In the summer of 2021, Netflix unleashed the ambitious “Fear Street” trilogy with charming results. Based (loosely) on the YA horror series by “Goosebumps” maestro R.L. Stine, the three films were slasher pastiches that appealed to those of us who grew up haunting the video store horror section for “Friday the 13th” sequels and the original “Scream.” Under the guidance of director Leigh Janiak, who also co-wrote the films, the three “Fear Street” films — “Fear Street: 1994,” “Fear Street: 1978,” and “Fear Street: 1666” spun a sprawling, detailed mythology set in the fictional, cursed town of Shadyside, where bad things happen on a regular basis.

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The three films were clever, fun, and gave us a winning cast of likable characters. More than that, they left room for more. The groundwork was laid for Netflix to return to Shadyside for additional tales of YA terror. And yet, it took the streaming service an unusually long time to head back to “Fear Street.” Unfortunately, now that we’re in Shadyside once again, the results are entirely disappointing. None of the inventive energy on display in the previous three films is visible in “Fear Street: Prom Queen,” a gory misfire that underwhelms even as it sheds copious amounts of blood.

“Fear Street: Prom Queen” half-heartedly mentions some events from the previous trilogy (particularly the summer camp slaughter seen in “Fear Street: 1978”), but then moves on to tell its own stand-alone story, ignoring the curse of Sarah Fier that was so essential to the trilogy. And that’s fine. Yet, “Prom Queen” is so far removed from what came before that it starts to feel like a sequel in name only. There is, of course, plenty of precedent for this, especially in the horror genre (just look at the utterly weird “Hellraiser” franchise). But I had so much fun with the original trilogy, and so little fun here, that I can’t help but think that something went wrong.

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Perhaps things would’ve worked out better if Leigh Janiak had returned. Instead, Matt Palmer helms this entry (Palmer also co-wrote the script, with Donald McLeary), and the flat, rather cheap look of the film does it no favors. This movie isn’t just bad, it looks bad, as if the production only had the budget to shoot in one fixed spot. This is such a sharp contrast to the previous three films, which felt uniquely big.

In “Prom Queen,” it’s 1988, and the students of Shadyside High are gearing up for the prom. We learn that there are multiple candidates gunning for the coveted prize of Prom Queen. The seeming shoe-in is rich mean girl Tiffany Falconer (Fina Strazza), who has an entire clique of mean girls also hoping to be queen.

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Then there’s the wildcard, Lori Granger (India Fowler). Lori is a bit of an outcast in Shadyside, mostly due to the fact that town gossip has long accused Lori’s mom of murdering her dad (and getting away with the crime). Lori inexplicably thinks that if she wins the crown of Prom Queen, all her social and financial problems will be solved, which I guess is the type of confused logic that works when you’re a teenager stuck in a cursed, dead-end town.

While Fowler is fine working with what she’s given here, Lori is sadly a bland, uninteresting final girl. There’s just not much to the character, save for the fact that she’s best friends with the horror-loving Megan (Suzanna Son), who likes to make bloody props and spends all her free time reading issues of “Fangoria.” It’s more or less implied that Megan has a huge crush on Lori, but the film doesn’t really seem interested in exploring that. Besides, Lori has a crush of her own, on Tyler (David Iacono), who just happens to be Tiffany’s boyfriend — although it’s pretty clear that this high school power couple doesn’t really like each other.

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“Prom Queen” rushes through its quick runtime, dropping us at the prom almost immediately as a masked killer begins bumping off the horny teens one by one, working his (or her?) way though the Prom Queen candidates and their boyfriends with admittedly gruesome results. If “Prom Queen” has one thing going for it, it’s that it doesn’t shy away from bloody kills, and it appears the majority of them are accomplished with practical make-up effects rather than weightless digital gore. But after a while, even that starts to lose its charm.

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Not helping matters is a severely lackluster script that fails to inject anything of substance. “Prom Queen” is neither funny nor scary, and it sure seems like it should’ve at least attempted to try to be one of those things if not both. At one point, bitter enemies Lori and Tiffany engage in a dance-off in the center of the prom, a moment shot and executed so poorly that I’m not sure what the ultimate goal is. Who thought this was a good idea?

As a big fan of the original trilogy, I kept waiting (and hoping) for “Fear Street: Prom Queen” to win me over. Yet the film remains curiously lifeless, and not even the presence of dependable, talented people like Lili Taylor and Katherine Waterston (sporting appropriately huge ’80s hair) can save such a disappointing affair. After the original “Fear Street” trilogy, I was itching to return to Shadyside. It was not worth the wait.

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/Film Rating: 4 out of 10

“Fear Street: Prom Queen” is streaming on Netflix May 23, 2025.