Looking for ways to get into the Halloween spirit, but need a few ideas of movies that are appropriate for families, kids, tweens, and teens? Here is a list of some of my favorite Halloween movies to give you a few ideas. Some of these are specifically Halloween, others could be all-year favorites but with Halloween elements (such as Witches, Zombies, Mysteries, Magic, Aliens, or Monsters). Some are just for fun, some are comedies, some are eerie, and some make you want to jump or scream. Ultimately you are the parent, and you know best what will be too scary for your child, but I hope this list gives you a few ideas:
G rated favorites:
- Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad
- It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
- Monsters Inc & Monsters University
- Muppets from Space
- Scooby Doo and the Legend of the Vampire (animated)
- Scooby Doo in Where's My Mummy (animated)
- Vampire Dog
- Wallace and Grommit and the Curse of the Were Rabbit
PG rated favorites:
- Casper
- Corpse Bride
- Coraline
- Ernest Scared Stupid
- Goonies
- Halloween Town
- Haunted Mansion
- Hocus Pocus
- Hotel Transylvania 1 & 2
- Little Monsters
- Monster House
- Nightmare Before Christmas
- Paranorman
- Race to Witch Mountain
- Scooby Doo 1 & 2 (Escape to Witch Mountain and Monsters Unleashed)(Live Action)
- Spaced Invaders
- Tower of Terror
- Watcher in the Woods (this one scared the pants off me when I was a kid, so be careful)
- Witches
- Young Frankenstein
These are rated PG, but they are not for super young kids. They might have been rated before the ratings changed. In any case, I think they are closer to PG-13:
- Beetlejuice
- Clue
- Ghost Busters 1, & 2
- Something Wicked this Way Comes
PG-13 rated favorites:
- Addams Family & Addams Family Values
- Alfred Hitchcock movies- especially The Birds
- Beautiful Creatures
- Bewitched
- Brothers Grimm
- Death Becomes Her
- Dracula Dead and Loving it
- Dylan Dog
- Evolution
- Ghostbusters (2016)
- The Golden Compass
- Gremlins
- Harry Potter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8
- I am Legend
- I am Number Four
- I, Frankenstein
- Independence Day
- League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- Love Potion No. 9
- The Monster Squad
- The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, The Mummy 3, and The Scorpian King
- Mystery Men
- Pirates of the Caribbean 1-5
- Practical Magic
- Pride & Prejudice and Zombies
- RIPD
- Sherlock Holmes 1-2
- Stardust
- Twlight Series (to be honest, I could never really get into these, but they seem to be extrememly popular among teenagers and above)
- Vampire Academy
- Vampires Suck (the best movie in the Twilight Series)
- Warm Bodies
- The Woman in Black
- World War Z
Still need more viewing options? Here are some TV series that should help keep you busy:
- Bewitched (8 seasons)
- Charmed (8 seasons)
- Grimm (6 seasons and counting)
- Heroes (4 seasons)
- The Munsters (at least two seasons)
- Once Upon a Time (6 seasons and counting)
- Psych (8 seasons)
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch (7 seasons)
- Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments (2 seasons and counting)
- Vampire Diaries (8 seasons and counting)
- Veronica Mars (3 seasons)
- The X files (10 seasons and counting)
A word of caution... Just because movies have the same rating, does not necessarily mean that they are appropriate for the same age group. Maybe in a future post I will break down the list by age instead of by rating, and I will update this blog to include links to the movie trailers, but here is a good start to get you going on your Halloween fun.
And a few more that are just for you. They would require lots of censorship if sharing these programs with your teenagers or children, or see if they are available on VidAngel
Being Human (4 seasons)- sensuality, violence and gore.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (7 seasons)
iZombie (3 seasons and counting)
And a few more that are just for you. They would require lots of censorship if sharing these programs with your teenagers or children, or see if they are available on VidAngel
How did I do? What have I missed? What are some of YOUR favorite Halloween movies? Let me know in the comments.
