Horror Film Night for Kids

[Retronight25]

My dc are 11 and 13 and we've started a horror movie night with snacks on a Saturday after dinner. As they are still young a lot of films are out of bounds, and we're not looking for a gore-fest, but more something with a good storyline that still feels a bit edgy to them. From age 10 I was getting awful 18s from the video shop and I dont want them on Freddie yet!

So far we've watched:
The Others
The Woman in Black
The Omen
Misery

They've enjoyed them all. What can we watch over the next few weeks? Any recommendations please?

😂 I was coming to suggest hocus pocus but if you’re letting them watch 18’s at age 11 then I think it might be a bit tame for them 😂

What about a daft 'horror' like Gremlins?

The birds
Poltergeist
Psycho goreman
The black phone
The shining
Knock at the cabin

Sleepy Hollow
Jaws

What about the teen horrors Scream/Final Destination/I Know What You Did Last Summer? Too much?

Let the Right One In

Also it might be too uncool but my dad had me watching Hitchcock at that age - The Birds, Psycho, 39 Steps. Loved them.

Anything from the 50’s and 60’s (or earlier) would work as they are tame by modern standards eg Hitchcock, quatermaus, the original Fly, the thing … we had a boxed set of about a dozen classics

I was definitely Hitchcock and Stephen King.

@youcannaecallherfanny surprisingly they weren't coming up as 18s anymore. Maybe Misery was... they're both at secondary and we're quite strict so thought this was a good 'in' for them without too much blood etc.

Maybe Sixth Sense??

Definitely The Shining.

We've also watched things like Alien when our teens were younger and they enjoyed them.

The Shining was on repeat in my house! They want to watch "It" but I've never seen that.

Thirteen Ghosts

Thirteen Ghosts is BRILLIANT (you’ve reminded me I have it somewhere and I’m going to watch it later).

If they’re good with The Shining, they can probably handle Poltergeist.

Crimson Peak.

Alien and Aliens

Definitely The Sixth Sense.

I watched The Shining with DS when he was about 13 and I’d forgotten about the naked woman in the bath scene. Be warned!

I love a good horror but i wouldn’t show these to my kids, they are quite disturbing even if they’re not blood and gore. It’s also difficult to predict what will stay with a kid when they watch it, something we find harmless can have a bigger impact than we expect. Or maybe I’m just a nervous Nelly 🤷