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Not-so-scary movies for Halloween


MercyA
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DD14 wants to watch a scary-ish movie for Halloween. I know we've had threads on this in previous years, but I can't find them! 

She doesn't like anything sad or super scary and s*xual references bother her (otherwise I think the 1991 Addams Family movie would be great--too many S&M references for her comfort). She's not into old movies. 

Of course feel free to list any favorites even if they don't fit what I'm looking for. Maybe someone else would enjoy them.

I just thought of one possibility: E.T. It takes place around Halloween and has some minor scares. Plus, little Drew Barrymore. 🙂 

Edited by MercyA
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Here’s some old school suggestions:  Has she ever seen Casper with Cristina Richie? My teens like it, though it’s a bit silly. Same for The Haunted Mansion movie (with Eddie Murphy). 

Last year we discovered “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” which is a 3-4 part miniseries/movie based on the 90s Nickelodeon tv show. Pretty creepy (much more than the above suggestions) but nothing over-the-top and no inappropriate references. 

Edited by alisoncooks
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1 hour ago, MissLemon said:

What about the Nightmare Before Christmas? I haven't watched it myself, but DS14 did and says it isn't very scary. He doesn't like scary movies and was worried it would be too much, but ended up liking it a lot.

Seconding this. Somehow, we had never seen it before last year, but once we did, we were hooked. I've even been making my way through a The Nightmare Before Christmas cookbook this month because it's such a fun movie.

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Wait until Dark (1967) with Audrey Hepburn
Or an M Night movie:  Signs, Unbreakable, Sixth Sense (some gore).
Indian Jones (some gore).

My dh wants to watch Stranger Things with me on Monday....

I hate horror movies, but enjoy suspense.

 

Edited by Beth S
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E..T. has a very inappropriate dinner table scene that you may want to preview to see if it still fits the bill.

 

Not a movie, but we very much enjoy the Twilight Zone around Halloween.  We can choose the episode we want to watch and know it's never going to be too much.

The one pairing that really freaked my kids out was watching the Worst Witch (Tim Curry, Faruza Balk, Charlotte Rae) and following it with Return To Oz (Faruza Balk).  The Halloween movie is fine and not scary.  The Oz movie is a trip and a half and very messed up.

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5 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

E..T. has a very inappropriate dinner table scene that you may want to preview to see if it still fits the bill.

I remember one brother calling another a "P**** head" or something like that at the table. Is there something else I am not remembering?

Thanks for the head's up.

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6 minutes ago, MercyA said:

I remember one brother calling another a "P**** head" or something like that at the table. Is there something else I am not remembering?

Thanks for the head's up.

It has been a while for me, but I remember the beginning of the movie having more than my kids were comfortable watching.  Spielberg was not always family friendly.  But, John Hughes movies are also on the "horrifying my kids in ways only the 80s can" list here, so we kinda skip many from that decade. 😂

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original old monster movies:
Frankenstein (1931)
Dracula (1931)
The Mummy (1932)
The Invisible Man (1933)
The Wolf Man (1941)

Vincent Price horror films:
House of Wax (1953)
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
House of Usher (1960)
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

comedy / "scary":
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
The Fuller Brush Man (1948) -- Red Skelton
Scared Stiff (1953) -- Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis

live action
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)

animated
Nightmare Before Christmas
Corpse Bride
Hotel Transylvania
Disney's Legend of Sleepy Hallow
It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

 

ETA -- oops! Just re-read your OP and see she's not "into old movies" -- too bad! Those early monster movies have some great lighting, framing and themes! 😄 

Edited by Lori D.
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1 hour ago, HomeAgain said:

It has been a while for me, but I remember the beginning of the movie having more than my kids were comfortable watching.  Spielberg was not always family friendly.  But, John Hughes movies are also on the "horrifying my kids in ways only the 80s can" list here, so we kinda skip many from that decade. 😂

LOL... oh my goodness. Yes. My husband and I would say, "This is a great movie." Then watch it with the kids and be absolutely horrified.  So so much went over my head, I think.  And/or I was desensitized to it.  But yeah.  

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3 hours ago, Lori D. said:

ETA -- oops! Just re-read your OP and see she's not "into old movies" -- too bad! Those early monster movies have some great lighting, framing and themes! 😄 

LOL! It's totally fine! I took a horror film class in college (it met some requirement--thought it was just a film class when I signed up!) and watched a lot of those on your list. Fun stuff! 

Actually, when I posted about movies, I almost wrote "Paging @Lori D." but didn't want you to feel obligated to break out your awesome lists! 🙂 

ETA: My FOO quotes Arsenic and Old Lace all the time. Especially this scene:

 

Edited by MercyA
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I mean, Hocus Pocus is a cult classic for a reason. Campy and silly, but fun.

There's multiple new tween-aimed Halloween offerings on Netflix. I haven't seen them, but they looked cute. One is The Curse of Bridge Hollow, which is a Halloween themed comedy with a bit of creepy ghost themes. Looks very tween movie. It has the girl who plays Erica on Stranger Things as the star. The other is animated and looks a bit more mature and creepy themed - Wendell and Wild.

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7 hours ago, MercyA said:

I remember one brother calling another a "P**** head" or something like that at the table. Is there something else I am not remembering?

Thanks for the head's up.

Dear heavens I do not remember this!! What I do remember for sure is that I saw this movie in kindergarten at school. What were they thinking? 🤣

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53 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Dear heavens I do not remember this!! What I do remember for sure is that I saw this movie in kindergarten at school. What were they thinking? 🤣

Maybe they bleeped it out! But even if they did, that movie is pretty intense for K'ers!

I remember watching some mainstream mini-series about George Washington and the Revolutionary War in the 1980's in fifth grade and it *really* bothered me. People have no sense sometimes!

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