25 Best PG13 Horror Movies

25 Best PG-13 Horror Movies

What are the best PG-13 horror movies? Horror and the “R” rating are synonymous for most people, but these PG-13 horror movies keep the scares coming.

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When fans think of horror movies, they simply want something that will scare them. This usually means going for the most visceral and graphic choices that are rated-R, restricted or no one under 17 allowed without a parent or a guardian.

But for decades, the PG-13 rating has been used to allow younger viewers to get into movies with content that many censors and parents consider to be too much for the more family-friendly PG rating. But can these movies ever truly live up to the best of the genre that’s not held back by censorship concerns?

Updated on November 14th, 2021 by Mark Birrell: PG-13 horror movies aren’t considered to be lesser within the genre, as evidenced by the plethora of great directors who have released their own, from Hitchcock to Sam Raimi. The best PG-13 horror movies don’t feel like compromises at all and many of them are must-watch titles for any fan of the genre.

The Last Exorcism (2010)

• Available on YouTube and Prime Video

A hit with critics and a success at the box office, no doubt in part to its surprisingly low rating despite some intense and violent scenes, The Last Exorcism is a great example of an approach that successfully uses implication over actual depiction.

The found-footage story follows a documentary crew filming an exorcist with a crisis of faith after a lifetime spent being a man of God whilst secretly knowing that the process is smoke and mirrors, not truly believing himself. Naturally, his last case tests his faith or lack thereof, and the lead performances of Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell make it a compelling watch and a much richer experience than the format is typically known for.

The Possession (2012)

• Available on Hulu, Hoopla, and EPIX

This take on the urban legend of the Dybbuk Box provides something a little different from the typical formula of a possession movie. Instead of the traditional Christian/Catholic doctrine and traditions, The Possession uses a creature from Jewish traditions.

A tale of a child-eating demon with an attachment to a mysterious box results in a refreshing variation of the genre. The scares are more skin-crawling than bloody and visceral but the results are just as effective as the R-rated approach.

The Woman in Black (2012)

• Available on Showtime

Movie fans shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that The Woman in Black skimps on the darkest aspects of ghost stories just because of its theatrical roots and the inclusion of Daniel Radcliffe, in the lead role, fresh off of his run as fantasy hero Harry Potter.

The Woman in Black may not reinvent the ghost story but its plays all the hits and goes for maximum creepiness in its scares without shame or hesitation, dealing with some dark ideas in its story of Radcliffe’s struggling lawyer and the haunted house that he’s sent to put in order.

Arachnophobia (1990)

• Available on Fubo TV and AMC+

One of the most criminally underrated horror-comedies ever has to be 1990’s Arachnophobia. There are definite notes of Joe Dante in this creepy-crawly creature feature. If the title wasn’t enough to give it away, this movie concerns a rather sinister spider species that overruns a sleepy little town.

When a deadly Amazon spider crossbreeds with a brown recluse, the spawn makes a town full of unsuspecting citizens their prey. Soon, there are more webs and nests than houses and it becomes a battle of the species. Good thing John Goodman arrives with a flamethrower to even the score.

Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark (2019)

• Available on Showtime

Producer Guillermo del Toro is the undisputed champion when it comes to modern monster movies, and there are few better entry-level PG-13 horror movies than this adaptation of Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark. Based on the children’s books of the same name, the movie takes more than just the monsters from the page, but the horrifying illustrations as well.

Think of this film as the bridge between mediums. Scarier than the books, but barely even spills a drop of blood. With that idea in mind, some of the movie’s kills are worse than a bloody mess.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

• Available on Prime Video

When movie lovers hear the word exorcism, they immediately think of one of the best horror films of all time, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist. So any horror movie featuring the word in the title automatically has a high standard to live up to, and Scott Derrickson’s horror drama has cultivated quite a fanbase over the years despite an initially lukewarm response from critics.

The film is based on the real-life of Annelise Michel who was diagnosed with Epilepsy due to a series of visions and episodes. The family was not successful in the attempts to treat her, so they turned to the church for an exorcism that ended her life. The movie follows both a more traditionally horror-like narrative thread of the exorcism itself and a more thoughtful legal drama thread of the trial of the priest involved. When woven together, they make for a uniquely interesting approach to the genre.

Devil (2010)

• Available on Peacock and Starz

A group of people is trapped in an elevator and the devil is one of them. During intense and terrifying events, viewers have to guess who in the group is the unholy killer picking them off, murder mystery style.

The story of Devil has a very interesting concept that encourages engagement from the audience and also carries a fairly uncommon degree of theological depth for what is, for the most part, a claustrophobic thriller.

Lights Out (2016)

• Available on Hulu

Before David F. Sandberg directed the hit superhero movie, Shazam!, he directed Lights Out based on a highly popular short of his. The central concept revolves around a deadly specter that can only exist and be seen in the dark.

Dealing with themes of chronic illness, both physical and psychological, it’s proven to be a conceptually trickier story than it may initially seem but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming one of the most popular horror movies of recent years.

The Final Girls (2015)

• Available on The Roku Channel

Much more a comedy movie than a horror movie in terms of tone, but pure horror in terms of setting and subject matter, The Final Girls sees a young woman, still emotionally processing the sudden death of her mother, sucked into an old 80s slasher movie that her mother starred in.

It’s a fun deconstruction of the frequently-picked-apart subgenre in the spirit of Wes Craven but its emphasis on emotional catharsis has also pleasantly surprised many a weary horror fan too.

The Grudge (2004)

• Available on Starz

An American nurse finds herself at the center of a deadly curse in Takashi Shimizu’s Hollywood revamping of the most famous iteration of his long-running, ever-changing, J-horror ghost story.

The first of several English-language entries into the wider Ju-On franchise, The Grudge may not be considered the best of the series but it was the biggest platform yet for the director’s most iconic horror creations.

Insidious (2010)

• Available to purchase on Prime Video

James Wan created his second successful horror movie franchise, after Saw but still before The Conjuring, with this supernatural chiller.

Patrick Wilson, who plays Ed Warren in the Conjuring movies, and Rose Byrne are excellent as the afraid but determined parents of a young boy beset by evil spirits in this proto-version of the interconnected supernatural universe of the Conjuring movies. With the suspense and gradually ramped-up intensity, this movie has the feel of an R-rated classic without the gore.

Mama (2013)

• Available on HBO Max

Another stepping stone to greater financial success within the more modern R-rated side of the genre, It director Andy Muschietti struck a chord with another gothic coming-of-age story spun around a deadly supernatural force.

The story follows a musician who embraces an uncharacteristic maternal role after her partner’s nieces are discovered alive after being presumed dead and having lived ferally in the woods for some time. The girls claim that a protective presence that they call “mama” saved them and it follows the pair back to their new lives. The family drama makes for an interesting dynamic between the characters and the horror strikes an interesting balance between modern ghost stories and Tim Burton-esque fantasy.

1408 (2007)

• Available to purchase on Prime Video

Adapted from a Stephen King short story, 1408 is one of the more underrated movies made from the author’s work and delivers a huge amount of variety from what may initially seem like a very limited setting.

The plot follows a skeptical writer who, after checking into the titular New York hotel room, finds himself trapped in an endless realm of ghosts and ghoulish tricks, with the movie extracting smorgasbord of scary scenarios as the history of the room comes to life and it plays with his own guilt and regret.

The Skeleton Key (2005)

• Available on Peacock

One of the most underrated supernatural horror movies of the 21st century so far, The Skeleton Key has a story that may seem conventional enough at first but incorporates complex historical subtext.

The Southern Gothic story follows a care nurse who takes work at a secluded former plantation in Louisiana to care for a man paralyzed by a stroke. A hidden room within the house reveals a history of hoodoo ritualism, however, and themes of aging and guilt blend with deeper plays on identity, mortality, and transformation. It’s a much richer experience than it was given credit for at the time of its release by critics and has found better appreciation over the years thanks to multiple viewings. It’s certainly a prime example of a movie that needs to be seen twice to fully appreciate all of the nuances.

What Lies Beneath (2000)

• Available on Starz

Much more well-known for his adventurous comedies like the Back to the Future movies, director Robert Zemeckis broke type for this relatively small-scale–but still big-budgeted– haunted house story.

What Lies Beneath hasn’t quite retained the level of pop-culture prominence that it once held but remains a methodically slow-burning approach to the genre with plenty of detail to chew on and an uncommon degree of star power from leads Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford.

Cloverfield (2008)

• Available on HBO Max

This amusement park ride of a found footage horror movie follows a group of friends as try to get out of New York City before it is totally destroyed by a monster of gigantic proportions.

Even though there is no resolution to what is happening or why it is happening, horror fans have enjoyed every minute of this thrill ride of mayhem and destruction. Surprisingly, it is not rated R, but the language is subdued, and the violence comes close to the restricted line but never crosses it.

A Quiet Place (2018)

• Available on Paramount+

To sit in a theater in total silence is what most moviegoers relish. But to sit in total silence when the movie is low on dialogue is an unusual and uncomfortable feeling. But that awkward feeling was the desired intention here. A Quiet Place is about a family who is forced to live in silence because sightless monsters hunt and kill anything that they hear.

The husband and wife team of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt are excellent as the struggling parents fighting for the survival of their children, and it all makes for a very authentic and relatable experience.

Tremors (1990)

• Available on Fubo TV

One of the most beloved horror comedies of all time, this monster movie began its own long-lasting franchise of sequels and prequels thanks to some memorably endearing characters and a fun take on the blockbuster Jaws formula.

In Tremors, the monsters move quickly underground and snatch their prey from below, turning a sleepy Nevada town into a battleground against the inhabitants and an unseen foe. It’s got some gruesome kills but, all in all, it’s too enjoyably silly to deserve anything higher than a PG-13 rating.

The Sixth Sense (1999)

• Available to purchase on Prime Video

The Sixth Sense is the film that made the line “I see dead people” part of cinematic history and made M. Night Shyamalan an iconic writing and directing figure within the industry. A psychologist tries to help a boy who claims that he can communicate with ghosts walking around not knowing that they are dead.

It doesn’t rely on special effects or jump scares; it makes audience members think and slowly builds suspense and anticipation, with a powerful ending that entices everyone to watch it again to see the hidden clues that were missed.

Under the Shadow (2016)

• Available on Netflix

Set in Tehran during the height of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Under the Shadow is a fascinating supernatural horror movie about a mother and daughter grappling with both an otherworldly presence and the constraints of their lives as women in a volatile time of progress and repression.

For fans who may feel that the setups of supernatural horror movies may have stagnated in recent years, it’s a must-see approach to the most psychological qualities of the genre.

Drag Me to Hell (2009)

• Available to purchase on Prime Video

Spider-Man director Sam Raimi brought a very classic kind of horror movie to the modern multiplex with Drag Me to Hell. With the action of a Marvel movie and the suspense thrills of The Evil Dead, Drag Me to Hell lives up to the director’s most famous achievements.

A loan officer at a bank, vying for the job of assistant manager, denies an elderly woman a loan for her house causing her to be evicted. She is then cursed by the woman. It’s a fiercely intense movie with an interesting level of subtext that fans have explored in the years since its release.

Split (2016)

• Available to purchase on Prime Video

M. Night Shyamalan might have a bit of a negative reputation when it comes to his more recent work, but Split is that vindicated a lot of his long-time supporters.

Revolving around an unwell man who has kidnapped three teenage girls for some kind of dark ritual known only to a select few of his split personalities, who worship some kind of otherworldly monster, Split has elements of Shyamalan’s most successful early works as well as Hitchcockian suspense and intense character study through James McAvoy’s brilliant lead performance.

The Others (2001)

The Others is the kind of movie that will unashamedly mess with the viewer’s head. The story takes the gothic haunted house scenario and completely turns it over on its head.

Much like The Sixth Sense, while its twist ending is its most famous part, the atmospheric road to get there is an impactfully creepy experience of award-worthy quality.

The Birds (1963)

• Available to purchase on Prime Video

When in doubt, it pays to go back to the classics, and Alfred Hitchcock is a great place to start. The Birds is a seminal horror movie with a somewhat plausible premise involving flocks of birds suddenly turning on humanity in a homicidal rage.

Hitchcock’s story played heavily on the themes of love, sexuality, and violence while using the unexplained bird attacks to drive a symbolic narrative. Taken purely at face value, however, The Birds is Hitchcockian thriller fare that still manages to keep audiences on the edges of their seats even today.

The Ring (2002)

• Available on Pluto TV, Prime Video, and Paramount+

Adapted from the hit Japanese movie, Ringu, The Ring is a rare example of a remake being debatably even better than the highly-regarded original.

It’s a beautifully shot movie with an intense feeling of foreboding throughout. The premise of a cursed videotape that kills whoever watches it after 7 days is a fascinating take on a modern ghost story that continues to resonate with horror fans today even after the movie’s less-than-successful sequels.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/best-pg13-horror-movies-ranked/

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