Classic horror movies for a middle school class
October 25, 2022 10:09 PM Subscribe
I teach a Video Production class to middle schoolers, and every Wednesday we advance in film history. The timing is right, both for Halloween and in our history, to watch some Universal horror classics. Help me choose.
I subscribe to the Criterion Channel, and they have this collection of Universal horror movies. In case the link doesn’t work:
Dracula (1931)
The Wolf Man (1941)
The Mummy (1932)
Frankenstein (1931)
The Invisible Man (1931)
The Black Cat (1934)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The Raven (1935)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
It should strike the students as 90% campy, maybe 10% scary. Dracula, thanks to Tod Browning’s direction, could actually give nightmares. Frankenstein, because of the poor sound quality, was so cacophonous it actually gave me a headache. The others I’ve never seen.
Any recommendations? I’ll have time to screen one in advance to double-check. Others of the same ilk are fine, too.
I subscribe to the Criterion Channel, and they have this collection of Universal horror movies. In case the link doesn’t work:
Dracula (1931)
The Wolf Man (1941)
The Mummy (1932)
Frankenstein (1931)
The Invisible Man (1931)
The Black Cat (1934)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The Raven (1935)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
It should strike the students as 90% campy, maybe 10% scary. Dracula, thanks to Tod Browning’s direction, could actually give nightmares. Frankenstein, because of the poor sound quality, was so cacophonous it actually gave me a headache. The others I’ve never seen.
Any recommendations? I’ll have time to screen one in advance to double-check. Others of the same ilk are fine, too.
Frankenstein is, in my memory, a surprisingly well-made film. Of course, I haven't seen it in years. I'll never forget the little girl at the edge of the river picking petals off a daisy.
posted by tmdonahue at 5:41 AM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by tmdonahue at 5:41 AM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Creature from the Black Lagoon is pretty campy! Also, when I was in high school, they showed the 3-D version on television and you could get the 3-D glasses (red and blue lenses) at 7-11. If you could find a 3-D version and glasses, that could be even more fun.
posted by pangolin party at 6:02 AM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by pangolin party at 6:02 AM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
My pick of these would be Bride of Frankenstein, if Frankenstein itself is off the table. I think it's the funniest and least objectionable. Lots of iconic scenes the kids will recognize in other, later movies.
For me, the dated attitudes on sex and race in many of the others here would undo their potential camp value and put them in the Nope file for middle schoolers. E.G., the stalking (and malicious plastic surgery!) in The Raven, the racist allegory of Creature from the Black Lagoon--however fun it is to see Bela Lugosi ranting or the cool underwater sequences. Unless dated attitudes & representation is what you're going to be focusing on! Like, a double feature of Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Shape of Water could be all kinds of instructive and fun, though probably not for the younger end of middle school (SoW is rated R).
posted by miles per flower at 6:10 AM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
For me, the dated attitudes on sex and race in many of the others here would undo their potential camp value and put them in the Nope file for middle schoolers. E.G., the stalking (and malicious plastic surgery!) in The Raven, the racist allegory of Creature from the Black Lagoon--however fun it is to see Bela Lugosi ranting or the cool underwater sequences. Unless dated attitudes & representation is what you're going to be focusing on! Like, a double feature of Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Shape of Water could be all kinds of instructive and fun, though probably not for the younger end of middle school (SoW is rated R).
posted by miles per flower at 6:10 AM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
* pulls up chair and sits down *
Bride Of Frankenstein is hella campy, actually. It starts with a scene where Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and (I forget the other dude) are in a dining hall all talking about the fantastical story Mary just told about the mad scientist who built another man, and she says "oh, but the story goes on," and settles back to start talking. "Oh, I see," you end up thinking, "they're acknowledging the original Frankenstein story and assuming that the last movie was just half the story." It sets you up for thinking that this movie is going to be the second half of Mary Shelley's story.
And then the movie goes totally off the rails and you get the whole lady-with-the-fright-wig thing and another scientist who's figured out how to miniaturize people and he keeps them in mason jars. The "Bride" only shows up towards the end, acts weird and then gets killed. (The actress based her characterization on how swans act, apparently.)
The Black Cat MIGHT be an interesting option, but it may be a little too heady - there's a whole back story with Bela Lugosi being the only survivor of a platoon from World War I, and Boris Karloff was the platoon leader who betrayed them to the German army in exchange for getting to keep the Lugosi family mansion so he can practice Satanism in peace. Lugosi has come back to exact revenge - but this American couple has ended up stranded in the woods and is sheltering in the mansion along with everyone, so most of the film consists of Lugosi and Karloff looking at each other significantly and getting ready to finally Have It Out and then getting interrupted by one of the other people walking into the room all, "Hey, s'up, guys?"
One point AGAINST The Wolf Man - there's a brief icky creeper thing that may not go over well (early on in the film, the main character is using a telescope to spy on a pretty girl in town, and then all-innocent drops by the shop where she works and teases her about it).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:29 AM on October 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
Bride Of Frankenstein is hella campy, actually. It starts with a scene where Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and (I forget the other dude) are in a dining hall all talking about the fantastical story Mary just told about the mad scientist who built another man, and she says "oh, but the story goes on," and settles back to start talking. "Oh, I see," you end up thinking, "they're acknowledging the original Frankenstein story and assuming that the last movie was just half the story." It sets you up for thinking that this movie is going to be the second half of Mary Shelley's story.
And then the movie goes totally off the rails and you get the whole lady-with-the-fright-wig thing and another scientist who's figured out how to miniaturize people and he keeps them in mason jars. The "Bride" only shows up towards the end, acts weird and then gets killed. (The actress based her characterization on how swans act, apparently.)
The Black Cat MIGHT be an interesting option, but it may be a little too heady - there's a whole back story with Bela Lugosi being the only survivor of a platoon from World War I, and Boris Karloff was the platoon leader who betrayed them to the German army in exchange for getting to keep the Lugosi family mansion so he can practice Satanism in peace. Lugosi has come back to exact revenge - but this American couple has ended up stranded in the woods and is sheltering in the mansion along with everyone, so most of the film consists of Lugosi and Karloff looking at each other significantly and getting ready to finally Have It Out and then getting interrupted by one of the other people walking into the room all, "Hey, s'up, guys?"
One point AGAINST The Wolf Man - there's a brief icky creeper thing that may not go over well (early on in the film, the main character is using a telescope to spy on a pretty girl in town, and then all-innocent drops by the shop where she works and teases her about it).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:29 AM on October 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
I'd add the original 1933 King Kong to the list of possibles.
My understanding is that of the films of that era, Kong, Frankenstein, and Bride are considered the best films as films in terms of things like cinematography, plot, characterization, acting, direction, the use of themes and subtexts, etc etc etc. I don't know how much discussion of things like that you're going to get into with middle schoolers, but I believe film scholars think that that's a large part of why the films are considered classics and why the monsters have become iconic cultural touchstones. (The story of Frankenstein's monster in particular has been remade and reinterpreted many many many times, if that's the sort of thing you might wind up discussing now or in the future.)
If you're really committed to "more campy, less scary", I might lean towards Kong or Creature from the Black Lagoon - Kong is kind of more of an adventure movie than a horror flick, and the stop-motion animation used in Kong and the "guy in a rubber suit" aspect of Creature are I think going to seem pretty clumsy to kids who've been watching 21st century movie & TV special effects all their lives.
Frankenstein, because of the poor sound quality, was so cacophonous it actually gave me a headache.
Hmmm. Well, on the one hand, audio recording and reproduction of that era was pretty primitive - I'm not sure any of the films are going to be much better, so if you're committed to showing a film from this era, you might have to just kind of bite the bullet and stick in some earplugs (and maybe have some for the kids, too) for the showing. (And turn on closed captioning.) On the other hand, it's certainly possible that the version you saw hadn't been remastered with better audio (even if it is Criterion), or that your playback system and/or viewing environment wasn't optimal for these old movies. So I might if possible try to at least sample the films in the environment you're going to be showing them in, to see if the sound is going to be painful.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:33 AM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
My understanding is that of the films of that era, Kong, Frankenstein, and Bride are considered the best films as films in terms of things like cinematography, plot, characterization, acting, direction, the use of themes and subtexts, etc etc etc. I don't know how much discussion of things like that you're going to get into with middle schoolers, but I believe film scholars think that that's a large part of why the films are considered classics and why the monsters have become iconic cultural touchstones. (The story of Frankenstein's monster in particular has been remade and reinterpreted many many many times, if that's the sort of thing you might wind up discussing now or in the future.)
If you're really committed to "more campy, less scary", I might lean towards Kong or Creature from the Black Lagoon - Kong is kind of more of an adventure movie than a horror flick, and the stop-motion animation used in Kong and the "guy in a rubber suit" aspect of Creature are I think going to seem pretty clumsy to kids who've been watching 21st century movie & TV special effects all their lives.
Frankenstein, because of the poor sound quality, was so cacophonous it actually gave me a headache.
Hmmm. Well, on the one hand, audio recording and reproduction of that era was pretty primitive - I'm not sure any of the films are going to be much better, so if you're committed to showing a film from this era, you might have to just kind of bite the bullet and stick in some earplugs (and maybe have some for the kids, too) for the showing. (And turn on closed captioning.) On the other hand, it's certainly possible that the version you saw hadn't been remastered with better audio (even if it is Criterion), or that your playback system and/or viewing environment wasn't optimal for these old movies. So I might if possible try to at least sample the films in the environment you're going to be showing them in, to see if the sound is going to be painful.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:33 AM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: I think the pain of the soundtrack for Frankenstein was just the number of scenes with “joyful” village celebrations, or yelling rabble, or thunder and barking dogs — most early sound films were more ginger about how often they maxed out their volume.
Yes, The Wolf Man disqualified itself with a literal won’t-take-no-for-answer scene right up front. It may cheer you to know that my students are very attentive to such things. Gene Kelly being pushy with Debbie Reynolds in Singin’ in the Rain elicited some vocal dasapproval.
I think Bride of Frankenstein will be a good pick, and lets me show them Young Frankenstein (which is much less naughty than I remember it being) later.
posted by argybarg at 6:53 AM on October 26, 2022
Yes, The Wolf Man disqualified itself with a literal won’t-take-no-for-answer scene right up front. It may cheer you to know that my students are very attentive to such things. Gene Kelly being pushy with Debbie Reynolds in Singin’ in the Rain elicited some vocal dasapproval.
I think Bride of Frankenstein will be a good pick, and lets me show them Young Frankenstein (which is much less naughty than I remember it being) later.
posted by argybarg at 6:53 AM on October 26, 2022
Left field suggestion: Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). It never takes itself seriously, is not actually scary, and may have the added bonus that your students will yell CHAAAARGE every time they go up the school stairs.
posted by basalganglia at 8:04 AM on October 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by basalganglia at 8:04 AM on October 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
Seconding the suggestion to consider King Kong as well. There's some unfortunate racial stuff early on (i.e., people wearing coconut bras and really cheesy "native dress" kind of stereotypes), but the special effects in it are somehow good instead of being tacky. It's low-budget stop-motion, but it's low-budget stop motion that people thought a lot about, and was strangely enchanting. There's a specificity to Kong's movement that just works; Peter Jackson flat-out lifted some of the movement for one of his scenes in his remake (the scene where Kong fights the T-Rex). I actually put clips of both scenes in my review on my blog so you could compare-and-contrast. (And I have reviews to other movies you've listed, in case you wanted a more expanded review of anything.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:16 AM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:16 AM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
When I was in sixth grade "The Watcher In The Woods" was absolutely captivating. Pre-watch it in case it's problematic or cheesy in today's climate, I can't remember. But my whole class loved it.
King Kong is... um, real racist, so I would suggest you not show it. Nope, you can't "show it and talk about it" and thus undo the racism, the racism is in the visuals and it is killing Black people, so you should simply not show it.
Racism is implicit in the film King Kong
Can You Make A Movie With King Kong Without Perpetuating Racial Undertones? (no)
The Monkey and the Metaphor: What Every King Kong Movie Is Really About
How King Kong is rooted in racism
posted by nouvelle-personne at 10:44 AM on October 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
King Kong is... um, real racist, so I would suggest you not show it. Nope, you can't "show it and talk about it" and thus undo the racism, the racism is in the visuals and it is killing Black people, so you should simply not show it.
Racism is implicit in the film King Kong
Can You Make A Movie With King Kong Without Perpetuating Racial Undertones? (no)
The Monkey and the Metaphor: What Every King Kong Movie Is Really About
How King Kong is rooted in racism
posted by nouvelle-personne at 10:44 AM on October 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
"The Blob" - 1958, Steve McQueen. Features high-school kids running out of a movie theatre screaming. (I used to be terribly afraid of horror movies, but this was the first one to make me go, "Hey; wait a minute! This is pretty funny!")
posted by Wylie Kyoto at 10:49 AM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Wylie Kyoto at 10:49 AM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think Night of the Hunter is one of the best scary movies all time - psychological horror. https://www.criterion.com/films/27525-the-night-of-the-hunter.
Night of the Living Dead is pretty great as well. Maybe too scary? https://www.criterion.com/films/29331-night-of-the-living-dead
posted by brookeb at 5:06 PM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Night of the Living Dead is pretty great as well. Maybe too scary? https://www.criterion.com/films/29331-night-of-the-living-dead
posted by brookeb at 5:06 PM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
“… if Frankenstein itself is off the table”
snort
posted by BostonTerrier at 5:29 PM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
snort
posted by BostonTerrier at 5:29 PM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
(Middle school youths are a tough audience, they're more used to seeing constant explosions. Gotta emphasize that historical context, of course;)
The Mummy (1932) is an old fave of mine (there's been a newer version that I haven't seen that's probably more flashy).
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) is very old but rather interesting in it's own way. It's really something!
The Raven (1963) is a fun Vincent Price parody of some classic 30s horror riffs that summarizes the Roger Corman AIP style.
as mentioned, Night of The Hunter (1955) is not quite classic horror, but would make for an interesting viewing in that context...
posted by ovvl at 6:31 PM on October 26, 2022
The Mummy (1932) is an old fave of mine (there's been a newer version that I haven't seen that's probably more flashy).
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) is very old but rather interesting in it's own way. It's really something!
The Raven (1963) is a fun Vincent Price parody of some classic 30s horror riffs that summarizes the Roger Corman AIP style.
as mentioned, Night of The Hunter (1955) is not quite classic horror, but would make for an interesting viewing in that context...
posted by ovvl at 6:31 PM on October 26, 2022
Son of Frankenstein (1939) is not particularly good, but it's interesting from a film history perspective. It uses some wild camera angles that are parodied in Young Frankenstein. I remember a scene where a married couple is staying in a room with two twin beds, of course, but the beds are arranged in a zigzag in the middle of the room. The camera is behind a lamp, and the couple is arguing on either side of the lamp. They live in a weird German expressionist house. Maybe there are clips you could use from that movie as well.
posted by Comet Bug at 7:36 PM on October 26, 2022
posted by Comet Bug at 7:36 PM on October 26, 2022
A bit out of left field, but have you considered old Japanese monster movies? There's lots of fun stuff in the Godzilla catalog, and even more fun to be had if you want to venture into Gamera. Most of them are built to be kid-friendly, and you won't get the same sort of racism you might find in old American movies (although the misogyny is still there; you will occasionally have to deal with deeply questionable characterizations of girls and women.)
posted by jordemort at 9:33 PM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jordemort at 9:33 PM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 11:20 PM on October 25, 2022 [4 favorites]