In 2021, Netflix released three interconnected Fear Street films, very loosely based on a long-running series of YA horror novels by R.L. Stine. They tell the story of a string of murders in the fictional town of Shadyside, which take place over hundreds of years. In 1666, a teenage girl is hanged for alleged witchcraft; in 1978, a mass killing of kids occurs at local Camp Nightwing; and in 1994, teens are knifed outside a B. Dalton, bread-sliced in a supermarket, and so on. It’s an ambitious trilogy that delivers plenty of lively scares but also thoughtfully addresses issues of class, sexism, and antigay bigotry. The movies, directed and co-written by the brilliant Leigh Janiak, tell one of best horror stories of the decade, making the list of our favorite book-to-screen adaptations of 2021. The newest installment in the series, Fear Street: Prom Queen, is less ambitious but still an enjoyable watch. It premieres on Netflix on May 23.

The previous movies took elements of Stine’s books—especially 1991’s Lights Out, which took place at a summer camp, and the three novels in 1993’s Fear Street Saga, which focused on 17th-century witch hunts—but the filmmakers felt no need to be excessively faithful to the texts. Similarly, Prom Queen is based mainly on Stine’s 1992 novel of the same name, but it takes many liberties with it, mostly to the film’s benefit.

In Stine’s book, someone is stalking and murdering prom-queen candidates at Shadyside High for reasons unknown; one of the targets is the main character, a teen aspiring writer. In the end, it’s up to the protagonist to unmask the killer and save the day. All these elements make it to the film intact, but nearly everything else is different—including (no spoilers) the killer’s identity. The year is now 1988, and all the characters have new names, backgrounds, and personalities: The protagonist, Lori Granger (The Agency’s India Fowler), has an after-school job waiting tables and a traumatic past; another prom-queen hopeful, Christy Renault (Barbie’s Ariana Greenblatt), is a cannabis-dealing rebel, while other competitors are part of a mean-girl clique, led by the loathsome Tiffany Falconer (Paper Girls’ Fina Strazza).

Lori’s hip best pal, Megan Rogers (Red Rocket’s Suzanna Son), is a prankster; she’s also a horror-film fanatic, and it’s clear that director and co-writer Matt Palmer is one, too. Prom Queen makes more than a few nods to slasher-film history—most notably, Prom Night (1980), which was also about a masked menace slicing up prom attendees. Genre aficionados will also note clear references to specific scenes from the 1978 classic Halloween, and one wardrobe choice inevitably calls to mind the raincoat-wearing, hook-wielding killer of 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer (itself very loosely based on a novel).

Although Prom Queen has a dark sense of humor, it never pokes fun at those earlier films, nor does it attempt to deconstruct the slasher-movie formula, à la Scream. Instead, it straightforwardly ratchets up the suspense and deepens the mystery as promgoers meet their ends in a variety of gory, creative ways. One scene, for instance, memorably involves a paper cutter—also known, appropriately enough, as a paper guillotine—and a climactic sequence toward the end results in plenty of blood on the dance floor. A late revelation is truly surprising, and it all leads to a satisfying denouement that leaves room for another sequel. There are some fine actors here, as well, including the great Lili Taylor as a serious-minded school administrator and a committed Katherine Waterston as Tiffany Falconer’s melodramatically awful mom.

It’s all in the service of a fun and highly watchable movie that hits all its genre beats, much like the decades-old horror films that inspired it. It’s not looking to reinvent the slasher film, but it navigates the strict boundaries with aplomb, and it’s certainly never boring. Will horror fans enjoy Prom Queen? Absolutely, many will. Will they think about it very much, later on? Probably not—but even forgettable entertainment can be very entertaining.

David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.