If your kids like a little spookiness along with their tricks and treats, this list of scary (but not too scary!) Halloween movies for kids and families compiled by Common Sense Media is sure to hit just the right note.
This Halloween season, your family may be spending more time at home than in years past. There’s nothing quite like curling up with some Halloween treats under a warm blanket and watching a spooky Halloween film with the family to celebrate the season. Check out this list of best Halloween movies for kids and families for some of the best.
Halloween Movies for Preschoolers
Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest
Recommended Age: 3+
George finds mischief in mildly spooky Halloween tale.
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Recommended Age: 4+
Halloween isn’t complete without this classic.
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Monster Musical
Recommended Age: 3+
Gently spooky tales focus on music and problem solving.
Read Next | Where to Go Pumpkin Picking Near Staten Island
Halloween Movies for Kids Ages 5-7
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Recommended Age: 7+
Tim Burton magic with just a touch of scariness.
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Recommended Age: 7+
A funny and charming movie for the whole family.
Casper & Friends
Recommended Age: 7+
Kindly spirit’s charming tales have some iffy retro content.
Hotel Transylvania
Recommended Age: 7+
Father-daughter comedy works as an intro to monster movies.
Sleeping Beauty 1959
Recommended Age: 5+
While we are introducing our kids to things, why not also introduce them to a classic 1959 Walt Disney film? This artfully created adaptation of the fairytale, “La Belle au bois dormant” by Charles Perrault with music by the Berlin Symphony Orchestra will have you all humming “Once Upon A Dream,” for days afterwards.
Beauty and the Beast 1991
Recommended Age: 6+
This 1991 Disney tale as old as time is also based on a fairy tale—this time La Belle et la Bête by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont. Belle is a bookish girl, who is not satisfied with life in her provincial French town, nor the advances of Gaston, her conceited suitor. She adores her eccentric inventor father, though, and unwittingly follows him into the clutches of a hideous beast, who teaches her, with a little help from his enchanted servants, how appearances can be deceiving.
Escape to Witch Mountain 1975
Recommended Age: 7+
They just don’t make Disney movies like this any longer. A brother and sister with curious psychic powers and a “star box” are the central focus of unraveling this 1975 sci-fi mystery. Tia and Tony don’t know whom they can trust beyond each other, but thanks to an unlikely ally played by Eddie Albert, the orphans reunite with their kin eventually.
Shrek 2001
Recommended Age: 7+
This film combines the ogre from William Steig’s original book with storylines borrowed from many well-known fairy tales to create a buddy adventure meets romance with a twist. The all-star voices of Mike Meyers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, and John Lithgow up the funny factor for Dreamwork’s first animated hit. Heavy on the laughs and light on the scary, this 2001 film is sure to amuse the whole family.
Read Next | 10 Fun and Educational Apps to Keep Kids Learning at Home
Halloween Movies for Kids Ages 8-9
Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge
Recommended Age: 8+
Concoction of magical fun and fright for tweens.
Return to Halloweentown
Recommended Age: 8+
A cauldron of witchy magic and malice for tweens.
The Wizard of Oz 1939
Recommended Age: 8+
This masterful 1939 film may be scarier than you remember, making it the perfect Halloween family fare. When I was a kid, it was mean old Miss Gulch and what she was going to do to Toto, not to mention the sight of Dorothy’s house twirling in the tornado that frightened me. Forget, lions and tigers and bears. Remember, flying monkeys and witches and Winkies? Fortunately, the darker aspects of the story are balanced out by lighter characters like Dorothy, Glinda, and Munchkins making this a one-of-a-kind heroine’s journey your family will want to watch again and again.
Pinocchio 1940
Recommended Age: 8+
Based on the The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, this 1940 animated film won two academy awards for it’s inspiring music. But don’t worry, Pinocchio, gets himself into plenty of tight spots to merit the need for all of this musical genius. In fact, he gets himself into so many tricky situations—skipping school, becoming part donkey, landing in the belly of a whale—that this film can serve as a kind of cautionary tale for kids who fond of telling tall tales of their own. Some great lessons about the perils of peer pressure in this timeless movie, as well.
Read Next | 12 Virtual Halloween Celebrations for Kids
Halloween Movies for Teens
The Goonies 1985
Recommended Age: 11+
A band of pre-teens who live in the “Goon Docks,” discover an old Spanish map that leads them on an adventure of secret caves, an odd lighthouse, treacherous traps, and a hunt for the long-lost fortune of One-Eyed Willie, a legendary 17th-century pirate in this story written by Steven Spielberg.
Hocus Pocus 1993
Recommended Age: 11+
The Sanderson Sisters, three witches, are resurrected in Salem, Massachusetts on Halloween night in this Disney comedy. Two teenagers, a young girl, and an immortal cat team up to try to defeat the sister witches.
Edward Scissorhands 1990
Recommended Age: 13+
Imagined by director Tim Burton, this romantic fantasy tale is about an “uncommonly gentle man,” played by Johnny Depp, who has scissors for hands. Edward Scissorhands, who was created by an inventor, is taken in by a suburban family where he falls in love with a beautiful teenage girl.
The Addams Family 1991
Recommended Age: 13+
The eccentric family, based on the famous 1960s TV series, is skeptical of the man who appears at their front door claiming to be a long-lost Uncle Fester.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit that helps families make smart media choices. They offer the largest, most trusted library of independent age-based and educational ratings and reviews for movies, games, apps, TV shows, websites, books, and music. See more at commonsensemedia.org.
Read Next | Find Great After School Programs in Staten Island
Want more info like this? Get our newsletters packed with ideas, events, and information for parents in Staten Island.
