23 Good Horror Movies to Watch with Kids and Family

Vandana P
20 Min Read

Post Author

The horror genre is one of the most engaging and thrilling genres of movies, especially among youngsters. They always keep searching for a good horror movie to watch.

But more often than not, scary movies are suitable for the adult population as many contain extreme violence. This feature of most horror cinema makes it difficult for young horror fans to enjoy the genre.

There are some horrors films that are popular among kids, such as Monster House, Goosebumps, Frankenweenie, Spirited Away, The Haunted Mansion, and Beetle juice. But, good quality horror films for kids are sometimes hard to find. So here are some of the good horror movies that you can watch and enjoy with your young children!

Thrilling and Good Horror movies

Horror films are known to evoke an emotion of fear and thrill in the hearts of the viewers. Following are some of the thrilling and good horror movies with a gripping storyline that will keep you on the edge of your seat:

1) Child’s Play

CHILD

Child’s Play is one of the good horror movies best known for the famous doll “Chucky“. 

Chucky, the doll, is gifted to her young son by a single mother. It is later discovered that the doll is possessed by a ghost, leading to paranormal activity. The doll is possessed by the soul of a serial killer named Charles Lee Ray.

Chucky becomes the reason for tragic death and absolutely devastating activities. The movie is so popular among the kids that the name of Chucky still gives jump scares to many.

2) The Quiet Place

The Quiet Place is a horror movie released in 2018. It is one of the movies with creature features. The story revolves around a young woman and a man who want to raise their children properly, but the world is filled with monsters.

Rather than the other horror films which have a mysterious young woman or man, this film has monsters that add the creature feature to the movie. 

The sequel of the film called “A Quiet Place 2” was released in 2020. The storyline was linked with the prequel. It had the story of a post-apocalypse world that had many blinded scary creatures. These creatures were responsible for killing a large population on Earth.

The Quiet Place is directed by John Krasinski. It is one of the most popular movies of all time in the creature feature horror genre.

3) Tremors

Tremors is a contemporary horror comedy movie directed by Ron Underwood. If you are looking for monster-themed good horror movies, then you can hit play on Tremors and its sequels.

It has a sequel and prequel movies such as “Tremors 2: Aftershocks”, “Tremors 3: Back to perfection”, “Tremors 4: The Legend Begins”, “Tremors 5: Blood Lines” and a few others.

4) The Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin in the Woods, directed by Drew Goddard, is a famous horror comedy movie. As the name of the movie suggests, the story of The Cabin in the Woods revolves around a bunch of college students who go into a deep forest where they find a forest cabin.

The Cabin in the Woods involves zombies that come from the backwoods. It is a highly rated horror comedy and is suitable to be watched by young adults.

5) Fear Street Trilogy

Fear street trilogy is popular among modern horror fans. The film begins in a mall where a person goes on a rampage, and it is about the story of a dead-end town called Shadyside.

There are three movies from this franchise that are available on Netflix. The story revolves around some teenagers trying to fight evil. The first movie is called “Fear Street Part One – 1994″, the second movie is “Fear Street Part Two- 1978” and the third one is “Fear Street Part Three- 1666”. It is directed by Leigh Janiak.

scary movies
image by KELLEPICS, Pixabay/copyright 2022

Scary Movies That You Can Watch With Your Family

Good horror movies come with a cost of jump scare and nightmares. Best scary movies are known to create an impact in the minds of their audience. Here are some of the pure horror and mystery horror movies that you can enjoy with your family on a Halloween night:

6) Poltergeist

Poltergeist (1982) is a horror and thrilling film with less violence as compared to some of the other movies of the horror genre. It is directed by Tobe Hooper. The story revolves around a ghost, which at first seem to be friendly.

The ghosts enter into a family’s lives and do not appear to be much scary at first. The ghost just moves things around, appearing to be harmless. Later with the turn of events, the ghost scares everyone, and it also kidnaps one of the daughters of the family.

7) Jaws

Jaws is not a ghost story but definitely a scary movie for the kids. Good horror movies do not necessarily require a ghost in order to be scary. It is the story of a White Shark that is known to be man-eating. The giant White Shark is the main horror icon in this horror film. Jaws is directed by Steven Spielberg and has three sequels.

8) Blair Witch Project

Blair Witch Project is one the scariest movies of all time that is enough to have a fright night. The Blair Witch Project was first launched in 1999 and became popular for the found footage genre. It was known as the first film that explored the found footage genre. The story is about three friends who are also film students named Mike, Heather, and Josh.

They have a handheld camera and go in search of paranormal activity. This found-footage horror film is not only scary but also realistic. It is one of the good horror movies with the perfect combination of horror, mystery, and thrill.

9) Psycho

Psycho is one of the scariest thriller movies with a third act twist in its story. Alfred Hitchcock directed it. While it may not be the perfect choice to watch it with the kids but it is a classic that youngsters love.

The story involves a young woman Marion Crane who runs away, taking a large amount of money to a Motel run by Norman Bates. The events that follow along with a shocking twist in the plot is what makes it a memorable horror thriller movie.

Horror film
image by brenkee, Pixabay/copyright 2022

Good Horror Movies: Cult Horror Movie and Modern Horror Classic

Some of the cult classic films top the list of good horror movies. Other than being one of the scariest horror movies, these are also some of the best horror movies of all time. Here is a list of the best horror movies, including the modern classic as well as new cult classic ghost stories:

10) Little Shop of Horrors

The first film that tops the list of horror classics has to be the Little Shop of Horrors which has a unique genre. It is an old style of a horror movie in the genre of musical horror. It is one of those films that have special creature features. The story revolves around a mysterious plant that is giant in size.

The plant is considered thirsty for blood which gives room for horror to build up in the story. The plant, also known as Audrey 2, requires human blood to survive. But rather than being a horror film involving grisly murder or serial killers, this one has a unique combination of music and comedy in it.

11) The Lost Boys

The Lost Boys is a perfect combination of horror and humor. The movie directed by Joel Schumacher revolves around the story of teenagers Michael and Sam. They move with their own mother in a small town which is followed by paranormal activity.

The storyline also involves vampires in it. It was released in 1987 and is considered one of the greatest movies of all time in the genre of good horror movies with humor as well as paranormal activity.

12) The Sixth Sense

The Sixth Sense (1999) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

The Sixth Sense, released in 1999, directed by M Night Shyamalan, is considered a modern classic horror film. The story involves a young boy, and it helps to view the horror story from the child’s point of view.

The child has been portrayed and played brilliantly as it impacts the viewers with the interesting storyline of drama and horror. The child explains to his psychologist named Malcolm Crowe that he can see dead people. It is a psychological thriller with a short story.

13) It

It is a cult classic and can be listed at the top of the good horror movies made for kids. It is inspired by Stephen King’s novel. These Stephen King adaptations are responsible for instilling the fear of clowns in the minds of young children.

It” is one of the most popular Stephen King adaptation movies. It is available to watch on Netflix, which is one of the leading digital publishers.

14) Gremlins

Gremlins is another classic from the creature feature genre of horror films. The story revolves around a creature that is received as a pet by a man. This horror-comedy was released in 1984, directed by Joe Dante.

Though it has slightly high violence, the comedy balances the genre well. Gremlins also had some sequels, which can be considered as one of the good horror movies franchise.

15) Zombie Apocalypse

Zombie movies have given some of the best horror movies. Over the years, there have been many zombie movies, such as White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead, I walked with a Zombie, and many more. But Zombie Apocalypse is one the most famous and well-known films in the sub-genres of good horror movies.

Zombie Apocalypse, directed by Nick Lyon, is the story of those who survived a zombie plague. The story is about the adventure and horror that they go through in order to survive and escape from the attack by the zombies.

zombie movies
image by currens, Pixabay/copyright 2022

Good Horror Movies: Slasher Films

The slasher movie is a sub-genre of horror or psychological horror movies. It involves stalking and killing of the people in its story. Psycho, Terror train, Friday the 13th are some of the famous slasher films.

The slasher genre is not much suitable for young kids, but teenagers and young adults love some of them. Following are some slasher films that are considered to be good horror movies.

16) Nightmare on Elm Street

Nightmare on Elm Street is a classic horror slasher film. The story has five teenagers named Kellen Lutz, Katie Cassidy, Rooney Mara, Thomas Dekker, and Kyle Gallner. A killer named Freddy Krueger is the main antagonist of the story of Nightmare on Elm Street. This horror classic is written and directed by Wes Craven.

17) The Final Girls

The Final Girls is another popular slasher horror movie. It involves the story of a young girl who is upset over the loss of her own mother. Her mother was a famous scream queen in the early 1980s.

Her mother, who was the scream queen, had died in a car crash. It is a horror movie with a pinch of comedy in it. It is rated for children above thirteen, as it may contain some horror violence.

18) Urban Legend

It is the story with a simple premise of a professor named Wexler and Natalie, a college student. She suspects some unusual happenings and that there is a serial killer on their university campus.

As Natalie tries to convince her friends about her doubt about the killer, she and her friends also become a part of the killers’ action plan. The storyline thrills and engages us till the final act. It is one of the good horror movies, directed by Jamie Blanks.

19) Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The classic horror slasher film of all time is the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The film gained wide popularity as it was said to be loosely inspired by true events. The film directed by Tobe Hooper became a huge hit among the audience, but they also faced some backlash.

The makers of the movie were criticized for the extreme use of violence in the film. On the other hand, those who believed that the slasher genre being violent was for its own right liked the film. It is a cult film of the slasher genre but involves a lot of violence by showing weapons, killers, and the victims.

werewolf
image by Adryanah, Pixabay/copyright 2022

Good Horror Movies: Werewolf Movies

The list of good horror movies is incomplete without mentioning the werewolf movies. These movies have been an integral part of the scary genre. The Wolfman, Howl, Among the shadows, Red Riding Hood are some of the famous werewolf films. Following are some other good horror movies of this genre:

20) Wolf

Wolf, released in 1994, is one of the cult werewolf movies. The story involves an editor of a big publishing house who is bit by a wolf. After this, he starts to turn into a werewolf as his hair starts to grow.

The story involves all the ingredients of a werewolf movie, such as scientists, full moon and also involves some young women who are either his victims or his lovers. Being a part of the cult werewolf genre, all these ingredients have their own right to be in the movie.

21) An American Werewolf in London

An American Werewolf in London is a horror-comedy of the werewolf genre. Directed by John Landis in 1981, it is still considered to be one of the best horror movies.

The American Werewolf in London is a story about two people named Jack and David, who are attacked by a werewolf. This attack causes doubt in David’s mind that if he will become a werewolf on the full moon or not.

22) Ginger Snaps

Ginger snaps is a horror film that involves supernatural activities. The story revolves around two young girls. The girls had made a pact about dying together. Both of the teenage girls have a deep obsession with death, and one of the sisters is later bit by a werewolf.
This movie, directed by John Fawcett, was released in 2000. The movie is a complete package of drama, thrill, horror and fantasy. It also has several sequels such as “Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed” and “Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning.”

23) Wolfman

The Wolfman, released in the 1940s, is one of the oldest films in this genre, directed by George Waggner. The story revolves around a character named Larry. A wolf attacks Larry, but he kills it with the help of his stick. After the full moon, Larry transforms into a werewolf.

This movie has had a great influence over all the other werewolf films that were later made in Hollywood. The Wolf Man has four sequels. These sequels begin with the movie Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, which was released in 1943.

Summary

The family tree of horror films ranges from simple ghost stories to werewolf movies, horror-comedy, psycho-thriller, horror web series, vampire and zombie movies, and many more.

Not all the genres are suitable to be watched with the family, as some may include gruesome violence. But there are always some good horror movies that can be enjoyed with everyone, and yet it will give us nightmares.

Last Updated on by ritukhare

Stay Connected

Share This Article