Horror for kids!

My friend's kids (10F and 8M) can't go trick or treating this year so they want to watch a 'scary film' instead. They're both nice little kids with no concept of what a really scary film is about. They're just not old enough for most things. Their dad and I were chatting about it a few nights ago and 'Sleepy Hollow' was mentioned. Neither of us had seen it for years so I watched it again last night. The kids would never sleep again if they saw that! They've seen A Nightmare Before Christmas (we think) and both enjoyed that. Can you give me any recommendations? It doesn't matter if it's a '12' as long as it's not going to disturb them. Thanks for any suggestions!!

EDIT: They saw Nightmare Before Christmas last night for the first time and both loved it!

 

The Goosebumps films would be OK.
Nothing too bad in Gremlins as far as I remember.

 

This one is very popular from Disney and rated PG..my 6 year old grand-daughter loves it.Always wise for the parents to watch any movie first to see if there is anything they might find objectionable or too scary.

 

"The Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror"...maybe?.....there's over 30 of 'em!

 

Nicolas Roeg’s The Witches?

 

The Gate is a fun movie for children. My 12-year old self loved it. The lead characters are kids, and no one dies except

Spoiler: spoiler

a dog who is restored to life by the end.

There’s no graphic violence but a lot of great stop-motion monsters.

 

The Addams Family films are pretty good.

 

"The Watcher in the Woods" might be a good choice (1980 film with Bette Davis). It has a great spooky atmosphere, but nothing traumatizing.

 

The Classic monsters set from Universal is a good introduction but some kids won't watch old movies. My daughter loved them when she was 8-10 yo.
Hitchcock's The Birds.
Paranorman
Monster House

 

Gremlins was mentioned. That might be a good choice, though it may be just a tiny bit rougher than I remember (a family pet is killed, I think? creatures microwaved and shoved in a dispose-all?) Even so, I think they'd be ok, but that's your call as a parent and you know your kids.

If they will watch old black and white films, I'd show them King Kong. I know it looks strange now to people growing up with modern effects, but that's part of its charm. Would that be charming to a kid - ummm.... dunno about that

 

The Ghost and Mr Chicken with Don Knotts.

 

A good choice — maybe for Christmas, rather than Hallowe’en — might be The Amazing Mr. Blunden. Quite an old film, but it holds up well. I first saw it around the age of your friend’s kids. Bought it on BD recently, and it still looks great.

 

Gonna have to agree with the 1933 King Kong. It's in my all time top 5.

 

A couple of people mentioned ' Gremlins ' and that would be a fine , safe choice ; not too scary and a few laughs along the way.
But ! You should
just throw them in the pool and see if they can swim and put on ' Evil Dead '
Being scared is fun !

 

The Monster Squad
Ghostbusters
The Goonies (not horror, but I group it in with The Monster Squad)
The Lost Boys (maybe more of a pre-teen / teen film)
Beetlejuice
Edward Scissorhands
Frankenweenie

 

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

 

If I were a Dad, I'd probably do something like this. PRobably good that I am not a Dad.

I haven't seen it in a long time, but "Army of Darkness" might really work. I remember it being very action oriented, with plenty of comedy, but some fairly strong scares for kids. The language may be another matter alogether.

I just don't know any kids in these age groups and when I try to imagine what an 8 year old would find scary or what they would find overwhelming I'm at a loss.

Part of me is definitely in the camp of choosing a "ok, you can NOT tell your Mom we watched this" film.

 

I often think of this question myself. I can’t use myself as an example because I first watched Nightmare on Elm Street when I was 6, and The Exorcist at 12. I’m a well adjusted adult, but don’t recommend kids following in my footsteps. My boys are 11, 8, and 6. They just wanted Haunted Mansion starring PG Eddie Murphy on Disney+ and all enjoyed it. I’ve thought about Gremlins for the older two, but not sure if they are up for it. My main concern is Phoebe Cates character’s story about her dad as Santa Claus stuck in a chimney. My boys still say they believe in Santa and don’t want to ruin it.

 

Interesting, thanks for your post.

 

The House with a Clock in its Walls from a couple of years ago is a fun movie. I would think it would be a good Halloween movie for that age group. But I'd probably watch it or have their dad watch it first before deciding. I could see how some 8 year olds might be genuinely scared at parts.

 

Am I right in believing that was directed by the same guy that did the "Hostel" movies??

 

How about Casper?

 

Coraline

 

Coraline is great, but it freaked my kids out. It's a genuinely creepy movie. The audiobook, read by Gaiman, is great, too.

Gremlins has some gruesome scenes, but if your kids are pushing 10 it should be fine.

I'd nominate Coco for younger kids. There's another movie called The Book of Life that is supposed to be good as well, but I haven't seen it.

My 12 year old and I watched The 'Burbs, and he *loved* it. Might be an option for older kids.

 

For a cartoon movie: Monster House.

For a live action movie: Poltergeist. A few scary scenes but ultimately nobody dies in it.