Whether your kid is having a Halloween party, a Halloween-themed sleepover, or you’re an adult who can’t handle horror movies (no judgments here, this is for you too!), here is a list of slightly spooky and magical movies that won’t give you nightmares.
The Book of Life
The Book of Life showcases the rich Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead in stunning, lush animation. The Book of Life centers on Manolo (Diego Luna), Maria (Zoe Saldana) and Joaquin (Channing Tatum), three childhood friends who take on different paths. When they grow up, Joaquin and Manolo fight for Maria’s affections, although little do the three know that their love triangle is the basis for a wager between two Mexican deities.
Kubo and the Two Strings
Kubo is a Japanese-influenced action-adventure movie starring Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Ralph Fiennes, Rooney Mara, and George Takei. Kubo lives in a seaside village, making a humble living out of telling stories. But after he accidentally summons a vengeful spirit from his past. Kubo joins forces with Monkey and Beetle as he embarks on a quest to find his missing father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known.
Halloweentown
With a name like “Halloweentown”, no other kid-friendly movie can get more “Halloween” than this. This tells the story of a young girl named Marnie, who unbeknownst to her, actually belongs to a family of witches who come from the magical town of Halloweentown. After creatures of the town have been reported missing, she seeks to save them.
Monsters, Inc.
Watch Sully and Mike’s adventures in the OG film, Monsters Inc. Monsters Incorporated is the top scaring factory in the monster world, sending monsters to scare children around the world during bedtime to harness energy for their own world. Sully and Mike’s world is turned upside down when they get an unexpected child visitor, Boo.
The Corpse Bride
Leave it to Tim Burton to create quirky and Halloween-friendly cartoons. Corpse Bride stars Johnny Depp as Victor, a rich young man engaged to be married, and Helena Bonham Carter as Emily, a beautiful corpse bride who claims Victor to be her husband, after his wedding ring fell on a tree branch that turned into Emily’s hand.
Hotel Transylvania
Hotel Transylvania is the premier hotel and resort for monsters, where monsters go to escape their dull lives from humans. On a special weekend, Dracula, who owns the hotel, invites their monster friends to celebrate his daughter Mavis’ 118th birthday. However, an unexpected human guest wanders into the hotel, and trouble arises when he and Mavis fall in love.
Spirited Away
This classic from Hayao Miyazaki is a perfect fit for Halloween. 10-year-old Chihiro and her parents move into a new neighborhood, and Chihiro stumbles into the spirit world. After the witch Yubaba turns Chihiro’s parents into pigs, Chihiro takes a job working in Yubaba’s bathhouse to free herself and her parents and return to the human world.
Magic Kingdom
Introduce your kids to this Pinoy classic, which spurned adventure in many 90’s kids. Also known as Anne Curtis’ first movie, Magic Kingdom is the 1997 sequel to Magic Temple, which sees ordinary kids as warriors-in-training hide Princess Dahlia (played by Anne Curtis), the heir to the throne in the Kingdom of Damortis which has been taken over by her evil uncle, Basilicus.
Ghostbusters
Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters! This 2016 reboot features an all-female cast, which gives the film twice the fun.
Coraline
Another Tim Burton film, the film stars Dakota Fanning as Coraline, who, is unhappy with her new home. She discovers a secret door in her house, where lies a parallel world behind that is just like her own world, but better. She is happy with her discovery until Other Mother (Teri Hatcher) and the rest of her parallel family try to keep her there forever.
Maleficent
Once a beautiful, kind-hearted protector of a forest kingdom, Maleficent turns hard and evil after a painful betrayal, turning into the most feared villain in the human kingdom.
Spiderwick Chronicles
After moving to a relative’s run-down estate, troublemaker Jared and his family experience strange things. However, Jared discovers that there are magical creatures roam the grounds, who are all looking for a special book that Jared has found: a field guide to fantastic creatures, written by Arthur Spiderwick.
Casper
There’s no denying that the friendliest ghost is a quintessential part of every child’s Halloween. Casper, the friendly ghost lives with his obnoxious ghost uncles, The Ghostly Trio, who set up pranks to scare people out of the mansion they inhabit, the Whipstaff Manor. After spoiled heiress, Carrigan Crittenden is left with the Whipstaff Manor by her late father, she and her lawyer are scared off the property by the trio. They then contact Dr. Harvey, a paranormal therapist, who brings his daughter Kat along, whom Casper becomes smitten with.
Any other movies we should add? Let us know in the comments!
