The horror genre branches out into many different sub-genres, with one of the most popular being teen horror. Teen horror movies tend to feature young protagonists in the fight for their lives against a menacing serial killer, monster, ghost, or any other typical horror-movie fiend. Many are targeted specifically to a teen audience while still having universal appeal.
While not always highly regarded by critics, teen horrors tend to hold a special place in the hearts of viewers young and old, as they draw upon the insecurities faced by most people in those formative years of their lives. Some teen horrors even went on to redefine horror cinema, cementing their place in movie history.
Christine (6.7)
Horror icons John Carpenter and Stephen King collided with this adaptation of the author’s successful cursed car story and, though it’s rarely lumped in with the director’s classics in the genre, Christine remains one of the most solid movies spun from King’s numerous works.
The titular vehicle becomes the object of a dweeby teen’s obsession and his burgeoning libido grows darker and darker as his attachment to the menacing Plymouth Fury grows stronger and stronger.
Summer of 84 (6.7)
A teenage boy convinces some of his neighborhood friends that a friendly local police officer could be a serial killer and they all embark on a summer of adventure and investigation to unravel the mystery of several missing boys.
As clearly inspired as Summer of 84 is by relatively lighthearted detective fiction from the era and as heavily as it plays into the stereotypes of the ‘Kids on Bikes’ subgenre utilized by movies and TV shows like Stranger Things, this coming-of-age story is far darker than most and has left a palpable impact on the teen horror niche in a short amount of time.
Warm Bodies (6.8)
A fun spin on the Romeo and Juliet story, Jonathan Levine’s adaptation of Isaac Marion’s novel of the same name has garnered quite an impressive fanbase thanks to its comedic take on the revitalized zombie movie craze.
Nicholas Hoult stars as ‘R’, a zombie in a post-apocalyptic world whose inner monologue reveals his loneliness and longing for more out of undeath, and Amanda Palmer as ‘Julie’, a living girl with whom he falls in love. Their unlikely romance of two warring worlds may lean more heavily towards the ‘Rom’ and ‘Com’ parts of the ‘Rom-Zom-Com’ format begun by Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead, but it’s helped make it a crowdpleaser that’s introduced zombie horror fiction to a wider audience of people.
Phenomena (6.8)
The recent movies released by legendary Italian horror director Dario Argento, once known as the ‘Italian Hitchcock’, have only been more and more disliked by movie fans for the past several decades. However, his 1985 supernatural slasher comes from what was still comfortably his ‘good period’ and acts as an entertaining stepping stone between the atmospheric style of his earlier hits and the grotesque gratuitousness that would ultimately be his creative undoing.
Featuring costumes from Georgio Armani, music from Iron Maiden, and a murder mystery plot at an all-girls school involving a chimpanzee butler as well as telepathy with insects, Phenomena is many things but rarely ever dull.
It Follows (6.8)
David Robert Mitchell used the fear of the unknown to instill a sense of dread in his audience with the 2014 film, It Follows. In it, a teenager discovers she’s become cursed after a seemingly innocent sexual encounter, by which an invisible presence with sinister intentions begins following her. The teen and her friends must then try and stay alive while avoiding passing on the curse through further physical contact.
It’s a film with themes that allude to the consequences that can come with one’s actions, which is especially prevalent in the teenage years. The idea that a poor decision can result in an affliction sticking around with a person for a long time after, with potentially deadly repercussions, is a terrifying one.
The Cabin in the Woods (7)
A group of teenagers heads to a remote cabin in the woods for a holiday when they discover that the cabin is housing some horrific things. Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods uses one of the oldest setups in the book for its premise, but with a refreshing twist.
The film satirizes all horror movie tropes without becoming too ridiculous to the point of becoming a comedy, while still retaining elements of humor. It’s full of clichés without being tacky and features a unique ending that’s hard to see coming. The Cabin in the Woods takes all of the best aspects from past horror movies and neatly packages them up in a single feature film.
Fright Night (7.1)
Another film that expertly blends horror with humor is the highly acclaimed 1985 cult classic vampire movie, Fright Night. It follows a teenager who discovers that his new neighbor is a vampire and he enlists a washed-up actor from a horror television series to help him hunt the vampire down.
Fright Night is a film that doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is one of its biggest strengths. While there’s no shortage of horror in the film, it’s of the type that’s tongue-in-cheek, making for a fun horror movie viewing experience. Fright Night’s cult-popularity saw it get a remake in 2011 with Colin Farrell, though it couldn’t match the original film’s charm.
Scream (7.2)
Wes Craven’s 1996 classic horror film Scream introduced the iconic Ghostface serial killer to the world, in a slasher film that’s become synonymous with the teen horror subgenre. It follows a group of teenagers who are stalked and murdered by a masked killer that likes to play mind games revolving around horror movie trivia with them.
Scream once again proved why Wes Craven is considered to be the master of horror, terrifying audiences around the world upon its release. It’s scary because Scream’s murderous antagonist is a real person, giving the sense that the events in the film are plausible, making it that much more chilling.
The Lost Boys (7.3)
A vampire cult classic in the teen horror movie landscape, The Lost Boys follows a single mother who arrives in a new town with her two young sons, who soon discover that the town is home to a deadly vampire presence. The younger son makes friends with a pair of self-proclaimed vampire hunters, while the older teenage son gets mixed up with a local gang with a love for motorbikes, partying, and draining the blood from unsuspecting victims.
The Lost Boys is known as much for its cool aesthetic as its horror, with director Joel Schumacher capturing the essence of a late 80s Californian beach town lifestyle perfectly. The film is somewhat cheesy at times, though that only adds to its charm.
Split (7.3)
Writer and director M. Night Shyamalan returned to good graces in the movie world with this successor to his earlier work in the horror/thriller/mystery genre.
Split follows a group of teenage girls who are abducted by a dangerously unwell man suffering from a severe case of disassociative identity disorder that borders on the supernatural. As the story goes on, the audience is given a deeper psychological insight into both Anya Taylor-Joy’s emerging protagonist and the increasingly malevolent personas of James McAvoy’s antagonist.
Carrie (7.4)
Esteemed director Brian De Palma took to directing an adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel Carrie in 1976, to high acclaim. It follows a sheltered and bullied teenager who just so happens to have telekinetic powers, as she seeks revenge on those that wronged her.
Four decades on and Carrie still holds up, serving as one of the better Stephen King adaptations to come out of Hollywood. It features a story that resonates to this day, focusing on themes about facing adversity during adolescence; a period of a person’s life where everything is uncertain. Sissy Spacek’s performance and the film’s iconic ending won’t be forgotten any time soon.
The Evil Dead (7.5)
Shot on a shoestring budget by first-time director Sam Raimi, The Evil Dead would end up becoming one of the most beloved horror movies ever made. In it, five college students visit a remote cabin in the woods where they uncover an ancient, evil book, and inadvertently unleash a murderous demon.
The Evil Dead works on a lot of different levels for a horror film, as it’s ultra-violent and gory, though that violence and gore add a layer of humor to the film as it looks so cheap and nasty. It doesn’t hurt that the film’s leading actor, Bruce Campbell, is full of charm and charisma, in a role that has stuck with him all throughout his career.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (7.5)
After beginning to make a name for himself on the horror circuit in the early 70s, director Wes Craven really hit the big-time with his film A Nightmare on Elm Street. It tells the story of a group of teenagers who are being visited in their dreams by the spirit of a child murderer known as Freddy Krueger. Kreuger begins to murder the teens in their dreams, which ultimately results in their deaths in the real world.
A Nightmare on Elm Street saw a whole generation of horror fans be afraid to fall asleep at night after its release in 1984. The film made Freddy Krueger one of the most recognizable movie monsters to ever grace the silver screen and its popularity turned A Nightmare on Elm Street into a franchise spanning nine total films.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (7.5)
Tobe Hooper’s horror classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was unlike anything audiences had seen before when it was released in 1974. It sees a group of young friends out on a road trip to visit their grandfather’s grave, as their journey takes them into the house of a cannibalistic family, and they’re soon hunted and disposed of by the chainsaw-wielding serial killer known as Leatherface.
Forty-plus years since its release and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is still as brutal and disturbing to watch as ever. This is not the type of film that contains any humor or attempt at satire, rather, its aim is purely to terrify, and it succeeds in hitting that mark perfectly. Not many movies since have been able to capture the raw horror that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was able to deliver.
Halloween (7.8)
Another iconic horror movie monster was born in 1978, with the murderous Michael Myers making his debut in John Carpenter’s Halloween. Myers returns to his small hometown with a thirst for killing after spending fifteen years in a mental hospital. His targets - the town’s teenagers. Myers’ creepy white mask, his supernatural presence, and his unkillable nature make him one of the most terrifying horror movie icons.
The film became an instant classic, spawning ten sequels with more on the way, making a star out of its leading actor Jamie Lee Curtis, and popularizing the ‘final girl’ horror movie trope. Halloween is essentially the slasher-horror film that all other slashers look to for reference, and while many have tried, with some succeeding, none can compare to the terrifying feeling of watching Halloween for the first time.
