Suitable holloween move for 11 to 14 year olds ?

The top three are horror films which are perfectly suitable for 11-14 year olds and the first two were made with that age group in mind. Rare Exports is a little more adult in nature but there's nothing there that's inappropriate. The others are generally perfectly suitable horror films but a bit of parent discretion would be advised. To be perfectly honest, 11-14 year olds should be checking out the original 1930s Universal classics and then moving on to the Stephen King adaptations It and Salem's Lot.

The Monster Squad is the best bet. An intelligent and loving homage to the classic Universal horrors of the 30s sporting a fine script from Shane Black and one of the greatest onscreen depictions of Dracula ever.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale - It's rare that I get to experience a film completely blind but this was on one of thoserare occasions in which my quest to ignore all trailers, reviews, interviews or any mention of the film worked out.

Much like Monsters Rare Exports is being touted by many of publications as a genre defining piece and while it is a thoroughly entertaining film it does reek of budget limitations. The bizarre tonal shifts hamper the film with the ending being particularly odd and out-of-place, especially as the last third spends some time building up to a pay off which never transpires.

The Hole - Not to be confused with the Keira Knightly starring teens in trouble horror from a decade or so ago, The Hole 2010 is a low budget PG13 horror from the cinema legend that is Joe Dante.

The story follows two brothers who settle with their mom in small town USA. Exploring their new home they stumble across a locked door on the floor of their basement. With the assistance of their attractive neighbour the brothers open the door and discover a hole that seems to have no bottom. In the days following all three are forced to face their fears as all manner of evil behind stalking them.

The Hole is very much a throw back to 80s horror cinema and brings to mind such genre classics as The Monster Squad and Gremlins. The young cast all impress and make the most of one of the stronger genre scripts in years. Few horror films have tackled the theme of child abuse in such a mature and intelligent manner and it's a credit to both the script and Dante's assured direction that it never feels exploitive or heavy handed.

The Hole is a film that has sadly never gotten a chance. Bypassing theatres it was dumped unceremoniously onto DVD and Blu-Ray which is a shame. It's an intelligent, well made and genuinely unsettling horror that makes great use of a talented cast, a string script and some great old school fx work.


Dead Silence - Dead Silence is one of the creepiest films of the past decade. With little in the way of gore of shock tactics it instead relies on a truly astonishing atmosphere of dread which will have you right on the edge of your seat right through to the credits. It features one of the most genuinely chilling baddies in horror history and is a real throw back to the past masters.

Fright Night (original) - Fright Night remains one of the greatest horror films ever made, one which has frights, laughs and even a few moments where tears are in order. It's the perfect vampire film and one which every self respecitng horror fan has to have seen. It features one of my favourite performances of all time from the great Roddy McDowall as Peter Vincent, a role which he was bron to play. To see Fright Night once is to fall in love with it.

The Plague - Billed as a Clive Barker film the Plague is in fact a rather low-key, story driven film from writer/director Hal Masonberg. It's an entertainINg romp with some very well handled moments though watching it you can't help but wish to see the proper directors cut. Barker and his fellow producers recut the film substantially, removing an hour of footage, they concentrated on violence rather than allowing for a truly great slow burning horror film.