Thursday Movie Picks: School (Halloween Edition)

 

For the 40th week of 2021 as part of Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. It is Halloween season as we go into the subject of school as it’s often a popular place where things go wrong and kids put themselves into stupid situations whenever they get killed and such. Here are my three picks:

1. Student Bodies

A spoof film from the early 80s that makes fun of slasher films is really this low-brow yet whimsical comedy about a young student who is trying to find out who is killing classmates and other people around her in school as she is the suspect. There’s always some guy breathing while there is also an actual body count and moments that just plays up the many clichés expected in horror films. Yet, the film features a major standout in Patrick Boone Varnell as the janitor as he’s just this hilarious physical presence who does these weird things as he is a total joy to watch.

2. The Faculty

From Robert Rodriguez and screenwriter Kevin Williamson is a take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers set in a high school where six high school kids notice that the school staff and other students are all acting weird and drinking water constantly. With an ensemble cast that includes Josh Hartnett, Jordana Brewster, Elijah Wood, Clea Duvall, Shawn Hatosy, and Laura Harris as the six students trying to figure out what is going on and Jon Stewart, Salma Hayek, Bebe Neuwirth, Famke Janssen, Robert Patrick, and Piper Laurie as the faculty who are acting odd is an inventive high school horror film that is smart and has engaging characters while taking shots and the many clichés expected in high school films.

3. Cooties

Elijah Wood is back on the list but this time as a substitute teacher who is part of the faculty with other teachers as they deal with a zombie outbreak where it’s the kids who are the zombies and trying to kill everyone. The outbreak begins because of a bunch of poorly-processed chicken nuggets one girl ate as she becomes a zombie and makes a bunch of other kids into zombies. It’s up to Wood and a group of teachers including Allison Pill, Jack McBrayer, co-writer Leigh Whannell, Nasim Perdad, and Rainn Wilson all try to fight these kids off with Jorge Garcia as a stoner who helps them. It’s a film that never takes itself seriously while finding an excuse to kill a bunch of zombie children.

© thevoid99 2021