I guess I would go with anything by Tim Burton, since he does more of the whimsical side of horror, which would be more suitable for children.
**The Monster Squad **ought to be about right. One or two things should sail harmlessly over their heads (like why the older sister can’t do the reading of the ancient text, towards the end of the movie).
Amelia from Trilogy of Terror starring Karen Black. No gore IIRC but hair-raisingly scary. It was originally a made for TV movie.
Lordy, that part of Trilogy of Terror was scary. It’s based on a short story by Richard Matheson called “Prey”, and also stars He-Who-Kills. Scared the crap out of me when I was younger.
One that comes immediately to mind is Gremlins. If you recall, it was the first movie that made people start clamoring for a rating between PG and R. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom sealed the deal on that issue, but Gremlins started the discussion.
And now I see upon revisiting the thread that Gremlins is mentioned in the OP and I’m an idiot. Well, let me try to redeem myself:
Arachnophobia and Eight Legged Freaks are both horror-comedies, and anyone with a fear of spiders will really get the willies from them. Freaks does have a scene or two about teen sex and “copping a feel” (during which the female character, a young Scarlett Johansson, applies a stun-gun to the male’s crotch), but if they survived the “this man has no dick” line in Ghostbusters, I’d assume they’re fine with that.
My daughter’s in her thirties, and still won’t watch that movie.
Interestingly enough, I believe she was twelve when she shut herself in her room one night with copies of “Halloween” and “Halloween II.”
I woke up around three or four, made a bathroom stop, and decided to go to the kitchen and get a drink of water. Her lights were all on. She hadn’t slept all night.
So, yeah, maybe *Gremlins *or The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad would be the way to go.
Jaws scared the shit out of me as a kid, actually quite badly,
I’ll throw in another vote for Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. I used to hide behind the living room chair when the Large Marge scene came on, much to the amusement of my sister, 3 years younger than I am. (The clown and demon scenes were scary, too.)
Go with the original Universal Monsters.
The passage of time has…well…they ain’t as scary any more.
And King Kong! All children love Kong!
Young Sherlock Holmes is also good, for a classic touch.
Actually, for a really classic touch, there’s always Vincent Price in An Evening With Edgar Allen Poe.
House II might work, and is mollified by the presence of cute puppets and an adventurer electrician cameo. 
Many a skivvy’s been decorated during “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken”.
Atta boy, Luther!
Great thread. My daughters are actually almost the same age as yours: the youngest one is 6 and the eldest one… turns 9 today.
They’ve seen Gremlins but LittleLEDS was really scared at night for weeks afterwards so I guess Poltergeist is definitely out. She loved Coraline, though. Go figure.
I’ve already considered Ghostbusters and will watch it with them soon.
I’ve never seen Watcher in the Woods but I remember being spooked by the trailer when it came out. I’d really like to see it.
Beetlejuice, Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal are great suggestions, too.
Yes, yes you are. 
I think I’ve seen Eight Legged Freaks on Netflix so we might go with that.
My oldest begged me to watch Jaws and we did, she was bored by a lot of it. I’m not even sure if she finished it or not, I think me might have skipped the majority of them telling stories on the boat.
Yes, I might have to stop by a Target or something and hope I can find a collection of those old movies. We watched most of Nosferatu as well, though I think trying to read made it a bit harder to watch.
Not sure if they’ve seen Beetlejuice, the enjoyed Labyrinth and refused to watch the Dark Crystal, of which I might not forgive them!
I did end up getting three things from Amazon, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and The Witches, which came up as recommended and was only $5, and Eerie Indiana. Since it looks to be a rainy weekend it might be a great time to scare my kids.
The Orphanage maybe? It’s rated R, but I’m not really sure why. I don’t remember any sex, or excessive foul language, and there was no gore at all.
And they used Bon Ami! :eek: (appropriate smiley)
Came in to recommend this - that pipe organ was awfully scary! But looks like I was ninja’d.
Believe
Ghost Cat
The Little Vampire
Scared Shrekless
Ghostbusters (is the cartoon on DVD or streamed anywhere?)
Are You Afraid of the Dark? - tv show, now on DVD
The Last Unicorn - not really horror, but I found it somewhat scary as a little girl
On Netflix now you can also watch The Haunting Hour and Spooksville shows, as well as a couple of the former’s movies…however, I’d worried that The Haunting Hour: Don’t Think About It might be a little much for the younger kiddo.
Any monster movie from 1959 or earlier. Frankenstein, Nosferatu, Creature from the Black Lagoon…
Two words: Watership. Down.
You wouldn’t think an 80s cartoon about rabbits could be scary, but fuck me if that film didn’t fucking terrify me when I was a kid! I’m serious. Every English lad my age had at least one sleepless night thanks to that movie. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube here. Believe it or not, even as an adult I find it peculiarly unnerving. It’s also a brilliant story with great characters and some of the best voice acting ever recorded.