Summer is over and it’s back to class with our must-watch school-set movies…
Hands up if you’re a parent of school-aged kids? Have you counted the minutes until your little cherubs return to school? Is that lazy and moody teenager making you go crazy? Have you spent an absolute fortune? Then don’t worry, as we speak, those pesky under-18s are filtering back to school. No more moans about having nothing to do. No more burning a hole in your pocket to keep the ungrateful swines amused. Freedom awaits!! With school in mind once again, here are fifteen great school-based films…
Class of 1984
You probably know of a rough high school around your area. Maybe you went to said school. Maybe you were the chief perpetrator of wedgie-related student injuries. Well, those schools might have been rough, but they’re nothing on the almost nightmarish vision of Lincoln High in Mark L. Lester’s seminal classic Class of 1984.
A fresh-faced and idealistic teacher takes a job at a troubled inner-city high school and butts heads with the leader of a punk gang which is turning the school into a graffiti-ridden cesspit full of drugs. It’s over the top, but a lot of fun. The formula has been oft-repeated but rarely bettered. The sequel which took an unexpected Sci-fi twist, melding The Terminator with The Substitute, was also great.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Cameron Crowe’s genre-defining teen movie is a great slice of 80’s high school life. Director Amy Heckerling brings out a host of inspired performers from a brilliant cast. Sean Penn plays, and almost lays the blueprint for, the slack-jawed slacker/stoner whilst retaining a very distinct likeability.
Elsewhere, Judge Reinhold, Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Jason-Leigh and Phoebe Cates (be still my beating heart) are great. Aside from being funny, it’s also anchored with dramatic moments in what is one of the definitive coming-of-age teen comedies of all time. Too many memorable moments to mention (Oh Phoebe…).
Only The Strong
Take the Class of 1984, The Substitute, Dangerous Minds formula and add Capoeira. The film probably should have launched Mark Dacascos more than it did. It fell by the wayside but proved popular on video. Dacascos plays a returning soldier, trained in Capoeira, who visits his old high school, which is now overrun by criminal gangs. Louis (Dacascos) is tasked with instilling a little discipline in the high schoolers. Easier said than done, when a criminal gang has left the school gripped with fear.
Louis teaches them Capoeira. One of his students is the young brother of a local gang leader, who also happens to be a Capoeira master. Of course, the two shall meet and end up fighting. It’s a film filled with unique and enjoyable fight sequences (fully utilising Dacascos’ physical prowess and grace). The Substitute stuff is actually engaging too, not least because the cast is endearing and Dacascos is so likeable.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
High school seniors have a lot to deal with; Classroom politics, cliques, exams, school reports and more. So the last thing Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) wants is to be tormented by the malignant spirit of a former child killer who terrorises and kills Elm Street kids in their sleep.
Wes Craven’s iconic horror is filled to the brim with stunning imagery and ideas. Robert Englund conjures a darkly comic villain, who was chilling in the first couple of movies before becoming a touch too comedic to retain as many scares. Still, Craven does a stunning job in the original. He taps into our nightmares and that chilling idea of something in year dreams having the power to kill you. Nine, ten, never sleep again…
Matilda
The original adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic story, directed by and starring Danny DeVito is a cult favourite that brought joy to a generation. Dahl’s stories are always filled with whimsy and wonderful imagery and DeVito’s film does a sterling job of capturing that.
Mara Wilson holds the screen well as the titular Matilda, whose psychic powers and intellect prove too much for her arch nemesis, headmistress Trunchbull (played superbly by Pam Ferris). There are some classic set pieces throughout a breezy and anarchic gem. It always proves a great watch for new generations too.
Back to School
All you need to do is picture Rodney Dangerfield attending college as a middle-aged man. That image alone is funny. Thornton (Dangerfield) attends college in order to help his son find some enthusiasm for it himself. It’s a simple premise and Dangerfield weeks as many laughs as he can as the affable middle-aged shlub who usually throws money at situations to fix them.
As expected, Thornton takes to college well and becomes popular whilst overshadowing his son Jason, who is increasingly frustrated by his father’s attention. It’s filled with classic Dangerfield lines. “Bring us a pitcher of beer every seven minutes until somebody passes out. And then bring one every ten minutes.”
Superbad
The setup is simple. Three hapless virgins at high school are desperate to get laid. It’s the archetypal American teen comedy, but Superbad is also so much more. For starters, it refines what films like American Pie had been doing a few years prior, and it also nails the casting. Jonah Hill and Michael Cera make a superb double act. Christopher Mintz-Plasse became a star thanks to his portrayal of the affably nerdy, McLovin.
What makes the film work so well, aside from dynamite lines, are the moments where the film drifts into farce. A subplot with McLovin having a few hours riding along with two shlubby cops (Seth Rogan and Bill Hader) is gold. Above all, being a coming-of-age tale, the characters learn along the way and the film has touching moments too. Emma Stone is perhaps underutilized but she’s, as per, very good.
Grease
Summer ends and a bunch of high schoolers who all look about 50, head back to school and back to reality in this 50s-set musical. Everyone knows the eternally joyous Grease starring the late great Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta.
Filled to the brim with great songs and routines, this breezy, lithe and feel-good classic hits the spot every time. The only downside of Grease is having You’re the One That I Want stuck in your head for at least a week after every viewing.
School of Rock
Some actors do great things in their career. There are also actors who manage to find that elusive role that is almost perfectly tailored to them. Arnold Schwarzenegger was so perfectly cast as a cyborg. Here, Jack Black has never been better, largely because the role here is absolutely perfect for him. Black stars as a slacker musician with delusions of musical grandeur. He opportunistically poses as his flatmate and pilfers the substitute music teacher job meant for Ned Schneebly (Mike White).
School of Rock is a laugh riot with an epic soundtrack that’s top-heavy with AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and more. Black’s musical abilities are well utilised here as the showboating egomaniac who must learn to take a step back and let the kids under his tutelage shine. An inspired comedy classic for young and old which spawned a successful stage musical.
The Breakfast Club
You can’t have a list of school films without featuring some John Hughes, the undisputed master of high school cinema. The Breakfast Club sees a mishmash of students shut together in detention. They’re all from wildly different cliques and backgrounds. There’s the jock, bad boy, nerd, princess and oddball.
It’s a film, even from its time and setting, which just struck a chord with so many people. If you went to a high school/secondary school you’ll undoubtedly have encountered much of what Hughes’ film portrays in at least one of the characters. It’s a classic that’s funny, irreverent but also touching and the soundtrack is ace.
Not Another Teen Movie
The film that saw a certain Chris “Captain America” Evans break out. Not Another Teen Movie brilliantly and mercilessly shreds the American teen movie genre to pieces. It’s an inspired and uproarious (and underrated) spoof of the genre that also lovingly adheres to all the setups and payoffs you’d expect.
Not Another Teen Movie has brilliant spoofs of renowned teen films (not least American Pie, She’s All That, Never Been Kissed and The Breakfast Club). If that wasn’t enough, it has a cameo from Mr T. This film still gets guffaws out of me, 21 years after release.
Risky Business
There are always shenanigans at high school. Particularly senior year, a transitional time where boys become men and one’s future might be defined by which college they got into. In Risky Business we get a quirky, oddly dream-like look at Joel (Tom Cruise) losing control of an increasingly wild situation when he’s left home alone by his vacationing parents. First, whilst trying to complete a business entrepreneur project for vital credits, he’s pranked by friends and visited by a prostitute (who doesn’t quite take his fancy). Later, he has a moment of impulse and calls up another hooker, this time Rebecca De Mornay arrives. This sets about a crazy, almost farcical chain of events.
Risky Business is dark without feeling grim. It’s amusing without being uproariously funny. Part of the reason it works aside from the dazzling De Mornay and star power of Cruise, is the ethereal score by Tangerine Dream which is totally unlike anything else in the genre. Risky Business is truly unique and no other high school set film has captured the same strange vibe this does. Tangerine Dream aside, the rest of the soundtrack is also great.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
It’s that Hughes again. So the kids are going back to school and undoubtedly they’ll be immediately plotting ways in which to feign illness and have a day off. Still, no matter what shenanigans they could conjure up on a day off skiving, it’ll never come close to the adventure that follows Ferris Bueller (Bueller…Bueller…) on his day off.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off a great film that ranks as one of the most endlessly repeatable films of all time. So many quotable lines and memorable moments as Bueller stays one step ahead of Principal Rooney, hot on his heels. Matthew Broderick was perfect in the role and he’s never been better.
Donnie Darko
One of cinema’s great mysteries, almost approaching tragedy, is just what happened to the auteur maestro, Richard Kelly. He fired himself into the minds of film buffs almost instantaneously with Donnie Darko, the angsty teen drama with shades of horror, oh and a complex time travel plot that was as intricate as it was head scratchingly enigmatic.
Donnie Darko is a superb film that’s fiendishly clever, inviting repeat viewings and boasting a superb cast. Jake Gyllenhaal excels as the titular outcast in therapy, with a time travel fascination. Elsewhere, Drew Barrymore (who was a key figure in getting the film off the ground) is great, as are Patrick Swayze, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jena Malone. Having seen both the theatrical and director’s cut, I do side with the former, which keeps things all the more ambiguous.
Carrie
From the shower room opening to the grandstand finish, Brian De Palma annihilates teen movie tropes with the unforgettable Carrie. She’s the timid girl with an overbearing and fiercely religious mother, who has been sheltered from real life. Sissy Spacek is phenomenal as Carrie, both ethereal and tragic.
De Palma sets the stall out early. Carrie stands out and thus is a target for bullies (lead in particularly by a viciously cruel Nancy Allen). Piper Laurie is also sensational as Carrie’s controlling mother. Everyone knows how the film plays out, even if they haven’t seen it. Needless to say, with every rewatch, it still maintains its haunting power, particularly once Carrie fully embraces her telekinetic powers.
What is your favourite school set movie? Let us know your thoughts on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Tom Jolliffe is an award-winning screenwriter and passionate cinephile. He has a number of films out on DVD/VOD around the world and several releases due out in 2022, including, Renegades (Lee Majors, Danny Trejo, Michael Pare, Tiny Lister, Nick Moran, Patsy Kensit, Ian Ogilvy and Billy Murray), Crackdown, When Darkness Falls and War of The Worlds: The Attack (Vincent Regan). Find more info at the best personal site you’ll ever see here.
