The latest Fear Street movie, Fear Street: Prom Queen, will arrive on Netflix on Friday, May 23. Part of the charm of Netflix's promotional rollout for this movie has been the many posters paying tribute to older horror movies sharing similar themes, namely slashers like Halloween, Prom Night, and more.
Before you dive into Prom Queen this Friday, it would greatly benefit any horror fan to revisit (or watch for the first time) the following list of films, all of which were likely inspiration for the 2025 teen slasher.
Carrie (1976)
- Streaming: Max
Brian De Palma's high school nightmare of a movie is one of the best and most pivotal coming-of-age stories ever made. Based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, Carrie stars Sissy Spacek as troubled teen Carrie White.
Bullied at home by her fanatical mother and at school by her classmates, Carrie struggles to fit in and the continued torment leads to a horrific prom night in which she finally puts her burgeoning telekinetic abilities to use, seeking revenge on anyone whose wronged her. Link to Fear Street's Carrie homage.
Prom Night (1980)
- Streaming: Tubi, Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, & Shudder
Most people know Jamie Lee Curtis as final girl Laurie Strode in Halloween, but not long after her starring role in that 1978 classic, she became the final girl in another slasher, this one all about prom night. When a young girl is murdered after being relentlessly teased and bullied by her classmates, eventually resulting in her death, a killer sets out to get revenge on her bullies.
The guilty teens agree to keep their involvement in her death a secret, but this killer has no intention of letting them get away. Meanwhile, the dead girl's sister, Kim Hammond (Curtis), still struggles with the trauma of her losing a sibling, and everything comes to a violent head on prom night. Link to Prom Night homage.
Fear Street trilogy (2021)
- Streaming: Netflix
Obviously before you watch the new Fear Street, you should catch up with the original Netflix trilogy released in 2021. As far as we know, Prom Queen is a standalone entry in the series and not related to the trilogy, but seeing as they both take place in Shadyside, I wouldn't be surprised if there are some references or easter eggs related to the previous films and maybe even other works of R.L. Stine. In short, it'd be a good idea to get caught up, just in case.
Halloween (1978)
- Streaming: AMC+ & Shudder
Halloween is one of the most iconic slasher movies ever made, its legacy is still seen in movies decades later. And, as mentioned above, this is the movie that is considered Curtis's breakout role. Here she plays babysitter Laurie Strode.
On Halloween night, Laurie accepts a babysitting job, unaware that she is being followed by a menacing masked killer named Michael Myers. What follows is a horrific night of violence as Michael terrorizes the residents of Haddonfield, Illinois. Link to Halloween homage.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
- Available on digital and demand
Before Scream, Wes Craven gave us the iconic slasher A Nightmare on Elm Street, featuring legendary villain Freddy Krueger, a freaky (and often silly) undead killer who haunts his victims via dreams and cooks up truly gruesome deaths.
This is the first movie in a long-running franchise that would become increasingly hilarious and campy throughout its time, but the first one stands out as the scariest and, again, an extremely influential film within the horror genre. Link to A Nightmare on Elm Street homage.