My nephews are getting to that age where they want to see blood and guts and have some good scary fun, but not over the line.
You know, the line that causes sleepless nights?
My sister asked me for some suggestions, the best I could come up with was Pitch Black, and to stay the hell away from The Exorcist or Poltergeist
Any suggestions? Some scary but fun scary movies?Gore is okay, less sex if possible, nothing too nightmarish…
I recently saw Skeleton Key on cable and found it surprisingly decent, not overly scary or gory. These things are a matter of taste, but it’s worth checking out.
Link is a perfect example of what you’re looking for. Killer chimpanzee story, filmed with real chimps – and since you can’t train a chimpanzee to pretend to tear somebody’s arms off, all the actual violence takes place off-screen, and they’re forced to rely on suspense and suggestion for the scare-effects. Peter O’Toole doing classic Peter O’Toole, plus a wet, almost-nude Elizabeth Shue! 
So you’re asking for horror films that aren’t scary, but with blood and guts and violence? Uh… 
Isn’t it kind of the definition of a horror film that it be scary?
My first thought was Starship Troopers. Goofy, cartoony violence, and some rather tame sexuality (I believe there’s a topless shower scene). It’s more an action movie than horror film though. As for the horror genre, maybe Sean of the Dead? I haven’t seen it, but supposedly it’s funny + tons of gore.
One I loved as a kid was Creepshow, based on Stephen King’s stories. It has some good creepy moments, a bit of gore, and lots of humor. As good an entry-level horror movie for kids as you can find, I think.
Another eighties flick, Ghost Story, starring Alice Krige and a bunch of old men, might be too heavy on story and light on gore for your purposes. But when I was a pre-teen I found it deliciously creepy. There might be a sex scene in it, but nothing graphic.
On second thought, I bet they’d be bored to tears by Ghost Story. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, but I don’t think it would translate to today’s tastes.
I still think Creepshow is a good choice, but keep in mind that it is more than twenty years old. The kids might notice the pre-MTV pacing and sub-standard special effects.
How old are they? Might be a good time to introduce them to the classics, like “The Blob”, “The Wolf Man”, “The Fly”, other Vincent Price movies; my 7 year old is possibly the only child in her class who even knows who Vincent Price is.
If you don’t want to go that far back, the horror section at any video store is chock-full of good old slash’nguts B-flicks from the 80s. Of course, most of them show boobies.
Have they seen “Tremors?” (Stupid question, I know. Anyone who gets the USA network has seen “Tremors”.)
Yehyehyeh! Start with the original Universal horror classics – Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolfman, The Mummy, The Island of Dr. Moreau – while they’re still young enough to appreciate them without noticing the bit players are speaking in different accents, ect. – and then move onto the Hammer films with Christopher Lee!
Pick up a few episodes of MST3K; like, The Giant Gila Monster, The Monster From the Surf, The Crawling Hand, The Screaming Skull, Mitchell, things like that.
Hitchcock’s Psycho should be a good introduction.
Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the Tobe Hooper version)? You didn’t state their ages so I dont know if those titles are appropriate but by today’s standards they’re considered tame.
For supernatural horror, The Others (the one with Nicole Kidman) was a nice one with suspense. Not too scary, I thought. No gore and no (on screen) sex.
What about Amytiville Horror?
I second Shaun of the Dead. Funny with a bit of gore
If they don’t mind reading subtitiles, there’s a lot of Asian horror out there. Although most of them tend to have the same one dimensional plot:- restless spirit seeking revenge on the living.
How old are your nephews?
At least one of these should be okay, depending on the age, maturity and squeamishness of your nephews. I wouldn’t have found any of these nightmare inducing as a kid. The poor dog in Old Yeller filled that role.
The Little Vampire Cutesy, but really fun. Pretend vampire meets real ones. How old are the boys? Would they enjoy flying vampire cows that launch a cow pie assault?
Killer Klowns from Outer Space Not for those with a clown or circus phobia, some older teen sex humor, person used as a ventriloquist’s dummy, some swearing
The Lost Boys Vampires, cheesey 80’s clothes, one implied sex scene, lots of vampire deaths, fewer human (mainly offscreen), limited swearing
These I would limit to 13 or older:
Near Dark Vampires in the desert, no sex, quite a bit of swearing, much blood in one truly horrific scene (one of my favorite movies)
Dog Soldiers Werewolves, guts (literally), gore, swearing, the son of Dr. Who, no sex
Blade Vampires, campy, blood, gore, swearing, much fun
The oldest nephew is nine, the other seven.
They are definitely jonesing for some horror though, they asked if they could come to my house and watch come movies Mom won’t let them.
Dead Alive, AKA Braindead is great fun, very over-the-top zombie violence with some humor. Directed by Peter Jackson of LOTR fame.
Also, I bet your nephews will love Army of Darkness
Good lord. Dead Alive is way way WAY over the top for that age group. I’d stick to something more in the Something Wicked This Way Comes or Critters region.
For something a little more stern, perhaps Phantasm or The Gate. The original Halloween is actually pretty low on the bloodiness scale, so that’d probably be a decent choice.
How about Arachnophobia—do they like spiders?
Seven years old? Then no way should you be showing him R-rated movies like Dead Alive (one of the bloodiest horror movies ever made), Link (btw, that’s Terence Stamp, not Peter O’Toole), Ghost Story, Creepshow, Starshp Troopers, Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (good lord!), Blade, Dog Soldiers, The Lost Boys, Psycho, Shaun of the Dead, or Army of Darkness.
Maybe:
Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
The Others (2001) *
An American Haunting (2005)
Below (2002)
The Birds (1963)
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) *
Arachnophobia (1990) *
The Brothers Grimm (2005) *
Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) *
Dreamscape (1984)
Hellboy (2004)
Jurassic Park (1993) *
The Lady in White (1988) *
Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
Little Shop of Horrors (1986) *
The Mummy (1999)
Poltergeist (1982) *
The Ring (2002)
Tremors (1990)
Yes:
Beetle Juice (1988) *
The Little Vampire (2000)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) *
The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972) * (this scared the hell out of me when I was 13, yet it’s rated G!)
Oops, I forgot to say that the titles with asterisks are my personal recomendations.
Good list, Walloon. Especially Little Shop of Horrors; that was my brother’s favorite movie when he was somewhere around that age. I’d also throw in Gremlins 1 & 2 (it’s been a long time since I’ve seen 1, but 2 is a really fun movie with nothing age-inappropriate).
A few more Maybe:
Jaws (1975) *
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
*The Legend of Hell House (1973)
And a few more Yes:
Carnival of Souls (1962)
*Jason and the Argonauts (1963) *
*Mysterious Island (1961) *
My son was about nine when he really got into watching Twilight Zone. Certainly not in the horror genre, but lots of good spooky/creepy fun.