Kids & Parenting
Pre-Screams for Pre-Teens
Entry-level “scary” movies for kids who want to be a little spooked, not terrified, this Halloween.
With Halloween falling on a Saturday night this year, slumber parties and post-trick-or-treating festivities are bound to fill living rooms across the country. Nothing goes better with a bag of Halloween candy than a scary movie—but which one? Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween and the Halloween offerings from the Nick/Noggin crew are easy choices for younger kids, and teens will pick their own. But I’m hosting a pack of 8-year-olds who think they’re ready to be scared. I polled my DoubleX colleagues looking for starter-scary flicks and we came up with 10 movies that will give middle-graders just the right dose of Halloween.
1. Casper: It’s got a just-right haunted house, a small dose of grief, and a Gothic mansion. And, according to staffer Torie Bosch, it’s “the most romantic movie ever.” (OK, she was a sixth-grader at the time.)
2. Labyrinth: The David Bowie version of Alice in Wonderland is goblin-filled and impressive, with delicious monster-puppet effects. Don’t tell your kids, but Nina Shen Rastogi claims there will be lessons about appreciating your siblings.
3. Ghostbusters: Worth it for the title song alone, funny and scary in equal parts. If the innuendo about the Keymaster and the Gatekeeper doesn’t go over their heads, then they already know anything this movie would teach them.
4. Monster House: All animated, but this is no cartoon for little kids, because the classic mean old man down the street lives in a kid-eating, predatory house that’s absolutely out to get the main characters. Rachael Larimore declared this one a little scary for her 5-year-old, but I sense her family will watch it again this year.
5. Something Wicked This Way Comes: Creepy and suspenseful, this one offers an introduction to why carnivals are scary (and a welcome rescuing parent). Classic junior horror, without the modern leavening laughs.
KJ Dell'Antonia Former Manhattan lawyer and prosecutor, Xxtra Small reviewer, parent of four. Lover of books and bacon.
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Comments
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The Witches!
By: tom99 | Sat, 10/31/2009 - 11:41
I read this book when I was in Grade 1 (on the advice of a 4th grader) and it scared the poo out of me! I was totally convinced that my teacher was a witch! I only saw the movie recently and didn't think much of it (but I've been a die-hard Dahl fan since recovering from that first slightly terrifying experience, so anyone messing with his masterpieces is bound to disappoint.)
Witches
By: Starfish | Sat, 10/31/2009 - 03:47
Witches is a fantastic movie, but creepy. I think a 12 year old would enjoy it; that's about how old I was when I saw it.
I may be an outlier, but ...
By: djheydt | Fri, 10/30/2009 - 22:40
I may be an outlier, but ... you want to know what scared me blue when I saw it in re-release at about four?
The Disney _Snow White_.
Not because the evil Queen was going to kill Snow White. No problem there; I knew the story after all and knew she was going to be foiled eventually.
It was the moment when she had just taken the uglification potion and held up her beautiful slender hands to a window and screamed "My hands!" and a lightning bolt flashed and they turned to wrinkled claws. Brrr. Go figure.
My kids, on the other hand -- being then about 9 and 10 -- started to get scared at the heart-cutting-out scenes in _Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom_, until I said, "Look at those great special effects! It really looks as if they were cutting his heart out! How do you suppose they worked that?" and at that point they stopped being scared and started thinking like special-effects artists. Probably would not work for everybody else's kids.
The Witches rocks!
By: AnneMarie | Fri, 10/30/2009 - 19:21
I love The Witches! I watched it over and over again as a kid.
YES
By: sinistra | Fri, 10/30/2009 - 13:17
Definitely agree with your warning about The Witches. I was scared of Anjelica Huston for years after watching the first five minutes of that movie (after which I ran from the room, or so my parents tell me). I have no recollection of anything about the movie or even the fact that Anjelica Huston was in it, but I mentioned to my mom once that I found her unaccountably creepy and she was like "...oh my god. We should never have showed you a single minute of The Witches. We scarred you for life!"
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By: Lucky312 | Fri, 10/30/2009 - 12:19
The Worst Witch was awesome! Don't forget Ernest Scared Stupid! Halloween classic!
I'm a big fan of Lady in White with Lucas Hauss
By: Tiggerhorns | Fri, 10/30/2009 - 10:51
A film from the 80's that takes place in a flashback to early 60's so it doesn't feel as dated, but I didn't scare easily. I loved the Wizard of Oz and Watcher in the Woods.
one more...
By: vim876 | Fri, 10/30/2009 - 10:35
What about Coraline? Strong, young, female character, scary but not too scary, etc.
You forgot one!
By: asianshoebox | Fri, 10/30/2009 - 09:58
You forgot "The Worst Witch"! 1986 Halloween classic starring Fairuza Balk as Mildred Hubble, the clumsiest witch at the all-girls academy. The very, very best part is Tim Curry as The Grand Wizard. He visits the girls at the academy and sings the kickass "Anything Can Happen on Halloween". It contains the greatest line in any song ever, which is "has anybody seen my tamborine?" It is awesome and is full of totally 80's special effects. I found it on Amazon and gave it to my neices (2 & 4) and they LOVE it. I highly recommend it for girls of all ages.