The Lists: Top 10 scary PG-rated films
With Halloween around the corner, we revisit some less explicit horrors
A scene from "Watership Down."
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We're a little under a week away from Halloween, an occasion for which it's practically de rigueur for movie blogs like ours to assemble lists of the greatest horror films of all time. Except we've already done that, and there seems little point in going there again -- though I do encourage you to check out our Top 20 if you're shopping around for some classic scares.
Casting around for alternate Halloween-themed ideas for this week's list, then, it occurred to me that several of the films that scared me most rigid as a child -- surely the demographic for whom Pumpkin-and-Candy Day remains most relevant -- are ones that wouldn't crack most conventional horror-film lists, or in some cases, conventional definitions of what a horror film even is. Others that do, meanwhile, do so without many of the grim tools many classic horror films use to reach their audience, opting instead for less explicit routes of skin-crawling.
And so it is that I hit upon the theme of PG-rated scares: those rare films, not all of them genre-based, that succeed in genuinely frightening kids and adults alike with few enough graphic shocks and transgressive themes to persuade the MPAA that no one need be restricted from watching them -- a tricky balance to strike, but one several classics, and a few smaller gems cherished by devoted cult audiences, have managed.
Of course, just because a film is permissible for family viewing, that doesn't necessarily mean it's appropriate: some of the films gathered here are treasured childhood favorites, others are ones many would much enjoy or understand until later in life. The overwhelming dominance of 1970s and 1980s titles wasn't planned -- perhaps it's a generational thing, though I did use the latter-day MPAA ratings system for guidance. All of them, however, are free for viewers of all ages to discover -- and be haunted by -- without breaking any rules.
Check out the list at our new gallery, and, as always, share your thoughts and favorites below. Happy Halloween Week, everybody.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupMatthew Starr
October 25, 2011 at 4:12PM EST Reply to CommentThe Witches is so damn underrated. LOVE that movie. Anjelica Huston, Brenda Blethyn and of course Mr. Bean in prime form.
JJ1 ditto
October 25, 2011 at 4:47PM ESTm1
October 25, 2011 at 4:30PM EST Reply to CommentNo Coraline?
Laura Stewart Same question...
October 25, 2011 at 8:04PM ESTStefan
October 25, 2011 at 4:44PM EST Reply to CommentPretty good list. But my #1 would probably be Return to Oz. Those Wheelers were the only things that gave me serious nightmares as a child.
JJ1 ditto, again. The Witches and Return to Oz are awesome.
October 25, 2011 at 4:47PM ESTLiz "Return to Oz" was the very first movie I thought of. I woke up crying three nights in a row because of those damn Wheelers.
October 25, 2011 at 7:31PM ESTFitz
October 25, 2011 at 4:59PM EST Reply to CommentHow the hell did Poltergeist get away with PG!?
qccritic
October 25, 2011 at 5:00PM EST Reply to CommentBravo, Mr. Lodge, for the inclusion of "Watership Down," which I've watched at least annually for 30ish years now, even though I know I'll be courting nightmares about General Woundwort and the warren filled with dead bunnies and the "Dogs aren't dangerous!!!" dog. Excellent choice.
Shawn
October 25, 2011 at 5:40PM EST Reply to CommentNo wire hangers! Some nice surprises in that list.
My favorite in this category would have to be The Others. The Birds also deserves a mention, and for slightly older kids (PG-13), the Sixth Sense.
Guy Lodge I would love to have included The Others in this list, but alas, that was a PG-13 -- which goes to show how much stricter the MPAA has grown over the years.
October 25, 2011 at 5:48PM ESTShawn Maybe the MPAA are photosensitive.
October 25, 2011 at 6:39PM ESTJoe7827
October 25, 2011 at 5:50PM EST Reply to CommentI'm surprised stuff like Tourist Trap, The Attic, Girrzly, Tales From the Crypt, that one with the giant killer bunnies (Night of the something), etc didn't make the list. Not that I've seen any of these (I've just heard that they're scary); maybe Guy hasn't either? However, I have seen Food of the Gods, and I have no idea how that got a PG. That gopher gnaws on poor Ida Lupino for close to 5 minutes.
Joe7827 Grizzly. Guy, your spelling is rubbing off on me!
October 25, 2011 at 5:52PM ESTsomeperson The giant killer bunny movie is Night of the Lepus, and I don't remember it having a reputation for actually being scary, but to each his own.
October 25, 2011 at 6:32PM ESTAndrew Rech
October 25, 2011 at 5:56PM EST Reply to CommentFantastic choices! I was surprised but nodding in agreement with your choice of Picnic at Hanging Rock, that movie haunted me for days. Have you read the "The Secret of Hanging Rock", the unpublished chapter from the book, Guy? I read it and some feel that reading that and watching the movie ruins some of that mystery, but I think in fact makes it creepier, and it's not like Peter Weir knew about it while filming.
Something Wicked This Way Comes was a PG horror that didn't sit well with me as a child!
msd
October 25, 2011 at 7:41PM EST Reply to CommentThe Dark Crystal. I was really young when I saw it and it scared the crap out of me.
I never found Picnic At Hanging Rock scary as such, although it was intense and haunting. The scene where the classmates gang up on Irma saying "tell us where she is, tell us, tell us!" is particularly memorable.
/3rt
October 25, 2011 at 8:31PM EST Reply to CommentLittle Monsters (1989) Gross and fucked up on some many levels. I don't know if you've forgotten about this movie or just never saw it.
John G.
October 25, 2011 at 10:34PM EST Reply to CommentThe Forbidden Planet scared the crap out of me as a kid. Also Coraline, which I saw only a couple years ago as an adult, I found to be an extremely disturbing film. I was wondering if PG was appropriate for that movie. Anyway, great idea for a list.
Matthew Starr
October 26, 2011 at 12:01AM EST Reply to CommentBeetlejuice and Ghostbusters should have gotten some love too.
rentrobuff
October 26, 2011 at 12:08AM EST Reply to CommentWhen I was a kid, "We're Back! A Dinosaurs' Story" had some really scary moments.
austin yeah dude! That movie haunts my cousin and I to this day. haha
October 27, 2011 at 2:13PM ESTckhutch
October 26, 2011 at 12:09PM EST Reply to CommentUm...Watcher in the Woods. Hands down the scariest movie for a kid. Still can't believe that was Disney. Same with The Black Hole!
mia
February 24, 2013 at 7:57PM EST Reply to Commentwatership down? how is that scary
mia
February 24, 2013 at 7:58PM EST Reply to Commentwatership down??? NEVER heard of it!