Best Halloween Movies for Kids

Kick off Halloween, or get into the spirit, with these kid-friendly flicks.

The Goonies (1985)
A group of misfit kids hopes to save their homes by finding One-Eyed Willie's treasure. Searching in underground pirate caves, the friends must race the evil Fratelli family to find the gold first. Best line: "Heeyyy, yoooou guuuys!"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)An oldie, but a goodie! Linus waits for The Great Pumpkin all night in a pumpkin patch, while Charlie Brown goes trick or treating with the gang - only to end up with a bag full of rocks.

Hocus Pocus (1993)
When Halloween-hating teenager Max inadvertently resurrects three witches, The Sanderson Sisters, from their temporary deaths, he must risk his life to protect his sister, and defeat the witches with the help of a classmate crush, a friendly zombie and an immortal black cat. This 1993 film might be a bit too spooky for your young ones, but school-aged kids will enjoy the ghouls, witches and spells of this classic movie.

Casper (1995)
Based on the 1940-50s cartoon about the friendliest ghost in town, this mid-nineties film version is a great watch leading up to Halloween. When a spoiled woman inherits a mansion in her late father's will, she learns that the house may have a treasure hidden within it. To get to the treasure, she must first kick out the house's inhabitants - Casper the friendly ghost and his three wise-cracking uncles. When Dr. Harvey and his daughter, Kat, move into the house to try and kick out the ghosts, laughter and shenanigans ensue. It has some adult humour that will fly over little ones' heads, making it a great movie for the whole family to watch.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
One of Tim Burton's greatest movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas, can be watched from Halloween straight through to Christmas. This stop-animation film tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to "Christmas Town" and quickly embraces the Christmas holiday. To convince the Halloween Town residents that Christmas is a good idea, Jack proposes they take over Christmas and replace Santa with Jack. Save this one for some quality time with your tween as the dark graphics of Tim Burton's signature style might be over the top for young eyes.

Originally published in ParentsCanada, October 2012

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