If you ever needed a reason to play hooky…
The use of classrooms and other scholastic settings is embedded throughout horror. Sometimes there is a teacher giving a lecture that conveniently connects to the movie. At other times the viewer is wandering the halls of a haunted school alongside the main character. The school setting provides great variety for us to feast our eyes on. We have created a list of some of our favorite classroom moments from horror movies. Each scene has a unique reason why we love it, whether it be bloody or emotionally moving.
The Brood (1979) – Kiddies Going Hammer
We love this scene because of the duality between familiarity and brutality. First, the viewer is thrown into a normal elementary classroom. We see the typical hustle and bustle of students moving around, talking to each other, and finishing crafts. The teacher is bent down by the table, kindly speaking with students. The scene feels warm and familiar, like a good day in first grade. Then the feeling of dread creeps in when two children in snowsuits bypass all of the children and go straight for the teacher, Ruth. They begin to beat the hell out of Ruth in front of her students. The act itself is extremely violent, but it is amplified by the horror on the children’s faces. Those kids are probably still in therapy.
The Faculty (1998) – Coach Slitherface
Next up, is the football field scene from The Faculty. By this point in the movie, we are already in the third act. There are only a few students left to defend themselves against parasitic invaders. The group believes that they may have just killed the queen. Stan goes out to the field to confirm whether they failed or succeeded. It is pouring down rain, while the coach and the players are standing in formation, with their heads tilted towards the sky. For some reason, Stan thinks it is necessary to be within arm’s reach of the team to see if they are still aliens. He receives the confirmation. The coach and Stan’s former teammates have tentacles snapping out of their faces, helping absorb the water. The outline of sharp teeth can be seen when the lightning flashes. This scene is just one of The Faculty‘s many horrifying reveals.
Child’s Play 2 (1990) – Meet Your Doom Miss Kettlewell
This scene delivers the sweet death of Miss Kettlewell! In this sequel to Child’s Play, we are following Andy as he is trying to acclimate to a new setting, while also avoiding Chucky at all costs. In this scene, Charles has managed to slip into Andy’s class and get him in trouble. Miss Kettlewell throws Chucky in the closet and locks it. She then proceeds to LOCK Andy in the classroom. The score has the eerie sounds of wind and bells accompanying Andy as he walks to the closet to confirm what he already knows: Chucky is alive in the closet! Andy vacates the classroom via a window. Miss Kettlewell comes back to a seemingly empty classroom. She opens the closet and unleashes well-deserved doom upon herself. Chucky shoots her with an air pump then beats her ass with a yardstick. This scene is one of our favorite kills of all time.
Carrie (1976) – Fire and Brimstone
This scene gives the satisfaction of the ultimate revenge. This scene takes place near the end and the viewer has watched Carrie take bullying and abuse from everyone around her. Something nice finally happens for her when she gets to go to the prom with Tommy Ross in her pretty pink dress. Carrie wins prom queen and everything seems like a dream. Until a bucket of blood turns her dream into a nightmare. With her eyes wide, and her body covered in blood, she faces the laughter of her peers. Her mother’s words ring in her ears as the laughter surrounds her. You can see it in her eyes the moment that rage takes over. Carrie looks around the gym and closes all the doors. At this point, I knew that Carrie White was going to take back everything that town owed her in BLOOD. The carnage is a sight to see!
Les Diaboliques (1955) – The Tubby Time From Hell
The final tub scene of Les Diaboliques is one of the most haunting things we’ve seen. In this scene, we follow Christina who’s riddled with guilt. See, she’s plotted to get rid of her husband, Michel, with her colleague Nicole. Christina keeps hearing and seeing strange things around the boarding school. There is even a child claiming to have seen the “missing” Michel. The guilt and anxiety continue to put stress on her heart. She goes into the bathroom, and to her horror, she sees Michel underwater in the bathtub, just like the night when she drowned him. Michel slowly begins to rise with his eyes rolled back, just like the corpse Christine remembers. She has a heart attack and dies. This scene provides the chills. If you do catch this flick, be sure to watch it until the end. There are even more twists after this.
The Craft (1996) – Been that Witch, Still that Witch
The Craft was a coming of age story for a lot of kids in the ’90s. One of the most iconic scenes from the movie is when ‘Dangerous Type’ begins to play, which launches into a montage of the girls hanging out together, intercut with them walking together in the cafeteria. The slow motion walk with the girls wearing their new found confidence is a turning point for crew after they find their fourth. As they walk, you can see glimpses of them exploring their power. They are at their peak together in contrast with the beginning of the film, and how the film ends. We all wanted to be those girls, swinging their hair and blowing kisses to their peers. This scene delivers the LOOKS.
