PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Believe it or not, I am currently an elementary school counselor (I know, it is a scary thought, huh?). Before that I was a middle/high school counselor for five years, and I also taught middle and high school language arts after I graduated from college.
I always enjoyed showing my classes movies when I was a teacher, and after having my students read The Princess Bride, Tex, and The Outsiders I also showed them the movie versions as well so they could compare and contrast the book and film versions. However, other than IT I was never allowed to show my students any awesome horror movies that I would have loved to have shown them that I think teach valuable life lessons that every child should learn.
What movies am I talking about? Keep reading to find out…
5. The Evil Dead (1981)
I think that there is an important lesson to be learned from this movie, and that is that you shouldn’t mess around with strange books that you discover that could be used to summon blood-thirsty demons. I mean come on, we all know how kids are and if they found a copy of the Necronomicon, don’t you think that they would read from it just to see what happens? I know I would have when I was a kid. If they are shown The Evil Dead at an early age in school, I think that it would prevent any of them from conjuring Deadites that end up reaping havoc and brutal deaths everywhere.
LESSON THIS MOVIE TEACHES: Don’t screw around with ancient books made from human skin that you don’t know anything about because you will soon regret it if you do.
4. The Monster Squad (1987)
I have always loved this movie and think that it is just loads of fun. When I was growing up back in the 80s you either loved this movie or The Goonies, and I was always on the side of the kids that picked Monster Squad because I think it is a superior film (plus I was just like Sean when I was in middle school). I think that this movie should be shown to students for one simple reason, and that is to teach them what to do in case Dracula, Wolfman, and the gang show up and start terrorizing their town. I personally learned a lot from this movie when I was younger (such as kicking a werewolf in the junk will work if you don’t have any other weapons on hand), and think that it can help kids survive in the event that they find themselves having to save their town from a group of monsters.
LESSON THIS MOVIE TEACHES: How to survive when monsters attack your town and start killing anyone that they come across.
3. Pet Sematary (1989)
I love animals and have always had pets for most of my life. There is nothing worse than losing a beloved pet (I’ve gone through it and it is never easy), but I think bringing them back to life after they have died is a terrible idea because if they are like the animals in this movie they will come back all weird and messed up, and that’s something nobody should go through. I know that it is hard to say goodbye to a beloved pet, but it is much better than bringing them back to life and having them act all evil and homicidal.
LESSON THIS MOVIE TEACHES: Don’t bury your deceased pet (or little brother, or mother) in a cursed Indian burial ground because you will live to regret it.
2. JAWS (1975)
I love this movie and have seen it more times than I can count. One of the best things about it is the opening scene, which is nothing short of terrifying. Can you imagine being poor Chrissie Watkins? She’s alone in the dark and in the ocean with no way to get to shore before something that you can’t see starts attacking you from under the water. Pure nightmare fuel if you ask me, and it is certainly a situation I do not want to ever be in.
LESSON THIS MOVIE TEACHES: Don’t get drunk and then go swimming in the ocean at night by yourself because there is most likely something out there just waiting to snack on you if you do.
1. Carrie (1976)
This is another favorite movie of mine, and I think that it teaches a very valuable lesson that everyone should learn at a young age: Don’t be a dick and pick on people because you never know when they might have some sort of secret power that they can use to get revenge on the people who mistreat them. I feel so bad for Carrie as she goes through utter Hell at the hands of most of her terrible classmates, and part of me always roots for her when she goes nuts at the prom and starts killing people left and right. I think that this movie should be shown to young children to help them learn that bullying is wrong and that there could be major consequences to picking on and mistreating others.
LESSON THIS MOVIE TEACHES: Don’t pick on people that are different from you because they may have some mysterious power, they can use to kill you and destroy the entire town when they are pushed too far.
There you have it folks, Five Horror Movies that Should be Shown in School to teach children valuable life lessons. Let me know what you think in the comments!
Honorable Mentions:
I Know What you Did Last Summer – Don’t drive drunk and mow someone over and then try to hide their dead body because it will always come back to bite you in the butt.
Jennifer – See Carrie above
976-Evil-Don’t call a mysterious 976 phone number because you will end up getting possessed and sucked to Hell after everything is said and done.
Hellraiser – Just leave that freaking puzzle box alone.
Blue Sunshine – Drugs are bad.
Slaughter High – Pranks can be dangerous.
Demons -Don’t accept a movie ticket from a weirdo in a metal mask.
Sleepaway Camp – See Carrie and Jennifer above.
The Amityville Horror – Don’t buy a house where a bunch of people were murdered no matter how great the price seems.
The Omen – If weird things start happening after you adopt a kid maybe you should just take them back to the orphanage and let it be someone else’s problem.
Friday the 13th – Maybe reopening a camp where several people died years earlier isn’t the best idea in the world.
Return of the Living Dead III – No matter how much you love someone you should just let them go after they die instead of bringing them back to life as a brain-eating zombie.
The Hitcher – Never pick up hitchhikers.
The Howling – If you hear something howling in the woods in the middle of the night it’s probably better to just leave it alone and go back to bed.
Cujo – Please make sure that you get Rabies shots for your pets. Also, Ford Pintos are just not good cars.
The Exorcist – Don’t mess around with Ouija boards by yourself.
