As if the run-of-the-mill high school movie wasn’t scary enough (cough–High School Musical 3), Hollywood has been upping the ante for years by tossing unsuspecting teens into horrific situations. Audiences seem to enjoy watching vulnerable characters having the hormones scared out of them — or else they just enjoy seeing annoying teens get tortured.

Every high school teen horror flick has a stereotypical cast of characters straight out of cliche-ville: the jock/hot guy, the cheerleader/hot girl, the know-it-all nerd (male or female), the misunderstood girl, the new student, and a slew of others who normally end up as a victim for the killer/monster/plague at the heart of the movie. Maybe this is one of the reasons why the acclaimed Swedish preteen vampire film Let the Right One In (which comes out in limited release tomorrow) has been so successful at festivals: it finds ways to rework the nerd/bully/bad guy constructs that Hollywood has been regurgitating in teen movies for fifty years. After the jump, we take a look at the prototypical high school horror stories that make Right One feel so fresh.

Carrie

Talk about rough times in high school, Carrie is ridiculed by students and teachers alike when she experiences her first period during gym glass. However, she develops telekinesis and goes on a killing rampage that is still impressive in sheer terms of numbers as she takes out a whole gym full of students on prom night. The movie is based on Stephen King’s first published novel, and inspired a terrible sequel (The Rage: Carrie 2), a Broadway musical, a TV movie, and Zapped! Although that movie doesn’t feature Scott Baio going through the joys of menstruation, and the prom scene involves a lot more nudity.

Teen Wolf

The Michael J. Fox modern-day version of the 1957 I Was A Teenage Werewolf may not hold up that well today, but it still holds a spot in my heart because this was one of the first movies I ever took a date to. And yes, I was in my teens. This movie about a high schooler who becomes a werewolf has a lead female character inexplicably named “Boof,” a sequel starring Jason Bateman, an animated cartoon series, and it was the inspiration for a live-action TV sitcom called Big Wolf On Campus. If that weren’t enough, when this movie was released in Brazil, not long after Back to the Future, they translated Teen Wolf into Boy from the Future. Someone explain that one to me.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Joss Whedon wrote the script for this 1992 movie before it went through several rewrites by others, and as a result it changed so much that he eventually walked off the set and didn’t return. Of course, he got his sweet revenge when his Buffy TV series later became a billion times more popular than this movie. Still, it’s not half bad: Rutger Hauer makes a great vampire, as does Paul Reubens in one of the hammiest death scenes you’ll ever see from a bloodsucker. It’s one of the first times a teen was employed as a Van Helsing instead of becoming the monster, and the fact that it’s a woman made it even more unique. Try and ignore Luke Perry and you’ll probably enjoy this.

Fright Night

This is basically a love letter to teens who are obsessed with horror movies, and if you haven’t seen this one you need to get a group of friends together, rent it, and decide how cool Evil Ed is. Plus, Roddy McDowell really shines in this as a star of old vampire movies turned late-night horror movie host (based on Vincent Price) who gets recruited to fight vampires. It’s got Susan Sarandon’s brother Chris as a vampire, a werewolf, straddles the line between horror and comedy, and even has a sequel that returns both of the main stars.

The Faculty

Finally a horror movie that tells us what we’ve suspected all along: our teachers are horrible aliens who want to inhabit our bodies and turn us into vicious killers. This often overlooked Robert Rodriguez film stars Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Bebe Neuwirth, Famke Janssen, and even Jon Stewart, and doesn’t treat high school students like they are idiots. If you can forgive the incredibly out of place and pandering cameo appearance by Harry Knowles, there’s some good stuff in here. With the exception of a couple of scenes, it all takes place in the halls of high school, including the creepy climactic scene in the gym locker room. Why are so many horror films obsessed with locker rooms? Puberty: The Horror can’t be far away.

The Monster Squad

Probably most famous for giving us the highly quotable line “Wolfman’s got nards!”, this movie features 12 year old kids doing battle against the classic Universal monsters: Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein, the Mummy, and “Gill Man” (apparently there were rights issues with The Creature From The Black Lagoon). While not exactly in high school, these preteens have a clubhouse and their own business cards that proclaim “The Monster Squad.” Isn’t that an extracurricular activity any kid would want to be involved with? Apparently there’s a remake in the works right now; maybe they can squeeze in Dr. Jekyll and The Invisible Man.

Prom Night

Returning to the ground already consecrated by Carrie and her prom night massacre scene, this 1980 movie sees some 12-year old kids (a popular age for horror) playing in an abandoned building, when one falls to her death. Six years later, on prom night, the rest of them start dying. Spooky, right? Prom Night starred Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielsen (and it’s not a comedy) and inspired a three sequels and a remake this year. Could it be that all of these writers had disappointing prom nights themselves, and this is their revenge? Just listen to that terrible narration in the trailer. Pretty soon 10 Year Reunion and My Second Marriage horror films will start popping up.

Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Final Destination

All of these movies star high school students in jeopardy from a deranged serial killer, aliens, or even Death itself, and have multiple sequels. These students might not spend much time in class, but they seem to get all of their lessons in running, screaming and making poor decisions just fine. They earn an honorable mention on our list because of the sheer numbers of students in the cast that get taken out along the way, and the fact that two of them are from Dawson’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson, who also wrote The Faculty.