1994, the first part of Netflix's newest horror movie trilogy Fear Street, just premiered today, and in it, a young, queer couple is at the forefront, proving that LGBTQ+ folks can, and are, the heroes of their own stories!
Based on beloved author R.L. Stine's teen book series of the same name, Fear Street takes viewers on a wild ride from the '90s, to the '70s, all the way back to the late 1600's, as a curse takes a hold of the unfortunate town of Shadyside! Instead of being relegated to minor side characters, though, Fear Street shines a light on the struggles of two young queer girls named Deena and Sam as they try to navigate their relationship with each other while a whole bunch of scary, spooky, and unexplainable things are happening to their fellow Shadysiders, their friends, and then eventually, to them.
And Out got to chat with the film's stars -- Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch, and Benjamin Flores Jr. -- about leading a queer-inclusive, multi-generational horror series!
"We feel like it's been a long time coming, but it's about time that we have a movie like this, centered around a queer love story and these characters that are being told that they're other and they're different and they're always going to get the short end of the stick," Kiana Madeira, who plays Fear Street's main protagonist Deena, told Out when asked about what it was like getting to portray one-half of a queer couple at the forefront of a mainstream horror series. "Being able to breathe life into these characters so that people can see on-screen that you can be the hero of your own story and you can write your own narrative and change the course of history, even though so much has so much bad has been done before, we can be the generation to change the course of that."
"That was a cool thing about doing the multi-generations and having it start in the 1600s and you see the ripple effect of an act of hatred in that time and how it stems throughout history," Madeira's co-star Olivia Scott Welch, who plays Deena's girlfriend Sam, added. "Another thing I love too, is the treatment of the relationship within the group of friends. They're so loving and so accepting of Sam and Deena. It's completely normal to them, and it's cool to see that in a movie of the '90s where it was different time from even now and, and less progressive in some ways."
Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is now streaming on Netflix! Part 2: 1978 premieres on Friday, July 9 and Part Three: 1666 premieres Friday, July 16!
