When a horror movie is about teenagers, it's often fun and relatable as there are so many topics to choose from. Scary films can talk about dating, friendship, family, college goals, career dreams, and more, and when the movie adds a creepy small town with a history of ghosts or serial killers, the story becomes even more interesting.
There are tons of great teenage horror movies to choose from, whether someone wants to pick a corny film from the 1990s or a more recent flick like Tragedy Girls, The Craft: Legacy, or the beloved It Follows. But despite how thrilling this time in someone's life can be, there are definitely some terrible horror movies about high school students. These films just aren't scary, or they don't have great characters, or they're a lackluster remake of an absolute classic.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992)
While the monsters in Buffy The Vampire Slayer are a famous part of the TV show, and Sarah Michelle Gellar is incredible as the teen vampire slayer, the original movie is dull and leaves fans wanting more.
Kristy Swanson plays Buffy Summers in the '90s film. While the same story elements are here, as she learns about her new life and does her best to still be a regular high schooler, the movie just doesn't have the same fun tone or character development that the series does and it's definitely nowhere near as popular. It can be considered one of the worst teen movies as it doesn't do anything new for the genre. The show has cheesy yet relatable storylines about being a teenager and dealing with all of the problems of this time, but the movie doesn't talk enough about this age group.
Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005)
While the urban legends in the 1990s movie are dark, gross, and unforgettable, the third movie in the horror franchise is pretty terrible. In Urban Legends: Bloody Mary, Samantha Owens (Kate Mara) discovers that the old legend of saying the name "Bloody Mary" in a mirror might actually have some truth to it.
As Sam and her brother David (Robert Vito) investigate, Sam ends up seeing Bloody Mary herself, which should be terrifying but isn't exciting at all. The movie has no cool characters, no love story to offset the creepy parts, and nothing to make it stand out. Most of all, the other two movies in the franchise are a lot scarier and more interesting.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)
Freddy Krueger's ability to haunt dreams makes the '80s horror film A Nightmare On Elm Street so legendary. It definitely doesn't come as a surprise that the 2010 remake just doesn't live up to the original.
Instead of being a groundbreaking and classic horror movie with a threat that no one can forget about, the 2010 film is a poorly told story about teenagers, who don't have much personality or much to do throughout the movie. Nancy Holbrook (Rooney Mara) and Kris Fowles (Katie Cassidy) are friends who learn about Freddy, who in this movie molested kids at a daycare center. Horror fans will be sad that the quality feels so different from the original. And as a movie about high scholers, it doesn't do much, either.
Disturbia (2007)
There are several underrated horror movies from the 2000s, but Disturbia isn't one of them. The movie is a new take on Rear Window and stars Shia LaBeouf as Kale Brecht, a teenage on house arrest because he assaulted his teacher.
As Kale spies on his neighbors, he thinks that Robert Turner (David Morse) is a serial killer and stops at nothing to prove it, except of course he has to stay inside so that definitely cuts down on his real time investigating. There's a bit of a love story with Kale becoming friends with his neighbor Ashley (Sarah Roemer) but the movie won't keep horror or thriller fans interested for very long.
The In Crowd (2003)
The 2003 thriller/horror movie The In Crowd is a horrible movie that uses thriller movie tropes like a woman being called "crazy" and being blamed for events that she had no part in.
Adrien Williams (Lori Heuring) leaves a mental hospital and starts working at a country club where she becomes friends with pretty and popular Brittany Foster (Susan Ward). When Adrien and Matt Curtis (Matthew Settle) like each other, Brittany gets incredibly upset and jealous and does everything she can to get rid of Adrien. Brittany makes everyone think that Adrien murdered Henry Thompson (Daniel Hugh Kelly), Adrien's doctor, and Adrien fights back and learns that Brittany was responsible for the mysterious disappearance of her sister Sandra. It isn't much to tell audiences that Brittany is the real villain and Adrien is a good person, as the movie makes it super obvious that Brittany is evil.