The Top 10 Horror movies you could show to your kids and not feel bad about

[HarlotBug3]

My parents probably take great pride that, even though I was an 80s child, I really didn't see more than half a dozen true horror movies before puberty.

I'm still making up for lost time  yet I can't recall a single movie-induced nightmare. Seriously. There must have been one or two, but I really can't recall them.

What must have come close, and what my parents let me watch, I think, as an exception in the name of rare quality...

was ALIEN

I would only let a 10 year old watch Alien if I had a nice screen/viewing set up. 30 years later that movie is still amazing. Hopefully the VS predator movies haven't already ruined the creature's mystique.

[Doc Daneeka]

I've seen quite a few I liked as a kid, and a few I've showed my kid sister that she enjoyed quite well, but for the big public audience I can only think of a few.

Nightmares - Not too much objectionable material, plenty scary, especially for unsuspecting horror n00bs (kids) on 1st viewing

The Old Dark House - Lots of great visuals and creepy characters without too much actual violence, plus it's a Universal like you wanted, and to boot one they're not likely to have seen

The Fog (Original) - Rated R, but (Like the case is with Nightmares) I seriously can't imagine why. I think the Curtis and Atkins characters may have been in bed at one point, but I'm pretty sure they weren't doing anything. The gore is pretty tame, and basically amounts to some blood (Not even splattering on anything) and I think 1 decaying face.

[RCMerchant]

Hmm...

.ABBOTT and COSETLLO meet FRANKENSTEIN !!!! 

[CheezeFlixz]

10 year old kids today, aren't the 10 year old kids I grew up with ... they seem to be more desensitized to violence and gore via video games. And they are more savvy to special effects.

So I'd say about anything prior to 1960 would be kid safe today, my girls saw many early horrors films before age 10 that I watched and said they were cheezy, goofy, silly, funny, etc about every adjective but scary and frighting.

So consider the times we are in, most early movie have sappy f/X and no foul language and they might have been scary to those if us older folks in our youth, but I doubt they are to kids today.

[indianasmith]

I think the biggest concern for me in sharing films with my daughters is language.  They are remarkably clean in their speech and I am very proud of that, I don't want to debase their vocabularies any more than I can help.  We watched TREMORS a few weeks back and I had forgotten that Kevin Bacon dropped an F-bomb when they killed the first big worm.

[JaseSF]

The Kharis Mummy movies from the 1940s that came after the Universal films might be good and to me are fun although some may wonder why the Mummy moves so slowly. Scooby Doo on Zombie Island is a kids movie no doubt but is surprisingly good and watchable even to adult eyes.

[frank]

Most movies I've watched until 11 years old have been mentioned, but I'd like to agree on some I have very fond memories of:

Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Frankenstein (1940?)

I know I've watched "Them" at age 11 and enjoyed it alot. "Tarantula" a bit earlier.

Nightmare before Christmas and Wallace and Gromit and the Were-Rabbit are good starters, as well as the Shop of Horrors remake.

What really scared me as a kid was "Arsenic and Old Lace".

I know I've seen "American Werewolf" at a very young age, but that one cracked me up a bit at that time...

[Justy]

I would say that House (1986) would be good. That one is scary without being too gory.

Probably the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers is good as well. The 78 remake is good, but has some nudity so that is your call.

I'm another guy who watched adult movies at an early age and I am not deranged. LOL. So it really depends on the maturity level of the kid.

[Undead]

(I'm assuming kids 10+ for most of these)

-The Lady in White (I love this one... very underrated little flick)
-The Monster Squad
-My Best Friend is a Vampire
-The Lost Boys
-JAWS
-Dracula
-The Mummy
-Something Wicked This Way Comes
-Poltergeist
-Garfield's Halloween Adventure (Okay, so it's not a horror movie. But it's my favorite Halloween cartoon of all time and has a special place in my orange and black little heart.  )

[Allhallowsday]

Most movies I've watched until 11 years old have been mentioned, but I'd like to agree on some I have very fond memories of: Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein  Creature from the Black Lagoon  Frankenstein (1940?)

Must have been a quick scan.  FRANKENSTEIN is 1931.

I know I've seen "American Werewolf" at a very young age, but that one cracked me up a bit at that time...

Still gory and scary and a bit intense for the pre-teen set.   

[peter johnson]

"Lost Boys"?? -- No way would I show this to kids -- I still remember the opening of the surf-nazi's head like a beer can --
peter johnson/denny eeewwww

[RCMerchant]

MAD MONSTER PARTY!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dJUbv6h4_s

[Allhallowsday]

MAD MONSTER PARTY Little Tibia and Fibias :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfDPcqGw14E

[RapscallionJones]

Thanks for all the recommendations, guys.  This is good stuff.

I'm not taking into account the context of kids today vs. kids when I was a kid.  I'm pretty much aware that most kids wouldn't sit still for a lot of this stuff and I'm being a little naive about what they might actually be into but it's NPR, so these sorts of recommendations are perfectly okay.

[Rev. Powell]

Be sure to tell us what you finally choose for the list, I'm curious.