out who and why. But it's not even like a... And at this point, Crystal already had a theory going. I did. i had a theory at this point that it was Lori's mom and that she really was a murderer.
00:23:12
Speaker
yeah And that she really had killed the dad before. And then the whole town treated her like shit. And so now she was going to take her revenge and make sure her daughter became prom queen. And we were all going with it. We were like, yeah, yeah, that's it.
00:23:24
Speaker
That's the one.
Plot Twists and Missed Opportunities
00:23:26
Speaker
And then. And then. So then we end up... um Lori receives some flowers. She's, you know, like, don't even remember what the card said, but it was kind of shitty.
00:23:39
Speaker
And then, of course, mean girl Tiffany comes out and is being mean. And meanwhile, other mean girl, Debbie and ponytail boyfriend are down in the basement making out and they get axed.
00:23:57
Speaker
But this is
00:24:00
Speaker
Yeah, that was kind of so she Debbie ends up electrocuting herself in the electrical panel, which makes the lights fizzle upstairs. And now Lori's best friend is kind of like something doesn't feel right.
00:24:15
Speaker
She gets a, ah i don't know, and a vibe. Fuzz is making sure you're okay. He's like, I didn't like that movie either. Yeah, Fuzz is licking Lindsay's face right now.
00:24:27
Speaker
So while Lori's getting these flowers, mean girl's being mean to her about Tiffany's being mean to her about it. The lights flicker a little bit. But then this other wolf pack girl comes out and is like, hey, Tiffany, come on. You're being a little bit too mean to Lori.
00:24:42
Speaker
And like Tiffany turns on her then. and then the next thing you know, she's like, you know, F you And Tiffany throws some punch at her or some sort of drink or whatever. And so she goes to the bathroom to clean herself up.
00:24:56
Speaker
And then she gets axed. Yeah. But this is where we find out. more than one There's two, which was honestly very surprising.
00:25:07
Speaker
It did. That was actually a nice little twist. I like that little twist. It was. That was the moment I went, well, there goes my theory, which was kind of nice because honestly, at that point, my theory really fit. But also, I feel like they've already taken inspiration from Scream in the trilogies, and now we're going back to Scream. Back to Scream, yep.
00:25:27
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. Oh, also, like, kind of going back a little bit, There was a point, because as they were advertising this, you know, series, and it's very obvious, you know, they're taking inspiration, like you said, from other movies, and a very classic, like, slasher films.
00:25:44
Speaker
And they do this on purpose. Like, they're literally purposely... advertising it as a saying, like, this is inspired by specific films, like even in the way that they do the posters yeah and even did like a Carrie type poster.
00:26:02
Speaker
They had a moment in the movie that was so could have been Carrie coded. yep That she's like standing up there on stage and All the mean girls are like being mean.
00:26:17
Speaker
And she could have had the whole Carrie moment with the blood on her and all that stuff. And I'm like so shocked that they didn't do that. Like that was like, yeah okay, you could have done like another like, oh, to like another movie.
00:26:31
Speaker
Yep. Could have. Could have. Didn't. I was so disappointed by that. Yep. So while all this is going on, mean girl Tiffany's boyfriend is kind of
00:26:44
Speaker
Half flirting with Lori. Lori's flirting back because apparently she's had a crush on him since elementary school or whatever. and then they kind of run off together to ah spare room of some kind.
00:27:01
Speaker
And he kind of makes this horrible Like, I thought you wanted something more kind of thing. Like, you were just dating this other girl. You broke up literally five minutes ago.
00:27:14
Speaker
And now you're trying to make out with Lori. And all three of us look at each other and we're like, he's about to get it. and and He's a goner. He's a goner. Carrie mix makes a comment.
00:27:29
Speaker
He was a bad one. Yeah. What did I say? I was like, something about throat punching him or something. Yeah. I was like, oh, I'll throat punch you. And then the second I said that, immediately. Dead.
00:27:42
Speaker
Dead. It was great. So, of course, Lori screams and she goes running. She finds her best friend who had been ah investigating on her own.
00:27:53
Speaker
And ended up in the basement. And now they go. they so they meet up together. Because they're both screaming. And they're both realizing there's a murderer on the loose. And they get locked in the basement. And for a minute we're like.
00:28:05
Speaker
Wait maybe it is Lori's mom. And she's trying to protect them. By locking them away from. What's going to happen. him But then there's another murderer. In the basement.
00:28:16
Speaker
And they have to run from that. And then they all go back out to. They like break out. They're being chased by. at one point they were in a room in the basement with mannequins.
00:28:28
Speaker
That is a giant nightmare for me. Like that was some Buffalo Bill. Sounds of lamb shit right there. I'm out. But they climb out of the basement.
00:28:39
Speaker
They go running to prom and they're screaming. And of course this is right when the principal is announcing the prom queen. And who has won. And it turns out it was Lori Granger.
00:28:51
Speaker
And she's screaming, trying to get them to understand there's I'm being chased by a freaking murderer here. and he's literally running through the... Running with an axe. Just axe and people's limbs off.
00:29:03
Speaker
Like heads, arms, legs. And just, that's the sharpest axe in the world. That girl, I think her name was Claire. Leg sliced off.
00:29:14
Speaker
Yep. And like, that's what I started thinking. Okay, so we might be actually connected to the trilogy here because this person is literally running through this crowd. Just slicing people off. Like, if you're like, he's, yeah, he's not even caring about getting caught. Yeah, if yeah, you're not even caring about getting caught. And you're just like a single minded in the crowd just killing people.
00:29:38
Speaker
but Like, okay, maybe this is a curse involved here. Like, we have like we have knowledge of. Because, like, we've said before, this is set... The curse has not been, quote, broken or anything yet. Because this is set in between 78, 1994.
00:29:53
Speaker
Because we're And the curse was broken in 1994. Mm-hmm.
00:29:58
Speaker
so and the curs was broken in ninety ninety four so It's possible that could be happening. And I felt like that's why it was being set in 1988 was that they were trying to make it pre-curse breaking, you know? yeah So he comes out, he's slashing people up, everybody's screaming.
00:30:23
Speaker
He goes to go after Lori's best friend. Lori stabs him in the eyeball with her, her tiara.
Critique of Motives and Resolutions
00:30:30
Speaker
Her plastic tiara. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And they de-mask him. They find out that it is one of the mean girl's daddies.
00:30:40
Speaker
And the mom is like, why did you do it? And he was all like, because I knew it was important to you for to win, for Tiffany to win. It's like... Stupid. That was a really stupid reveal. I'm sorry. i hated that reveal.
00:30:55
Speaker
It was kind of crap. And then somehow Lori feels bad for Tiffany... Well, the mom is like, sitting so the mom and Tiffany are in the crowd. They're shocked.
00:31:09
Speaker
They're like, oh my God, I can't believe you've done this. Yeah. Like, can't believe you've done this. I can't believe you've dug on it. ah can't believe it so So then like the cops are like ask the mom like stay you need to stay and answer questions and fill out forms or whatever.
00:31:28
Speaker
And they're going to send Tiffany home. ah You know and Lori was like well I'll go with her so she's not alone. Even this is the mean girl who has bullied Yeah this is the bully.
00:31:38
Speaker
This whole time. But they they live across the street from each other and so Lori's all like I'll make sure she's not alone because she feels bad because her dad turned out to be a murderer. And honestly I kind of get that. Yeah. My dad turned out to be a murder. I'd be broke up and I would hope someone would be kind to me in that moment.
00:31:53
Speaker
But this is when we find out that You know, not only is there another killer, but we kind of have some theories. but And even I was like, it's her.
00:32:04
Speaker
That's the bitch. She's going to do it. Well, we know. Well, we're we're also thinking, okay, prom queen book. Right. We know that it's Simone was the killer in the end. Right.
00:32:16
Speaker
One of the other originals. Yep. So we're like, oh, wait. It might actually be this mean girl is also involved in the entire plan as well. Yep.
00:32:32
Speaker
But we were kind of wrong. Kind of. so the mom back at the school filling out forms or whatever with the cops is like, please, can I go home? My daughter is home alone.
00:32:45
Speaker
horrible thing just happened. She needs her mother and convinces the sheriff to take her home. So she goes home and she's climbing up the stairs with a butcher knife, dragging it across the banisters. Like who?
00:33:01
Speaker
First of all, who does that? If you're a killer, you don't make that much noise. You just go kill them. I feel like that's like every slasher movie though. was They're like walking really slow.
00:33:13
Speaker
I'm thinking specifically Freddy Krueger when he drags his claws against things. Yep. It was very much a like just it's too dramatic.
00:33:24
Speaker
If you're going to be a serial killer...
00:33:29
Speaker
stop making so much noise about it but anyways gonna make noise though you gotta make sure you can actually get it done though yeah follow right you through so laurie hears this she's all like what's that she kind of wakes up and then of course tiffany mommy Mommy.
00:33:45
Speaker
First of all that was when I was like, oh shit, we're a real big trouble because she said, Mommy. What 16, 17, 18 year old girl do you know that still calls their mother or their mom Mommy. It's getting creepy. It was very creepy.
00:33:59
Speaker
So Lori stands up and she sees that Mrs. Falconer has this butcher knife and she's like, run! And she goes to hide with Tiffany in the closet.
00:34:11
Speaker
But Tiffany has this I guess it was a shard of glass. I don't know what it was. Maybe a smaller knife. I think it was like a smaller knife or something. that's what She was all like, yeah, mommy's gonna get you. She started like getting this evil look in her eye and i we were like, ah.
00:34:31
Speaker
So they chase whatever. Lori fights back, manages to kill Tiffany in a very gruesome manner. But then like the mom is still chasing after her.
00:34:42
Speaker
And she can't get out. She's rattling doors. Then she decides to like dig through the desk for no damn reason. I guess maybe looking for a letter opener is all I could figure. But like.
00:34:52
Speaker
A classic. maybe just Maybe just find a way to get out. Either way. trying to get out of the house. What's in the drawer to help me get out of the house? I know.
00:35:04
Speaker
But in the end does manage to take down Mrs. Falconer, who reveals, though, that that the reason she is so hateful towards the Grangers is that Lori's dad was dating her when she slept with Lori's mom or when he slept with Lori's mom and she got pregnant. ne So and then reveals that she's the one who killed him.
00:35:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:30
Speaker
That's it. Yeah. But then we get a little something at the very end. Like kind of end credit scene. Yes. Cut scene. and it looks like.
00:35:42
Speaker
Mrs. Falconer has bled out. In some weird pattern thing. That looks like it could be the witch's mark.
00:35:52
Speaker
I still can't figure out. How to tie this. To the curse. And so I genuinely believe. personally that this is not a part of the curse that the the original fear street trilogy was about but i do think it is related to the original witch in 1666 the widow in the woods who had the book before solomon stole it i think you're giving them too much credit i probably am i'm gonna agree with that there's a part of me that's like maybe they just threw in that that end scene
00:36:32
Speaker
Last minute.
Connecting to the Fear Street Curse
00:36:34
Speaker
Because there's nothing else about this movie that ties. About this actual plot that ties to the curse. Nothing at all. 100%. I totally agree.
00:36:43
Speaker
I think they just threw that emcee in there. Just to like. Make you be like. Well wait a minute. And to like keep you going. and wanting more.
00:36:54
Speaker
But they didn't actually take the time to connect anything to it. yeah Yeah. Yeah. Well, I've already given away what my favorite death was. I want to hear yours.
00:37:04
Speaker
I'm excited. That was actually when Lindsay suggested we talk about that. I was like, yes. Because I just... You like the paper cutter. You like the paper cutter. The paper cutter was by far my favorite.
00:37:17
Speaker
Yeah. Lindsay, what about you? Yeah, the the paper cutter was my favorite as well. But I think the most satisfying kill was probably...
00:37:29
Speaker
Was it Tyler? Tyler Torres? Yeah. yeah That was a good one. he He got a... Oh, yeah. Straight through the top of his cranium. Like, just pop.
00:37:40
Speaker
Yeah. Because the timing was perfect. yeah It was... It was expected, but unexpected. It was such a jump scare. We all knew it was coming, but it was so, like, bam, fast flash.
00:37:54
Speaker
We didn't have any weird, like, seeing something in the background move. Nobody stopped for a second because they heard something. No, it just came out of nowhere. hu Yeah. Carrie, what about you?
00:38:06
Speaker
i have two. Well, actually three, because the paper cutter one was good. I like the paper cutter one. uh actually have three and a half oh lord not okay but literally a half because don't think claire actually died but the leg slice was so crazy i don't know if she actually died though but her leg was clearly sliced off out of nowhere and it was like it was like sliced off under the knee i think Like she's just standing there at prom and the guy just like comes in. He's like, get out of my way. Basically slices her right at the leg, which was so crazy. So I'm going count that as a half.
00:38:48
Speaker
My other one, think his name is Judd. or Yeah. where I think that was like the most gruesome one where his girl was the one that was electrocuted. Yeah.
00:39:02
Speaker
Judd's ponytail guy. Yeah, the ponytail guy. ah Face cut with a saw blade. That was wild. That was really, really That pretty wild. And I'm going not to have say my favorite is the mean girl,
00:39:17
Speaker
falling off falling off the top of the stairs yeah and just being impaled at the bottom i mean i every single time that happens in the movie it's like it's a classic for me i love it love where they're just like at the bottom and they're just like with their arms just like laying there like done yeah I don't know why. it' freaking It's It's just funny.
00:39:42
Speaker
It is. i will say, like, him running through the the crowd at the end with the axe, that seriously had to have been the sharpest
Visuals and Humor Critique
00:39:53
Speaker
axe in the world. Because he was just one swing, clean cutting, heads off, legs off, the principal's arm off. Like, just...
00:40:02
Speaker
clean With one swing, a clean cut. like I know. If I had to hear that man say, wowzers, one more time. Yeah, honestly, i was i was glad to see that go. Yeah.
00:40:15
Speaker
Wowzers. They were trying to do like these one-liners and things like that. It was just not hitting. yeah it's no funny It really wasn't. And that's like the visuals and vibes of this movie. Do you guys have any particular ones that like you thought did hit that were right?
00:40:38
Speaker
Or any that stood out as just like completely freaking wrong? Honestly, the principal saying Wowzers nonstop definitely was like a wrong for me. I went to school in the 80s. I don't ever remember anyone saying Wowzers.
00:40:50
Speaker
ever yeah i saw it on scooby-doo reruns wait that's scooby-doo i know like grown-ups didn't say that velma said that she said jankies and wowsers like i can't think of anything in particular that i really loved about it to be honest like i think some of the music some of the music was that i did enjoy We were sticking along to it and it was fun. The prom in the gym, that was very classic 90s. That's true.
00:41:21
Speaker
We had proms in the gym. Yeah. and i like even like I feel like the decorations being kind of almost non-existent, pretty typical. It wasn't... But I still i hated.
00:41:36
Speaker
the dresses were not not 80s. Where's the hairspray? Why aren't we drowning in hairspray? Of the whole movie, we see one scene, one scene where one girl is is hairspraying her hair in the bathroom.
00:41:55
Speaker
Just one out of the whole movie. And her hair wasn't even that big. None of these had the big feathered bangs. None of these women had the big poofy hair. Nothing was teased. Nothing.
00:42:08
Speaker
Nothing. Not a teasing comb in sight. Yeah. It was depressing. I just felt like that was so crazy. It just. how I mean, the only thing that I can think of is that like maybe the hair and makeup of the movie didn't want to like damage anyone's hair. But like there's wigs.
00:42:31
Speaker
Get a wig. Yeah. You know. For real. It was not the 80s. Yeah. Yeah. Do you guys have anything that you are hoping for?
Hopes for Future Adaptations
00:42:43
Speaker
for but Because I really, I have faith that there will be another Fear Street movie or hopefully a couple more Fear Street movies that will be as good, you know, or at least close to the originals.
00:42:54
Speaker
Oh, I think R.L. Stine did tell Hollywood Reporter that there, I think, is supposed to be three more, at least guaranteed. That's what I read. But is there anything in particular that you'd like to see?
00:43:07
Speaker
I would really love to see... more i want backstories, either backstories of the characters that we already know, like the the slashers that we already know.
00:43:20
Speaker
i want more connections. I know we keep repeating that a ton of times, but that's just It's so good. But I do have two particular books that I've seen the synopsis of, I think would be really interesting, that could connect to as like a good like for like the trilogy.
00:43:40
Speaker
think one is called The Perfect Date. I actually own that one. I really want to read it. And it's like, Guy has a girlfriend who was killed and then meets a new girl, but then starts to be followed by like a weird entity and like bad stuff keeps happening to him.
00:43:57
Speaker
So think that could probably be like something that could connect. There's also Switched. but and That's also in the Fear Street series where it's like a body swap story where there's like a cabin in the woods and and something happens that causes these two people, their bodies are switched or like their souls are switched in their bodies.
00:44:21
Speaker
And one of them is using like their body to get away with murder. Okay. I think those two would be really cool. so let me better off Yeah.
00:44:32
Speaker
Lindsay, what do you want to see? I'm like Carrie. I'd like to see some backstory on the um the killers from the trilogy. But also, i think a really good adaptation that they could do would be The Sleepwalker, which is about a girl who starts sleepwalking after a traumatic accident and people around her start dying.
00:44:58
Speaker
So you've got like an unreliable narrator and then you have like dreamlike horror characters. But I think they could also possibly tie in Ruby Lane and her lullabies. That would be awesome. I like that.
00:45:12
Speaker
Or they could do the prom date, which um is about a cursed corsage that starts killing off anyone who wears it. oh So they can kind of tie it into prom queen and maybe maybe do better next time. Maybe try again.
00:45:34
Speaker
I think I'm really hoping for a little bit more about the original woman with the book, that widow in the woods. Yeah. That apparently everybody went to for like folk remedies and stuff, but wasn't allowed to live in the village.
00:45:50
Speaker
like She had that original book that Solomon stole. And when we see it at the very end of the trilogy, when the book is still there in the cave, but somebody comes and takes it.
00:46:02
Speaker
And I would love to know more about like where that book came from, who was the original witch in the woods. And especially like we see that witch's mark pop up at the end of Prom Queen.
00:46:14
Speaker
Does that tie in anywhere? Is there another witch? In the area, because even the witch in the woods, she had not, although she had this book and she had, you know, whatever power or spell she had at the time, even she had not messed with Satan in the way that Solomon did.
00:46:34
Speaker
So are there other somewhat responsible witches in the area still? You know, I think that could be a really interesting storyline. And then tying in a whole bunch of the other R.L. Stine, Fear Street books with those other witches, i think could be possible. it'd be a lot of fun.
00:46:51
Speaker
I like that idea. I love a witchy story. Me too. Me too. I want to talk about, though, we did our slasher superlatives on our Instagram story last
Fun Survey and Audience Engagement
00:47:03
Speaker
week. That was last week, wasn't it?
00:47:05
Speaker
I feel like so much time since we we got to meet and visit, we've had a big week this last 10 days has just been wild. But we did our slasher superlatives where we asked you, our amazing followers, to vote for who you think would be most likely to vote.
00:47:22
Speaker
And some of these answers were a little expected. Some of them were a little disappointing and others were just downright hilarious. So without further ado, Carrie, would you let us know each one of our categories and our winners or losers or but just dead? yeah So yeah, so we do post these on our Instagram based on a book podcast.
00:47:49
Speaker
but So we post it on our stories and We just asked a bunch of questions and had polls up voting for who's most likely to slasher edition for Fear Street.
00:48:02
Speaker
So the first one was, who is most likely to survive the slasher? 0% Carrie.
00:48:12
Speaker
Crystal was 36% and our winner for most likely to survive the slasher, 64% was Lindsay. Yay! No one is shocked.
00:48:23
Speaker
no No one is surprised. Our next one was who was most likely to investigate a strange noise alone? This one was actually kind of close and it kept going back and forth.
00:48:35
Speaker
21% said Lindsay. Lindsay. 36% said but the winner was 43% with Crystal. Most likely to investigate a strange noise alone by herself.
00:48:51
Speaker
I have been known to do that in the past. So it checks out. It checks out. and just Honestly, it made me laugh that people said that I would investigate strange noise alone because I would totally... Can you guys see me doing that?
00:49:06
Speaker
No. You would be like, Crystal, go figure out what that is. I'd be like, ain't doing that. I ain't going over there. Next one was, who is most likely to be the killer twist ending?
00:49:20
Speaker
This was Pretty much a tie, actually, at the very end between me and Crystal. We were each at 40%.
00:49:32
Speaker
Which I think is hilarious because I think of the three of us, the only one who would get away with it would be Lindsay. I know. but She was only at 20%. I'm too, I'm too klutzy. I'm too loud. I'm too, Carrie's probably like, no, I'm not getting my hands dirty. no. Well, I'm like, literally, i can't hide anything.
00:49:53
Speaker
Like I cannot hide anything. I will be telling you exactly. Like I tell on myself all the time. Like my family tells, like says that all the time. I'm someone who tells on myself. So if I like do something bad, I'm immediately like, you guys, I did something But definitely not me.
00:50:11
Speaker
Who's most likely to trip while running away? 7% said Lindsay. 29% Crystal. And 64% said me. twenty nine percent crystal and sixty four percent say but me
00:50:27
Speaker
My friend Sierra said, definitely carry. She's got two left feet. So. That's really funny is if I run at all, I will fall. And all my friends know it. So that that tiny, what other 29% you said, those are like the five friends that I know voted for me that Yeah.
00:50:46
Speaker
A couple of them even messaged me. They're like, girl, the way you twist your ankles. Yeah. So who is most likely to say I'll be right back and not make it?
00:50:58
Speaker
Lindsay and Crystal both had 23%, but i won with You here the trend. Yeah. ah me not making out of this slasher movie alive that is the trend Continuing on this trend, who is most likely to hide in the worst possible spot?
00:51:23
Speaker
Crystal, 8%. Lindsay, nobody voted for Lindsay because they know Lindsay has got this. 92% said I would hide the worst possible spot.
00:51:39
Speaker
That's just because of your episode on Good Girl's Guide when you talked about hiding in the closet. Yeah.
00:51:46
Speaker
Yeah, probably. You did give yourself away. Who's most likely to befriend the creepy local who knows everything? Me and Lindsay were both at 14%, but Crystal won with 71%. I am the creepy local yeah that knows everything.
00:52:05
Speaker
You can understand the creepy local, yeah so you would totally befriend a creepy local. Yep. Immediately, I knew that is totally you.
00:52:16
Speaker
Who is most likely to keep filming during the chaos? Lindsay was at 21%, Crystal 36%, and then it was me, 43%. mean, chaos of like, we're all going to die? forty three percent i mean chaos of like we're all going to die now But I have been known to film during but friends doing chaotic things. And I'm just like, yeah! Carrie, put the phone down. Your friends need help.
00:52:45
Speaker
if So that kind of checks out. Who's most likely to be the final girl? We all know who it is. It's not Carrie with zero percent.
00:53:01
Speaker
that's got not a single person not one person thought i could ever be the final girl crystal is at 29 but lindsey is most likely to be the final girl with 71 yay lindsey me and carrie just tripping literally But don't forget to check out our polls today when this episode comes out because we will be doing prom queen themed polls for Fear Street, which should be really fun.
00:53:36
Speaker
Cannot wait to see what y'all think of us. Or maybe maybe I can. ah Yeah. It's going to be great. Well, folks, that about wraps it
Closing Remarks and Social Media
00:53:47
Speaker
up. But seriously, go check out our Instagram. See what fun Carrie's posted up there. it's It's a little wild and we always have something fun going on. We also have Facebook, Blue Sky, TikTok, YouTube, and you can find our podcast as well.
00:54:01
Speaker
wherever you found it. We are so excited to talk to you about any and everything, whether you love us, you hate us, you loved the book, you hated the book, or you have an idea for us to to cover later. You can always click the link in our show notes for any adaptation suggestions for us to cover.
00:54:21
Speaker
That about does it, folks. So in closing, Don't investigate strange noises alone. Don't go into the basement. And don't trust anyone.
00:54:36
Speaker
See you on the next chapter of Based on a Book. Bye. Bye.