Tamal Kundu
After watching the ‘Fear Street’ trilogy in its entirety, we can safely say that the films not only pay homage to the past entries in the slasher genre, they also cleverly subvert some of its most popular tropes. If ‘1994’ and ‘1978’ are nostalgic rides filled with blood, gore, and sex for the fans of 1990s and 1980s slashers respectively, then ‘Fear Street Part Three: 1666,’ or at least its first half, is a somber journey through folk horror that will remind the audience of films like ‘The Witch,’ ‘Dead Birds,’ and ‘The Village.’ The movie eventually returns to 1994 as it has to bring the entire trilogy to a satisfying conclusion. Here is everything you need to know about its ending. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Fear Street Part Three: 1666 Plot Synopsis
When Deena (Kiana Madeira) places Sarah Fier’s hand among her remains, she has a lengthy vision that takes her back to 1666 and places her in the body of the real Sarah Fier (Elizabeth Scopel). Most of the cast members of the previous two films return to portray the frontier counterparts of their original characters. The first half of the film is set in 1666 before the singular settlement named Union became Sunnyvale and Shadyside.
Sarah and her brother Henry (Benjamin Flores Jr.) live with their widowed father. Sarah seems to have a gift with animals and healing, and in her society, they automatically earn her suspicion and scorn. However, one person has been consistently kind and considerate towards her, Solomon Goode (Ashley Zukerman), whose house she regularly visits. Her father wants her to marry Solomon, but Sarah seems to be reluctant about it.
There is a woman in the settlement that everyone thinks is a witch. She is known simply as the Widow (Jordana Spiro) and lives in the outskirts of Union. Sarah and her friends decide to enjoy one night away from the control of their puritanical families and spend their time dancing and merrymaking. While trying to steal hallucinogenic berries with her friends from the Widow’s hut, Sarah finds a book about demons and the Devil. This is when the Widow shows up, prompting a hasty escape by the young adults. That night, Sarah and the pastor’s daughter, Hannah (Olivia Scott Welch), make love to each other and are seen by Mad Thomas (McCabe Slye), who tells the entire town about them.
When the happy and kind pastor Cyrus Miller (Michael Chandler) suddenly turns into Union’s first deranged murderer and kills several children, the suspicion inevitably falls on Sarah. While hiding from the others, Sarah discovers a horrifying truth, but she is hanged before she can reveal it. In 1994, after learning the truth, Deena sets out to correct the 350-year-old injustice and free her town of the curse.
Fear Street Part Three: 1666 Ending: Who Is the Killer? What Is the Curse?
Since 1666, there have been several rampaging killers in Shadyside. It is revealed in the final film of the trilogy that Solomon Goode, an ancestor of Nick Goode, started it all. In 1666, Solomon is a widowed loner who lives outside the settlement. His wife and child died some time ago and are buried not far from his house. Despite what he projects to other people, he is extremely dissatisfied with his life. He genuinely thinks that he is better than what his circumstances have made him and wants to rise above it. To achieve that, he has no qualms to condemn others to a worse fate.
It’s Solomon who kills the Widow before Sarah finds her dead body and steals the demonic book. He sets up a witch’s altar underneath his house and summons the Devil. The first name that he inscribes in one of the stones is that of Cyrus Miller. The Devil then possesses the pastor, who locks himself inside the church along with a number of children. The possessed pastor then kills the children by plucking their eyes out before doing the same thing to himself. But he doesn’t die and tries to attack Sarah, causing Solomon to kill him.
This supernatural violence has continued for centuries. The Goode family passed down the duty of maintaining the curse from father to the eldest son, right down to Nick Goode. He is the one who is behind the Camp Nightwing massacre and the Shadyside Mall massacre. Like his father before him, he continues his family’s legacy of summoning the Devil and killing Shadysiders. The curse that Solomon originally places on Union ensures the prosperity of him and his family at the expense of the other residents of the settlement. In time, an entire town has grown around the Goodes. That’s Sunnyvale. Meanwhile, the curse bearers and their descendants have become the residents of Shadyside.
Is Sarah Fier Really a Witch?
While Sarah does seem to have some supernatural powers, she is not a witch, at least not according to the general understanding of that word. This is one of the subversive plot devices that the filmmakers employ in this movie. She is not behind the deaths and misery of Shadyside; the Goode family is. After she learns the truth about Solomon, she tries to tell the entire settlement but gets condemned to be hanged before it.
She manages to save Hannah, who is supposed to be hanged with her, by taking all the blame. However, before she is put to death, she places her own curse on Solomon, telling him that she will follow him till eternity. It may not be as destructive as the one that Solomon put on Union, but it is equally potent and eventually causes Nick’s downfall.
Why Do the Killers Originally Come after Deena, Sam, and their Friends?
The visions that Ziggy has in 1978 and Sam and Deena have in 1995 are parts of Sarah’s curse. However, they are not directed at Shadysiders like them, but at Solomon and his descendants. After Sarah’s hanging, her friends gave her a proper burial. Whoever touches Sarah’s bones with blood on their hands gets a vision of what Solomon actually did. While Ziggy and Sam get only glimpses of it, Deena sees the last few days of Sarah’s life and realizes that Nick and his ancestors are responsible for everything.
In the first two films, we are led to believe that the witch sends the killers after anyone who disturbs her bones from the depths of hell as she fears that they will be able to remove the curse. ‘1666’ reveals that is not the case. Whenever Sarah’s curse gets activated, Nick seems to become aware of it, and he resurrects past Shadyside killers and sends them after whoever touched the bones. This is to ensure that his family’s dark secret doesn’t become known to the outside world.
Is the Shadyside Curse Broken? Does Deena Save Sam?
Yes, the curse is broken. And yes, Deena saves Sam. After Deena kills Nick, Solomon’s curse is finally broken, and Sam is freed from the Devil’s possession. The throbbing mass of blood and nightmare that Solomon brought out from deep below the Earth’s surface retreats back into the ground. We are let known that the Shadyside curse is broken by the depiction of a Sunnyvaler’s death in a vehicular accident. Now, they have to bear the burden of their own misfortune and misery. The curse used to dump it all on the Shadysiders. Being free of it, the Shadysiders are now only responsible for their own actions and destinies.
What Is the Significance of the Mid-Credits Scene?
The trilogy ends in a typical fashion of mystery and horror films. In the mid-credits scene, someone takes the demonic book. It can be one of the members of the Goode family wanting to bring back the curse, or it can be someone else. But evidently, the peace for which Deena, Sam, and their friends sacrificed so much might not last as long as they have hoped. Someday, someone else will make another deal with the Devil, and the killings will begin again.
Read More: Fear Street Part Two: 1978 Ending, Explained
