Spooky movies for tweens

[jackie011]

DS is 10. He’s watched Halloween with DH (I was not on board, but it happened) DS keeps asking about other spooky movies and we just can’t find one we’re ok with him watching. Any suggestions for movies that would be better suited to this age group?

[expectantsteelerfan]

The Addams family movies are playing on Paramount today and are likely streaming somewhere, so they would be a good choice. Maybe Beetlejuice?

My 13 year old watched The Shining and Jaws with me earlier this year, and neither was too bad (there was a scene in The Shining that was sexually inappropriate, so maybe a TV version would have it edited), but both were kinda 'boring' by today's movie standards (just in terms of pacing and special effects) so I'm not sure a kid would enjoy them if they didn't have a previous interest in seeing them.

[maudefindlay]

My kids have watched The Conjuring. No sex scenes that I recall. Jump scare movie for sure.

[jackie011]

Oct 13, 2024 13:18:03 GMT -5 expectantsteelerfan said:

The Addams family movies are playing on Paramount today and are likely streaming somewhere, so they would be a good choice. Maybe Beetlejuice?

My 13 year old watched The Shining and Jaws with me earlier this year, and neither was too bad (there was a scene in The Shining that was sexually inappropriate, so maybe a TV version would have it edited), but both were kinda 'boring' by today's movie standards (just in terms of pacing and special effects) so I'm not sure a kid would enjoy them if they didn't have a previous interest in seeing them.

He’s seen Jaws, we watched Beetlejuice together and then saw the new one at the theater. He’s determined to watch It and both of us are like NO WAY!

[momin2013]

The Ghostbusters movies would be good.

[lo]

The Goosebumps season that came out last year was very spooky fun and for my tween.

[maudefindlay]

Oct 13, 2024 15:31:10 GMT -5 jackie011 said:

Oct 13, 2024 13:18:03 GMT -5 expectantsteelerfan said:

The Addams family movies are playing on Paramount today and are likely streaming somewhere, so they would be a good choice. Maybe Beetlejuice?

My 13 year old watched The Shining and Jaws with me earlier this year, and neither was too bad (there was a scene in The Shining that was sexually inappropriate, so maybe a TV version would have it edited), but both were kinda 'boring' by today's movie standards (just in terms of pacing and special effects) so I'm not sure a kid would enjoy them if they didn't have a previous interest in seeing them.

He’s seen Jaws, we watched Beetlejuice together and then saw the new one at the theater. He’s determined to watch It and both of us are like NO WAY!

I don't find It scary at all. It's creepy, but I'm not scared. I think there is a little nudity in one of them and cursing.

[simpsongal]

Ds is also 10 - we’re thinking of watching The sixth sense.

Hitchcock movies are great though some may be a little slow. All Tim Burton. We cold probably do poltergeist and amityvilke horror. There was a movie called The watcher in the woods that seriously creeped me out.

Idk though - he’s seen lots of violent movies, but horror is tricky. I don’t like much horror it gives me nightmares . Maybe gremlins 2, the scream movies are probably a bit much. I’ve never seen nightmare on elm street or a lot of classics. Exorcist maybe?

[christy082]

I'm thinking maybe Poltergeist? It's been so long since I've seen it that I can't remember if there is anything inappropriate in it, but nothing comes to mind.

[jackie011]

Oct 13, 2024 20:17:23 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Ds is also 10 - we’re thinking of watching The sixth sense.

Hitchcock movies are great though some may be a little slow. All Tim Burton. We cold probably do poltergeist and amityvilke horror. There was a movie called The watcher in the woods that seriously creeped me out.

Idk though - he’s seen lots of violent movies, but horror is tricky. I don’t like much horror it gives me nightmares . Maybe gremlins 2, the scream movies are probably a bit much. I’ve never seen nightmare on elm street or a lot of classics. Exorcist maybe?

That’s part of my problem- I don’t like any of it so I have a hard time determining what it is about certain movies that makes then a hard no. I defer to DH who loves it all, which is why DS is excited to watch them.

[jackie011]

Oct 13, 2024 20:12:37 GMT -5 maudefindlay said:

Oct 13, 2024 15:31:10 GMT -5 jackie011 said:

He’s seen Jaws, we watched Beetlejuice together and then saw the new one at the theater. He’s determined to watch It and both of us are like NO WAY!

I don't find It scary at all. It's creepy, but I'm not scared. I think there is a little nudity in one of them and cursing.

I read about It on common sense media and decided there was just too much he wouldn’t get to make it worthwhile.

[countthestars]

I still traumatized from the 6th sense, which I saw in 6th grade!

[InBetweenDays]

Hubie's Halloween
Haunted Mansion
Signs (ETA maybe skip the beginning scene with the mom)

[magpie]

Oct 13, 2024 20:17:23 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

There was a movie called The watcher in the woods that seriously creeped me out.

I got so scared of that movie when I was a kid too! Nerak!

I feel like horror is tricky because sometimes it's not so much the content but rather the imagery and vibe can be scary and nightmare enducing. I walked in on the Redrum scene of The Shining when I was a kid and had nightmares about it for years, even though I only saw a little snippet of the scene (and no actual violence). It probably depends a lot of the kid. My kids are both still super sensitive about creepy stuff so we haven't had to explore spooky movies yet. We watched The Goonies recently and they declared that it was "so scary" because there were skeletons in it! 

[UMaineTeach]

Oct 14, 2024 2:07:27 GMT -5 magpie said:

Oct 13, 2024 20:17:23 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

There was a movie called The watcher in the woods that seriously creeped me out.

I got so scared of that movie when I was a kid too! Nerak!

My kids are both still super sensitive about creepy stuff so we haven't had to explore spooky movies yet. We watched The Goonies recently and they declared that it was "so scary" because there were skeletons in it! 

My kid at 4 could watch the animated movie Robots where they take all the Robots down underground and chop them up for scarp with big dramatic music and evil laughter without a problem.

But some episodes of Curious George are too much for her. She says they are too scary and wants them turned off.

[ny96]

Oct 13, 2024 20:17:23 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Ds is also 10 - we’re thinking of watching The sixth sense.

Hitchcock movies are great though some may be a little slow. All Tim Burton. We cold probably do poltergeist and amityvilke horror. There was a movie called The watcher in the woods that seriously creeped me out.

Idk though - he’s seen lots of violent movies, but horror is tricky. I don’t like much horror it gives me nightmares . Maybe gremlins 2, the scream movies are probably a bit much. I’ve never seen nightmare on elm street or a lot of classics. Exorcist maybe?

I was so scared of Watcher in the Woods as a kid and always went to sleep early at slumber parties so I wouldn’t have to watch it. To this day when my kids ask me what the scariest movie I’ve seen is, I say Watcher in the Woods.

[simpsongal]

Oct 14, 2024 12:26:02 GMT -5 ny96 said:

Oct 13, 2024 20:17:23 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Ds is also 10 - we’re thinking of watching The sixth sense.

Hitchcock movies are great though some may be a little slow. All Tim Burton. We cold probably do poltergeist and amityvilke horror. There was a movie called The watcher in the woods that seriously creeped me out.

Idk though - he’s seen lots of violent movies, but horror is tricky. I don’t like much horror it gives me nightmares . Maybe gremlins 2, the scream movies are probably a bit much. I’ve never seen nightmare on elm street or a lot of classics. Exorcist maybe?

I was so scared of Watcher in the Woods as a kid and always went to sleep early at slumber parties so I wouldn’t have to watch it. To this day when my kids ask me what the scariest movie I’ve seen is, I say Watcher in the Woods.

It really is creepy right? If you read about the film the making was a bit of a mess, to the point the story doesn’t even make a lot of sense.

[nicolewi]

People, some (most?) of these movies are NOT for tweens IMO! Whoa! I'm a total wimp about horror movies of any kind after being traumatized at sleepovers in 6th grade.

I'd go for something more Halloween funny, or classic suspense maybe.

I do think there's a dearth of fun Halloween movies that are fun and not too scary.

[bbdoll]

How about The House With a Clock In Its Walls?

[momin2013]

We watched We Have a Ghost (Netflix) with DS last year when he was 10 and we all really enjoyed it.

[leahcar]

The Conjuring universe is super scary, but not inappropriate as far as sex, etc. MH is a big horror fan and my kids have watched these with us. In full disclosure- those movies do scare ME as well. LOL

Agatha All Along on Disney+ is about witches and I've liked it so far. It's a show though so at least 1 more episode to go.

[luckystar2]

I think it really depends on the kid and what level of scary he is looking for. I use common sense media a lot to figure out scary movies. My dd is older but has loved scary movies for a while. At this point she is totally ok with any level of scariness but I hate how much sex/nudity etc can be in scary movies so I use common sense media for that. But it’s good to figure out how much violence/scariness is in there too.

For low level spooky - we really liked the new goosebumps series as well as the goosebumps movies.

[wise_rita]

Is Are You Afraid of the Dark? viewable anywhere?

I don't know how they've aged since the 90s but they were the perfect level of scary back when I was that age.

[shauni27]

Oct 13, 2024 21:23:41 GMT -5 countthestars said:

I still traumatized from the 6th sense, which I saw in 6th grade!

same, lol. 

But I HATE horror movies. Hate.

[Shawn Spencer]

Oct 15, 2024 12:23:47 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Is Are You Afraid of the Dark? viewable anywhere?

I don't know how they've aged since the 90s but they were the perfect level of scary back when I was that age.

Actually yes! It's streaming on Paramount+

[1yeartogo]

It’s a show but Wednesday? My tween liked that.