I’m so happy there won’t be any fighting today.
The Ghost and the Darkness (1996). True story. Africa 1898. Lions. Edge of your seat.
District 9 (2009) South Africa. Aliens. A little gore. And the added bonus is the lesson you can teach your kids about apartheid and the dehumanization of a society.

All right, I think I’ll go ahead and try a few of those! Rear window was excellent; much better than its recent remake—Suburbia—which goes too much the way of Silence of the Lambs.

Wait Until Dark (with Audrey Hepburn) is good bet, too, especially if it’s the first time watching. It has a fantastic suspense sequence. I’m pretty sure I jumped three inches watching that one.

Please don’t mention the word “Dragons” in a movie post. I was so determined to fall in love with that film and am still hurtfully reeling.

Mary, oh, yes!  The Ghost and the Darkness is a great, great, scary movie!

Excellent article as usual. one you might want to check out is an obscure story that came from a novel and was made into two movies - “Let the Right One In” (Swedish), and “Let Me In” (American). I prefer the Swedish film just a tad because of it overall mood (DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT watch it with the English overdub - it sounds like they hired actors from a failed adult film company). Both versions are fairly light on the “horror” part and more focused on the relationship between the kids. Anyway, you might want to check it out.

Also, although you do not like supernatural thrillers - The Exorcism of Emily Rose is fan.tas.tic.

Keep up the excellent work!

Doug Beaumont
www.messagebehindthemovie.com

My husband stubbornly persists in the opinion that The Mummy 3 wasn’t that bad, even though such a dumb statement routinely results in him being banished to the couch for the night.

@Mary - Wanna Bet?
.
Gaslight is definitely one of my favorite movies.  I love seeing Jessica Fletcher all sneaky nasty.    But for my money there’s nothing scarier than the opera singing puppet who appeared on an episode of the Teletubbies.

My kids pretty much run screaming from anything educational or religious…

I really wish I could enjoy scary movies.  I just can’t.  I have the perpetual problem of getting to invested in every movie I see.  Bad ones don’t leave my brain.  Scary ones scar me permanently.  I still haven’t recovered from Silence of the Lambs.  I will agree that the movie was exceedingly well-done—too well, actually.  But I cannot say it’s a “good” movie only because there are times I still feel nauseated at certain scenes from it.  Wish I could scrub some of those images from my brain.  Yes, I need to be careful about which movies I watch and generally avoid everything from the “horror” genre.

My little ones find the Dark Crystal completely terrifying.

And Willow.

I always liked Rosemary’s Baby as a teen… it wasn’t the ‘scary apartment building cult’ that was so terrifying to me. It was the creepy husband…..

Also, Ghostbusters. It’s a classic!  Oh, and Time Machine used to terrify me…....

A couple of other good scary ones for the kids:  Godzilla starring Matthew Broderick and King Kong with Jack Black.  No sex in either, IIRC.  The down side to the latter is its 3 hour length.  The kids (and the adults) would need to bring with them a certain amount of stamina.  A few more while I am thinking about it are The Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson.  Plenty of scary orcs, goblins, a Balrog and more included.  Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark/Temple of Doom has not a few scary scenes including skeletons, Nazis, surgically removed beating hearts, chilled monkey brains and exploding heads.  Parental discretion is advised, of course, for all of the above.

Consider any of the Universal Classic horror from the 30’s (Dracula, Frankenstein, Invisible Man). Bonus points: Abbott & Costello meeting Frankenstein.
Another must-see from the 30’s: FREAKS. Don’t let the title or subject matter scare you, I find it to be among the most humane movies ever made.
My wife insists on making CAT PEOPLE (the 40s version) a perrenial. It’s scary but not too scary, and has a solid Christian vibe. 
I second Let The Right One In with a caveat that it has an extremely inappropriate scene for young’uns, that might constitute as child p*rn, except it was essential to the story, giving it a nasty twist.  Just saying.
One of the very best scary movies on video is [REC]. Terrifying in a good way.

I second Nick Alexander’s caution - apologies, I forgot about *the scene.* I do not remember it being sexual (and thus not ch1ld p*rn), but there was under-age nudity (Europeans are more sensitive to violence than nudity, and not as concerned over the magic number 18 when it comes to age - so you have to watch out for that even though it is our MPAA that rates them). The American version may be more to Western tastes. Both are rated “R” though - and I would not suggest them for kids. I was responding to the article’s general discussion of good horror movies, as many of its suggestions were also noted to be inappropriate for children. Thanks for the caution!  :)

We just showed “Psycho” to our two middle-school aged girls, and they loved it.  (My kids, with the exception of one who is still too little to stay up anyway, are not particularly sensitive so I don’t worry much about gore etc.) 

If it weren’t for the almost-rape scene I’d show my girls “28 Days Later” because (along with Shaun of the Dead!) I think it’s a really fantastic zombie movie. 

We’ve shown them “Cloverleaf” as well. Some people hate the first-person camera thing, but I think it’s surprisingly poignant for a monster movie.

Oh, oh, also a great first-person monster movie all of my kids LOVED is “Super 8.”

Here are some other good ones: Jaws (1975), Psycho (1960), Spellbound (1945), Rebecca (1940), and Shadow of a Doubt (1943) - This was Hitchcock’s favorite of all his films, and it’s one of the best examples of creating tension and horror through suspense alone.  And for older audiences: Memento (2000), Let the Right One In (2007), Alien (1979), 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007), and Apocalypse Now (1979).

I’m sorry we watched Island of Lost Souls. We kept hoping it would get better, or show some signs of meaningfulness. It was just ugliness, physical and spiritual.

Watcher in the Woods is a great scary movie.  And the only thing is girls mysterious disappearance. No murders, no blood, no violence, just lots and lots of suspense.

I don’t know where you could possibly get it now, but Child of Glass (1978) was a good, scary kids movie.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077325/

Troll 2!  Available on Netflix Instant View.  There is some swearing.  No sex that I can recall, unless you count the seduction scene with the evil witch and her magical popcorn making powers.

Saun of the Dead, makes scary movies fun. Love these suggestions! I would add The Sixth Sense, Lady in the Water and The Village.

Another suggestion: I recommend “Beauty and the Beast.”. NOT the Disney version… the French 40’s version. It’s one of the most incredible movies you’ll ever see, and there are moments that are scary.

Also, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial.  Not scary, but there’s a trick-or-treat scene.

Great ideas for scary movies, Simcha.  You listed some of my favorites.  My problem is that all the adults in my family are just big babies when it comes to scary movies; they will not watch.  I can’t seem to “grow them up” and make them realize the fun they are missing And @Christina is right on the money with Wait Until Dark (1967).  I went to a theater to watch it with a girlfriend…the movie was wildly popular.  I got caught up in the tense scenes near the end, and was startled at the appropriate shock moment.  I liked it enough to go back and see it again with some other friends, but I decided to watch the audience rather than the screen at the instant of the shocker scene.  The sight of 300 people propelled, in unison, 6 inches vertically upwards by 600 gluteus maxima was a sight that makes me chuckle to this day.  Girls were screaming, boys were yelling, and I was laughing my head off.  The others thought I was crazy.  It’s a great memory.

I’d suggest Nosferatu (1922) as it’s on Netflix, but gosh- most kids would likely fall asleep as it’s silent AND b&w.

So all things considered, I’d recommend Nosferatu.

The Innocents (1961) - starring Deborah Kerr. It’s based on the Henry James story, “The Turn of the Screw”. Atmospheric and spooky, and truly an excellent piece of cinema (it won several awards following its release).

If you want a suspensful movie I found “The Changeling” very scary because everything that happened in this movie could actually happen to ordinary people.  There is no “that couldn’t happen except in a movie” stuff.  This is the one with George C. Scott not the Angelina Jolie one.
I think it was made in the early 80’s and most of the family can watch this.  I would, of course, not recommend it for little ones since some of the scenes are a bit scary.  I enjoyed it so much, I actually bought a copy.

Oh my gosh, I forgot _Signs_!  Great, great movie, SO much in it, and a real nail-biter.

Devil (people trapped in an elevator) is great. My son loved it.

Oh- and I should mention, that if you want a movie you can watch with your family that is TRULY TERRIFYING, try Ernest Scared Stupid.  The words “booger lips” still haunt my dreams.

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”  Either version.  Gives me the willies every time.

How about “Little Shop of Horrors”, the musical one with Ellen Green and Rick Moranis?  Great casting, spot-on costumes and sets, catchy music, creepy plant—what more could you want?

Or you can pick something truly dreadful and laugh about it all the way through.  May I suggest “Plan 9 From Outer Space”?

Where is Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein?  I would say Young Frankenstein too.. but there are a few inappropriate gags in it (and it is not really scary). 

If you really want to scare them, why not show them one of the presidential debates :).

Dead Again with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson!  As far as I remember, no sex, no gore, just a couple of disturbing images.  It’s a mystery built around the idea of reincarnation, switching back and forth between the past and the prest.  It has great acting, and it’s shot beautifully.  It keeps you guessing till the end.  It’s kind of like what I remember of Hitchcock movies like Psycho, in that the scary parts aren’t built on gore or menace but instead on suspense and intellectual thrills, as you slowly piece things together, with a huge shock at the end.

My thoughts for movies would be:
Labyrinth (1986) - Is anything scarier than David Bowie in tight pants?
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) - Candy galore and naughty children!
Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) - Quite funny
Shaun the Sheep (2007) - some great scary/funny episodes such as “Little Sheep of Horrors”, “Things That Go Bump”, and “The Visitor”
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) - I am from Minnesota, so Peanuts holds a special place in my heart.
The Witches (1990) - I always loved this as a kid, and it also incorporates eating chocolate in an interesting way….
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) - An older flick that I always enjoy.

Simcha:
  You don’t mention “Flatliners”.  This is a great movie which captures the concept of atonement and even of Purgatory.  There is some sexual material but it has been awhile since I have seen it so I am not sure how explicit it is but it is fairly brief. There is also an explicit drug scene.

I love my nostalgic fall holiday Halloween and make a point of watch plenty of creepy movies all month in celebration of it, so here’s a few of my own suggestions.  Both the original Nosferatu and Herzog’s remake are atmospheric masterpieces.  1927’s The Cat and the Canary is an amazing example of an early haunted house movie. The amount of blood is off the charts but Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is as depressingly dark and Victorian-y gothic as anyone’s heart could desire…if it’s a little too much maybe try his beautifully designed Sleepy Hollow instead (you may want to screen it for yourself first though, mainly because of a couple of the witchcraft scenes).  You mentioned plenty of great Hitchcock films but don’t forget Psycho.  And I’ve got to admit that if you really want a disturbing film there’s always the cult classic Freaks…

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca is a good movie (at least, it’s been a few years, but I remember it being good). Though it bugs me how SPOILERS SPOILERS they had to change it from the book so that Maxim was innocent, because a murderer couldn’t go unpunished. In my opinion, though, he WAS punished, even though he escaped the law. Though it does make me more comfortable with feeling sorry for him.

Movies that have scared the $#!% out of me (that haven’t been mentioned yet that I can tell)...
  Seven
  The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
  The Shining
  Pet Sematary
  Cujo
 
There are probably more, but I’ve blocked them out… ;-)

I just had a thought… A few of the Sherlock Holmes series done by Granada starring Jeremy Brett might meet all your requirements.  They can be creepy, even a little scary, but in the end Sherlock Holmes always shows the reality.  And there was no better Holmes than Brett.

I liked MONSTER HOUSE and THE CORPSE BRIDE.

I’m like RMMT above: scary scenes stay with me for e-v-e-r.  Though I saw one Friday XIII movie in high school and it wasn’t as bad as I feared; no clue which installment it was, but Jason apparently has scruples about killing kids (he didn’t, in spite of appearing in a room full of them), so that gave him points in my book. 
  An English teacher also showed us a short film (wish I could remember the name) about a mountain man whose wife had died; most of the movie is him making the coffin and preparing her for burial.  A mountain lion arrives in the night and tries to eat the corpse (it’s dark, so the man can’t see anything, he can just hear a fight) - but when morning comes, the guy finds the lion’s ear bitten off in his wife’s mouth.  The only word in the film is him screaming her name at the end. 
  But for creepy weird movies (though I think they’re classified as comedies), the French movies “Delicatessen” and “City of Lost Children” are good.  The first is a post-apocalyptic movie about a guy finding love with the daughter of a butcher who obtains meat by serving up the people who show up looking for work.  The other is about a mad scientist who can’t dream and captures children to steal their dreams.  Bizarre stuff in both and creepy without being flat-out terrifying.

What about Labyrinth?  Totally creepy, and there’s nothing more terrifying than David Bowie’s tight, tight pants.

“5,000 Fingers of Dr. T”
A non-animated Dr. Seuss film that wasn’t terrifying as much as seriously creepy & surreal.(I personally thought all Dr. Seuss was a bit creepy when I was a child.)

Anna ,
The film you describe is from an Ambrose Bierce short story-can’t remember the title right now.

There’s also the original 1922 and then the Herzog remake of Nosferatu:  basically the Dracula story but much, much, much better.  The 1922 is silent so probably too hard for littler ones.  And the Herzog version should probably only be watched by those 15 or older, but both are magnificent.  Dark though.  Not campy, but dark and wrenching.

And another one just for older folks:  Pan’s Labyrinth.  One of the main characters is a violent sociopath so brace yourself for extreme stuff, but its young heroine is brilliant and courageous even in the midst of some serious misdeeds. 

“Child of Glass,” a Disney film (from the Sunday night Disney movies from the 70’s/80’s) totally creeped me out.  I can still hear the spooky call of “Alex-ann-derrrrr….”

I love “I am Legend.”

Thank you for the link, Simcha!

It’s considered a kids movie, but “Monster House” is really creepy and twisted.  The remake of Fright Night is a lot of fun too, but I don’t know what your restrictions on profanity and such are, because it’s full of it.

My daughter is partially named after the heroine of The Mummy :).  We liked the name anyway and she’s a great character.

I get affected like RMMT and Anna. Why. do. people. watch. horror. movies?  It’s kind of weird how watching people get hacked up, have their heads blown off, or get disemboweled is entertainment. 
.
I have a problem with taking it too personally, even if it is merely a depiction, rather than the real thing. I marinate in guilt when my younger sons sneak in and watch what their older siblings watch or play violent games—last Sunday it was a Zombie movie. I also don’t want to remember that there are fallen angels prowling around trying to find hosts to ride in.  Indiana Jones is intense enough for me!  I was pregnant with my first when I saw “Alien” and the baby thrashed around for hours from the adrenaline.
.
I can’t speak for “There be Dragons” because I fell asleep literally in the first five minutes, but my vote for the worst movie of all time that both creeped me out, and made me get up and walk out of a theater is “Blue Velvet”.
.
I’ve been trying to broaden my horizons a bit with some more of the testosterone laden varieties of movies.  My husband is delighted, but I couldn’t help but ask my confessor if and why “bloodlust” should be more tolerable than the other kind of lust which can be found on the silver screen.  As an Air Force chaplain, he said that this was an entirely valid and troublesome point.  So far I’m not losing any sleep over it though, even while the average age of boy in my household that plays violent Xbox games sinks to a new low with every passing year.

Something Wicked This Way Comes, but I’m a Ray Bradbury fan. 
Twilight Zone—not the bad 80’s remake, the original—get a few and feel creeped and geeked at the same time.  Mystery Science Theatre The movie cracks us up every time, awesome fun and slock.  Young Frankenstein for the olders, Star Trek First Contact—the Borg always scare.  Dial M for Murder.  have fun!

I’m with you, annalisa…. I much prefer to just, well, Be not afraid!

am i totally lame if I suggest Hocus Pocus??

We used to show Midnight Lace at pj parties when our kids hit 3rd or 4th grade. I used to love hearing a whole couch full of girls scream!  It starred Doris Day and Rex Harrison.  I’ve got to chime in with disagreement on Seven - that movie was traumatic for me as an adult - I can’t believe we stayed through to the end (thinking all along that surely the worst had happened and then finding at the end that it DEFINITELY hadn’t!).

Great suggestions all around! :) For me, though, the creepiest movie I saw in my childhood was definitely “The Dark Crystal” by Jim Henson. It’s been over 25 years since the one and only time I saw it, but I remember it vividly *shudder*. It’s not too scary and the puppets were amazing, Jim Henson and his puppeteers were real geniuses. Good story too, but really creepy.

I have to say that I’m amazed that nobody so far has mentioned “Gremlins”! It’s both funny and creepy, a perfect mixture of comedy and suspense, I think it’s perfect for kids. Plus Gizmo is adorable. :)

I think you could re-title this post “12 movies to Terrify Anne”.  I hate scary, suspenseful movies.

However, I would add two to your list…Jurassic Park and Jumanji.  Sometimes when I’m trying to fall asleep a Velociraptor comes from around the corner and attacks me. ;)

I know you said you aren’t into the supernatural horror thing, but have you looked into The Exorcism of Emily Rose? It’s actually rather shocking how explicitly Catholic the movie is, even though it was produced and directed by a run of the mill Hollywood crowd.

Some Catholics have tried to demonstrate heretical themes in one aspect, but I think they are grasping at straws to be honest. Honestly, the whole thing could have been written by an exorcist.

Couldn’t agree more with Arachnophobia, The Birds, and Tremors. Fun stuff. If we’re sticking with PG/PG-13 movies, I’d suggest SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, TWILIGHT ZONE THE MOVIE, THE WITCHES, PROPHECY, KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE, THE GATE, and THE BLOB.

I went ahead and put a post up at http://b-moviecat.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-b-list-movies-to-give-your-children.html explaining why I like those if anyone’s interested.

Tucker and Dale vs Evil is good scary, gory fun.  I loved it.  The Innocents, starring Deborah Kerr has always scared the snot out of me and still does.

I do remember Gremlins freaking me out quite a bit…  Also Candyman, though that might be a wee bit adult for kids.

The Mummy over The Ring, The Exorcist, The Omen (original), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (original), The Haunting (original), or The Shinning?OK, that’s your opinion. I’d have to add these to my list. But I do agree with Silence of the Lambs. Dang near left me in a coma.

@Anna Lisa - I’m with you on the blood and gore.  I’m not particularly crazy about scary movies either and my husband detests them so we rarely watch them around here.  But some of these are really more psychological thrillers than violent.  Gaslight and the Hitchcock ones in particular.  Everyone should watch Gaslight, Rear Window and The Birds (which I personally find more absurd than frightening).  It’s a matter of cultural literacy.  I would probably add a few Hitchcock ones that I enjoyed - The Rope, Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, the Man who Knew Too Much, and Frenzy.  Some of them aren’t really scary at all, but they’re all creepy and I think fit nicely with the mood of Halloween.

How about “Wait Until Dark” with Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna and Audrey Hepburn?  A timeless classic that is truly a great Thriller!

Lady in White - ghosts not gore. Some “kids in jeopardy” scenes, but overall a good scary movie with a strong sense of time & place. You can feel and hear the October leaves crunching under your feet.

The Uninvited - 1944 version with Ray Milland, NOT the 2009 special effects on steroids remake. Book by Dorothy Macardle was a good read as well. Once again, all ghost and no gore. Boo.

A very interesting post and links today.  I have to admit that I grew up in an era of B-grade sci -fi movies like “The Thing”, “When The Earth Stood Still”, and many others.  As an aside I would recommend that children avoid viewing “exorcism” movies, spoofed or not.

As a further aside I recommend 2 thought-provoking films which are surprisingly relevant to our times: “When Worlds Collide” (1950) and “The Shoes of the Fisherman”.

For Thursdays blog: your take on generational change. Could be written in installments if necessary.

I second Sherlock Holmes. They’re good stories and you don’t have to worry about sex, boobs, swearing, etc. The Adventure of the Speckled Band always freaks me out.

“Attack the Block” was pretty nuts.  Aliens vs. a largely black British tenement gang.  Horrifying language, some people die, no nudity or sex that I recall.  The accents and slang were a bit impenetrable at time, but mostly understandable.  Oh, and drug references, a lot of them, because “Ron’s Weed Room” is also a major bit in the movie.  Probably only for teens on up.

@Eileen, thanks for the bit of advice.  Yes I remember watching Hitchcock movies as a child.  My husband gets a bit difficult when I try to watch *anything* that is a film classic, from before the 70s.  He is particularly irreverent about “Americana”, and cultural icons, here, but mostly because he has very little connection to them and thus zero sentimentality that you my parents or I might feel. I can trot out “cultural literacy” until I’m blue in the face, but when he starts to imitate their 50s and 60s Hollywood, stylized voices he becomes particularly insufferable. —But speaking of cultural literacy, I wonder if there is a *short* list of films in *any* genre that are so stunningly good, that I could convince him that he is indeed missing out on something, drop the accent and just watch…Didn’t Simcha write something along these lines once?

I have to suggest The Twilight Zone (episodes from the classic show, not the movie or the “new” series).  We just started watching a few of these on Netflix with our 12 year old, and he agrees that it’s just the right mix of “suspense and creepy” for him.  We’ve so far skipped episodes like “It’s a Good Life” but he’s seen The Monsters are Due On Maple Street and The Rip Van Winkle Caper.  And of course Nightmare at 20,000 feet.  We usually end up discussing themes such as what it is to be human, prejudice, group-think and mob mentality, and such.

Oh, Karen’s post just reminded me. I think the X-Files might be right up your alley. There are tons of “villain of the week” episodes, some of which are actually rather creepy. An hour or two of research would tease out which ones would fit the bill most of all.

Yeah, The Excorcist. What can I say, I was a new revert to the Faith and a young father of 3 at the time. I was flipping the channels and happened on a seen with the priests and called the kids out to see some Catholicism in action. Next came the terrible scene where the girl sits up and…well now some 15 years later they never fail to remind me of that terrible lapse of judgement of mine. Not for young children or even too much under 16.

I HIGHLY recommend ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’- for older kids…it is creepy, scary and has a beautiful pro-father message. The story was written by Ray Bradbury of blessed memory.

Combox ate my response, I’ll try to rehash as best I can.
.
I am one of those who can’t do scary very well, but I do enjoy some of the intellectual thriller types, as well as comedy. So…
.
I second The Changeling (1980), totally freaked me out in a good way. I may try to be brave enough to watch it again with my husband this Halloween, it is one of his favorite creepy movies. Flatliners is also good, the suspense had me wringing my hands and peeking through my fingers. I remember enjoying The Frighteners, a Comedy/Horror, though it’s been a while so I can’t really vouch for the content.
.
For something totally goofy, Transylvania 6-5000 is great for when something scary doesn’t let you fall asleep (not that that happens to me, ahem).
.
I always enjoyed the Nightmare Before Christmas, so that gets an annual viewing around Halloween. I feel like a dork for saying it, but there was this movie that always aired on the Disney channel around Halloween…it was about three witch sisters who would kidnap kids so they could use their life essence to stay young. Can’t remember the name now, but we used to watch that every year, too. And I have fond memories of Arachnophobia, which is odd since I suffer from arachnophobia. Heebie-jeebies!
.
I could go on, but I’m afraid this is getting too long. Though I do have to add that after seeing Sweeney Todd in the theater (awesome!!), I thought the movie was just terrible. Didn’t do it justice at all.

We always enjoy ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’. ( Simcha- don’t worry about Cary’s ‘blue’ hair ~it’s a black and white movie!) Great comedy/horror mix for kids!

Ooooh one more, can’t forget The Others (2001), another creepy but oh so good one.

Along with The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, I would put the last ten minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Of course, you would have to remind the kids that the ark was always kept in the temple so that others could not see it…

I’d recommend Rebecca, Blithe Spirit (with Rex Harrison 1945), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Arsenic and Old Lace (Cary Grant), Something Wicked this way Come, Watcher in the Woods, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, Phantom of the Opera (with Claud Reins), Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde, Young Frankenstein, Gremlins, Casper (with Christina Ricci), Beetlejuice, The Canterville Ghost, House on Haunted Hill (Vincent Price), Portrait of Jennie (1948), The Burbs, The Picture of Dorian Gray (Angela Lansbury), Ghostbusters.

For the adults and older kids, the most terrifying movie I’ve seen of late is Frailty. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264616/ Essentially, a father receives a vision that he has been chosen by God to kill demons who masquerade among us in human form. One of his sons believes him and joins in ; one does not. And things are not as they seem. To say more would be spoiler-y.

Another creepy one is *The Manchurian Candidate* (the original with Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury).  And this year, it’s topical! :)
.
My traditional Halloween movie, though, is Tim Burton’s *Sleepy Hollow*.  I’m not sure I would recommend it for kids below the age of ten, though…

“Johnny Got His Gun”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Got_His_Gun_(film)

This is the scariest movie I’ve ever seen

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is: Absolutely terrying; theologically accurate and uplifting; a true story ultimately invented by God to build up faith. The premise: if people refuse to believe in God, show them Satan. If they can be made to believe in Satan, they might come to believe in God. Our Lady gave Emily Rose a CHOICE to die immediately and avoid any further suffering, or to suffer greatly but through her life and death, many people would be saved. She chose the latter. The priest who was privvy to her choice willingly underwent incarceration just to make her story public. A GREAT story!

Thank you for making a list that isn’t “Catholic Scary Movies,” - your list contains real life movies like Army of Darkness, Shaun of the Dead, etc… this is a legit alternative to all these lists on super-Orthodox Catholic websites that no young person (0-25) will ever want to watch. THANK YOU!

Perhaps not strictly a “movie”, but has Dr Who been mentioned?

Arsenic and Old Lace (Cary Grant)- love this one, but it is hard to find.

One of my favorite scary movies is Fright Night.  Original was scary but not gory—maybe too much for the little ones.  I believe it was rate R.  The recent remake is pretty good too.  BTW David Tenant (FKA Dr. Who) is in the re-make.

Tori wrote:

“feel like a dork for saying it, but there was this movie that always aired on the Disney channel around Halloween…it was about three witch sisters who would kidnap kids so they could use their life essence to stay young. Can’t remember the name now, but we used to watch that every year, too.”

I believe the movie you are referring to is Disney’s “Hocus Pocus” which is terrific, very funny and appropriate for kids too. And I heartily reccommend “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, it is a Halloween must-see!

The Blair Witch Project. Fortunately I hadn’t been told it wasn’t real and I thought they really did find a video in the trunk of their car. It was amazingly effective with so little props, etc. Hi Simmy, been loving your blogs.

Blair Witch was ruined for me b/c I was from the area and had spent many happy hours in the ‘haunted’ park. Which was surrounded by suburbs on all sides and full of roads an electric lights…...

Lots of great movies are listed in the comboxes, but my favorite horror film is still “Jacob’s Ladder” (1990) with Tim Robbins, about a paranoid Vietnam vet who has visions of demons. Suspenseful and visually scary without gore, a main character you care about, and reflections on the meaning of suffering and death: it’s awesome! Some sex scenes, but not gratuitous, they fit with the story.

Have you seen Midnight Lace, with Doris Day? I found it riveting and definitely thrilling. It’s worth a watch.

Simcha—You should reconsider and see “30 Days of Night”.  Beneath the horror story and the gore is a meditation on the tragic hopelessness of atheism with a dash of modern day Doctor Faustus thrown in for good measure.

Your mention inspired me to finally write up my take on its hidden theological meaning:
http://www.cryptocatholic.com/2012/10/30-days-of-night-and-the-hopelessness-of-a-life-devoid-of-god/

Hey, Lloyd!  Great to hear from you!

I second the suggestion of Troll 2. It is one of the most ridiculously wonderful “horror” movies ever made. And The Exorcism of Emily Rose is really good and truly horrifying. I couldn’t sleep without the lights on for several nights after that one. Most Stephen King movies are pretty entertainingly cheesy and don’t have much sex or swearing.

No Ghost and the Darkness. I had nightmares about that film for years! Too scary! Only for agnostics. If you believe in demons, you’ll believe that these lions really were possessed and hunted hundreds of people. And ate them. Horrible.

Now The Mummy, I will watch over and over again, happily.

How about Black Narcissus?  As a fairly new convert, I was excited to find this old DVD (1947) with nuns (that actually turned out to be Anglican) on the front cover in a sale bin at the home improvement store here in Japan where I live, so I bought it.  I made the mistake of inviting my two older kids to watch it with me late at night.  Shivers.  There is just something incredibly creepy about the mentally unstable Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) as she becomes murderously insane from jealousy.  For some reason I can’t get the kids to watch it with me again.

Lots of good ones on your list.  I’d put out “Zombieland”- much like Shaun of the Dead.
The original “Terminator” scared the crap out of me as a kid.
A couple other scaries from my childhood were “Lady in White” and “The Sixth Sense” and “Event Horizon” and “The Blair Witch Project” and my dad had us watch the original “The Haunting.”  When I was in the navy, we used to keep some of the late watches awake by terrifying them with calls that whispered “You will die in 7 days” ala “The Ring” but I never saw that one myself.
Recently “The Next 3 Days” made me so tense I was almost sick, but it’s not scary, per se.
How about “Serenity?”

You want to hear something terrifying?  Haley Joel Osment (“I see dead people!”) is now 24 years old.  You’re welcome. :D
I’m not really a scary movie person, and I’m surprised to see the Holmes series mentioned in ths context since I don’t really think of it as scary—but yeah, I’d pretty much trade a limb for another ten years of Jeremy Brett.  Requiescat in pace…

The Fly 1986, Jeff Goldblum, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091064/.  Beyond scary it is terrifying.

Saw arachnophobia (a/b 10 minutes worth) when I was a kid and I didn’t take a shower for a couple of years just b/c of that awful shower scene. I’m a grown woman and I still check my shower for creepy crawlies before I hop in.

If you must scare your children, then show them that documentary about the Obama administration.

I tend to avoid true horror stories. As with my mother, if it’s impossible for it to happen, then it’s not that scary. If it’s possible, those are the one to avoid. The Exorcist, The Omen, Rosemary’s Baby comes to mind. I actually walked out on Alien so THAT is the scariest of all. Frankenstein can be very scary because real life cloning is becoming too much art reflecting the real world.

If you want a giggle and get scared, watch Hysterical.

My aunt saw Psycho when it came out, and never took a shower again. And always when someone was at home.

I have always liked “Village of the Damned.”  I don’t know if there has ever been a remake, but this movie is from maybe the 50s.  Those evil kids with the white hair are really scary!

@Barb—There was a remake of “Village of the Damned” starring Christopher Reeve before he was paralyzed.

@Erin—While there are horror elements in “Serenity” (the Reavers, whom you never really see for more than a split second), it’s much more a sci-fi flick in my opinion.  It also makes a whole lot more sense if you’ve watched “Firefly” beforehand.  If you’re looking for campy horror from Joss Whedon, check out the original movie “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Have to second Fr. JP on The Ring - dang scary and a great mystery to boot!  Also, much to my dismay, there was a great series called Apparitions, but alas, it only lasted one season (still on Netflix).

On the “comedy horror” side, it’s hard to beat Zombieland.

What about ‘Nosferatu’?  Genuinely terrifying and silent, too!  Turn off the lights, and watch a scary movie in silence.  Adds to the whole scary milieu.

“Night of the Comet.” Zombies, not very scary, and The Jerk gets to do a review.

I win.

I forgot, The Goonies movie! As a kid it freaked me out, as a teenager, I love it. 
Dr. Who episodes not to be missed: “Tooth and Claw”, “Girl in the Fireplace”, “The Family of Blood”,
“Blink”, “Silence in the Library”, “Midnight” . No gore, just creep.

I guess it’s opening a can of worms, but is it really the best idea to watch scary movies on Halloween?
I hate to give the devil more than his due, but also hate to give the appearance of participation in the whole pagan celebration theme.Especially with young children.Just saying…

I guess not a whole lot of you have woken up with a ghost standing next to your bed watching you.  Who needs scary movies when there is real life?

As much as we all like movies, and as this post is off of a conservative Catholic site, it might do folks good to listen to this great, and short homily (under 10 minutes) on movies by Fr. Ripperger (http://www.sensustraditionis.org/webaudio/Sermons/Disk1/Movies.mp3).  I don’t know if it will change what you all are posting as movies to see.  It seems to me that so often we actually rationalize away things that go against our faith, because we are struggling to be in the world and not of it.  In the area of media choices, particularly television and movies, it is my experience that most Catholics fall short.  And I mena otherwise truly solid, devoted, daily Mass going Catholics who fast, pray the Rosary, and more.  It is really so often not about movies that are appropriate to show to kids or not.  We make a false distinction here, as if it is ok for adults to watch movies that show sex scenes, gross immodesty, and worse, use our Lord’s Name in vain.  Anyway, I hope and pray that some of you check out the homily…

Shaun of the Dead?  Really?  This movie has the following in it, and this is just the language! (from Screenit.com)  At least 46 “f” words (1 used with “mother”), 2 “s” words, 4 slang terms using female genitals (“tw*t” and a possible “c*nt”), 4 using male ones (“pr*ck” and “c*ck”), 5 hells, 2 bollocks, 4 uses of “Oh my God,” 3 of “For Christ’s sakes,” 2 of “For God’s sakes” and 1 use each of “Christ,” “Jesus” and “Oh God.”

I realize that most priests don’t really talk about this kind of stuff from the pulpit, and everyone is at a different place, and I don’t want to come across as ‘holier than thou,’ - believe me, I have a long way to go in my life as well… But I am just concerned that it is really off the mark…

I STILL can’t watch The Dark Crystal, and I’m in my 30s! I may try again this Halloween - I have the DVD, I’ve just never been able to get past the childhood memories. :~P

I agree that Jurassic Park is a great one for kids old enough. It’s all sorts of suspense and many jump-out-of-your-seat moments… and if the kids aren’t scared by it, then they’ll love the dinosaurs. Just wish there was a way to clean up the language.

@Reba:  Yes, and with the time you save from not watching movies with cuss words in them, you can read The family Shakespeare [expurgated by T. Bowdler]. in which those words are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family, by T. Bowdler 

.

I hear it’s . . . nice.

http://www.amazon.com/Family-Shakespeare-Comedies-Bowdler-propriety/dp/0923891951/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350517514&sr=1-2&keywords=The+family+Shakespeare+bowdler

To be clear:  when people say, “Look, I don’t watch movies with bad language,” I say, “Fine.”  But when people say, “I sat there and counted, and it said tw*t four times and sh#t six times and . . and . . . and . . ” I kinda feel like it’s a silly conversation.

Right on, Simcha.  Right.  On.

Ditto on “Wait Until Dark”, “Midnight Lace”, “Shadow of a Doubt” (and anything by Hitchcock), “Gaslight” and “The Uninvited”. May I also suggest “The Spiral Staircase” (1945). It features a creepy house, stormy weather, and a mad killer of disabled women.  Another one to watch is “The Night of the Hunter” (1955) with Robert Mitchum.  The religious symbolism will most likely go over the heads of the younger viewers, but it’s very suspenseful and thought provoking. And Robert Mitchum is outstandingly creepy in it.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think suspense movies are so much better in black and white.

So many great suggestions, and hardly any of them available on Netflix instant watch.  Dangit!  I also wanted to follow up on “Let the Right One In” / “Let Me In”.  They were great movies (I liked the original Swedish better), but absolutely NOT for children. It’s more than just one inappropriate scene (which was inappropriate enough).  The bigger issue was the ramifications of the relationship that develops.  Children are not mature enough to really see it through, and honestly, it took me some time to digest it and really disturbed me when I got my head around it.  (It’s more subtle in the Swedish version, which I watched first.  The American version gives more obvious context.) Enjoy it for yourself, but leave the kids to watch something else.  And finally, Gremlins is a good scary movie for the family, but I skipped over the scene where Phoebe Cates discusses her childhood revelation.  I didn’t want to bust her bubble too early.

Edited that post poorly.  Should have said, “for my younger daughter” I skipped over that scene in Gremlins, so as not to bust her bubble too early.

@Simcha:  Reba didn’t say “I sat there and counted…” And I checked out the site she mentioned (screenit.com) to see what it was, and it’s a website that does these reviews of movies so that others do not have to.  So it is not every person being exposed to all of the language, sexuality, etc. It is the people who run screenit.com.  They tell you what’s in it, then you, with a properly formed conscience, decide whether or not it is appropriate or not.  They have chosen to do so as a service to others.

Really, I wish that Fr. Ripperger’s homily on movies(linked again here: http://www.sensustraditionis.org/multimedia.html), and another he gives on music(scroll down a little further on his page), were required listening for every priest, religious and layperson as well, particularly those who are in the public, and representing the Church on some level.  These homilies are very easy to understand, and very thought provoking, albeit challenging.

I hope you get the chance to take a look at screenit.com for yourself, and listen to Fr. Ripperger’s homily linked above, or really, any of his homilies.

@T:  No, I understand the service.  I just wonder if there are people who would be willing to watch a movie that has, say, 3 hells and 1 bollocks, rather than 5 hells and 2 bollocks reported here.  If not, what, exactly, is the point of laying it all out there in numbers?  Doesn’t that strike you as the weensiest bit absurd?  And the guy who sits there in a screening room making tallymarks under the “hell” “damn” and “fart” columns—does he tell his mom he’s working in Christian movies?  Or what?

.

My second question is, why is it okay for Reba to write those words on a Catholic blog, but it’s not okay for Shaun to say them in a movie that’s clearly rated R?  At least Shaun gave us some warning.  Reba, on the other hand, just blasted in here and started cussing away.  I call it inappropriate.

.

I’m also curious about the whole Shakespeare thing.  Have you been to a Shakespeare play?  Did you go to confession afterwards?  I’m really wondering.  Where’s the cutoff point?

.

This is my real, actual point:  we all have a cutoff point about what is and is not acceptable. I, for one, refuse to watch South Park because they use Our Lord’s name in vain CONSTANTLY, repeatedly, and in a completely unnatural and gratuitous way.  But I will watch a movie that has swear words in it (but, generally, not show it to the kids, if it’s too prevalent in the movie) if it’s a good movie.  Sometimes words that we, as people, shouldn’t oughta say in life are part of good art:  they depict faithfully and artfully how some people do talk.  To me, this point is so obvious that I don’t even know how to argue it.

.

I’m sorry, I’m not going to open a file with a sermon that I have to download, and I realize that “Penanceware” is supposed to be a joke, but I find the suggestion that people should do penance for the priest’s intentions in exchange for listening to his sermons . . . creepy.  If there’s a transcript of these sermons, I’ll take a look.

.

(It is past midnight here and I’m going to bed, so I won’t be able to respond right away if you do write back.)

Simcha, I didn’t think I could like you any more, and then you go and name-drop “Army of Darkness” and “The Lost Boys”. Both Halloween favorites of mine!

The folks proposing “The Ghost and the Darkness” are sadistic geniuses (I jest, of course). Seriously, though, that movie scared the pants off me as a pre-teen. Good choice.

I would give “30 Days of Night” a trial watch before showing it to your kids. The vampires are Grade A terrifying (think walking sharks that speak like Nazgul), but there is a LOT of gore. It’s not *exactly* gratuitous, and there are plenty of discretion shots (people being yanked off screen, or the camera pulling away and/or switching point-of-view at a crucial moment), but it is still a film about an entire town being massacred by a tribe of vampires, and there’s enough blood to make it look and feel realistic. Other than that, I don’t recall anything objectionable.

@Kathleen Do you put up a Christmas tree? Kiss under the mistletoe? Both were originally pagan customs associated with the winter solstice. Likewise, it is not a coincidence that the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls are celebrated on what was originally the pagan Celtic festival of Samhain, when pre-Christian peoples commemorated the dead, especially from their own families. When the Church came along, it saw the opportunity for catechesis and evangelization that this festival, and so put these feast days in place at a time when people were already accustomed to thinking about death and the Hereafter. If the holiday makes you uncomfortable, I would recommend maybe following the Church’s example. Allow your children to participate (within reason, of course), and then make time while their thoughts are already focused on ghouls and ghosts to talk to them about the Four Last Things. My two cents, anyway.

I used to work at a video store and I was constantly astonished (not in a good way) that parents not only let their kids watch Child’s Play but delighted in telling me that their kid “just loves Chucky.” Little ones!! Horror movies don’t scare me but that does.

Anyway, since it hasn’t been mentioned “Poltergeist” is one of my favorite movies for Halloween, okay for older kids I suppose.

But by far the most frightening movie I’ve ever seen is “Deliverance.”

MikeCGannon ,
I understand that pagan customs such as the Christmas tree have been taken over & integrated into the Christian celebration of holy days.I’m fine with that because we’re still celebrating Our Lord’s Nativity.
Halloween, as currently celebrated in America,pretty much is still Samhain.Unless your kids dress up as saints, I guess.That’s the route we took.
I’m not afraid of pagan symbology, but I think there’s a danger of losing track of All Saint’s & All Souls days. We surely have if we only celebrate the dark & occult during this season-& that’s already happened for the popular culture.I think there’s danger in this, but there’s a danger in giving the occult too much importance, too. I guess we each have to find balance.

This is a pretty good list.  I’ve been looking for a few scary movies to add to my Blockbuster @Home queue. I’m having a marathon with a friend I work with at DISH, and he likes classic scary movies, so I think I’ll rent The Birds and Gaslight for sure. Blockbuster @Home ships really fast, so I should have them in plenty of time for our marathon next weekend, and they’re definitely the type of movies my friend would like. Thanks for the ideas!

I just had the pleasure of subbing for a class finishing Rear Window (a h.s. film class) today.  It was so, so fabulous. What a way to teach your kids about suspense, too!  All those jaded, slasher-movie-watching teens going… “Oh, NO!  Here he comes! Hurry up!  Ack!”

Pshaw! You want real horror, you have to include supernatural horror anything else is well, boring, really:) Here’s the list in no particular order: Ghost Story (Douglas Fairbanks, Fred Astaire (yes, him!)), Dead Silence, Poltergeist 1 and 2 (good exciting family viewing with adult supervision), The Exorcist The Beginning (NOT Dominion - two versions of this were made and Dominion is as bad as Beginning is excellent), Bram Stokers’s Dracula and finally Nosferatu the vampyre.  In my opinion, by far the scariest of the lot is Exorcist the Beginning…

@Simcha: You said: “But I will watch a movie that has swear words in it (but, generally, not show it to the kids, if it’s too prevalent in the movie) if it’s a good movie.  Sometimes words that we, as people, shouldn’t oughta say in life are part of good art:  they depict faithfully and artfully how some people do talk.” 

I say…amen :) The best example of this, for me, is the movie Gran Torino (which is not a scary movie) where the language is so much a part of the character and even essential to his conversion.  But that’s not really what brought me to the combox.

I highly, highly recommend Doctor Who.  Scary and psychological thriller, “monster of the week” all that goodness with no language or sex issues at all.  Just really good TV.  We do a DW marathon at Halloween where everyone picks their top 2 scariest episodes.  If you’re not a Doctor Who fan or haven’t ever watched, then just watch one episode in season 3 (on Netflix): Blink.  You don’t need to really know anything about the characters or storyline to enjoy and understand…and it is totally creepy for all ages.  Scares me every time I watch it and is one of my 5 yr olds favorites.

The scariest Movie I ever saw was “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”.  It was truly a head-on collision of good and evil.  But, it also has a surprising sub-plot which really grabs your attention.  Not as vulgar as the Linda Blair “The Exorcist”.  And, when evil gives it’s name, it will send chills up and down your spine!  Finally, a truly blessed holy person makes a guest appearance.  Based on a true story…