School of Terror: 57 Horror Movies for Kids (2020): School of Terror

By Steve Hutchison

The films described in this book are perfect for children and teenagers with a fascination for horror movies. They contain very little violence, coarse language, and nudity, if any.

The reviews are sorted in order of preference. The ranking is established by the sum of 7 ratings: stars, gimmick, rewatchability, story, creativity, acting, and quality.

Each film description contains a synopsis, a list of attributed genres, emotions, eight ratings, and a three-paragraph review.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Hutchison
• Release date: Apr 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9781778871986

Steve Hutchison

Artist, developer and entrepreneur in film, video games and communications Steve Hutchison co-founded Shade.ca Art and Code in 1999, then Terror.ca and its French equivalent Terreur.ca in 2000. With his background as an artist and integrator, Steve worked on such games as Capcom's Street Fighter, PopCap's Bejeweled, Tetris, Bandai/Namco's Pac-Man and Mattel's Skip-Bo & Phase 10 as a localization manager, 2-D artist and usability expert. Having acquired skills in gamification, he invented a unique horror movie review system that is filterable, searchable and sortable by moods, genres, subgenres and antagonists. Horror movie fans love it, and so do horror authors and filmmakers, as it is a great source of inspiration. In March 2013, Steve launched Tales of Terror, with the same goals in mind but with a much finer technology and a complex engine, something that wasn’t possible initially. He has since published countless horror-themed books.

Book preview

SchoolsOfTerror2020_Cover.jpg

Tales of Terror’s

School of Terror 2020

57 Horror Movies for KIds

INTRODUCTION

The films described in this book are perfect for children and teenagers with a fascination for horror movies. They contain very little violence, coarse language and nudity, if any.

The reviews are sorted in order of preference. The ranking is established by the sum of 7 ratings: stars, gimmick, rewatchability, story, creativity, acting, and quality.

Each film description contains a synopsis, a list of attributed genres, emotions, eight ratings and a three-paragraph review.

#1

Gremlins

1984

A high-maintenance creature gives birth to an army of small devils after being exposed to water.

Stars

8/8

STORY

8/8

CREATIVITY

8/8

ACTING

7/8

QUALITY

8/8

Gremlins is a highly superior cinematographic experience in image and sound. It is meant for children and adults alike, but is rather oriented at the former. It’s a horror movie that avoids violence and death using creative detours, and, simply put, instead plays on the fears of ugliness and propagation. This all happens around Christmas time and the odd resulting ambiance is a delight.

The film is virtually flawless and an obvious fruit of effort. With some of the best animatronics, puppetry and creature design to ever hit the screen, it’s a nicely packaged story supported by lovable characters and spiced up by a dream team of performers who are wisely directed and scripted. Everybody on board seems aware of the fact that they have one of the best gimmicks in film history.

Gremlins is about a cute creature whose allergies trigger self-duplicating terror and destruction. In the context of Christmas, under keen lighting, when wrapped in comedy then glitter, and supported by an immersing score, this otherwise sinister film becomes a fantasy of its own before your entertained eyes. It belongs to all genres, yet none, and is unarguably one of the best pictures ever made.

#2

Ghostbusters

1984

Three unemployed supernatural investigators start a ghost hunting business.

Stars

8/8

STORY

7/8

CREATIVITY

8/8

ACTING

8/8

QUALITY

8/8

Here’s a perfect mix of comedy, horror and fantasy that will get straight to your heart and guts. In a way, it is also a light superhero story. Because it is perfectly suitable for a child as much as the general audience, Ghostbusters is eerie, makes you jump, shiver, but features virtually no gore. There are monsters, though, and plenty of them. The effects are amazing and one of a kind.

The score and soundtrack play a big role in delivering a fun supernatural aura that penetrates the screen. While some of the creature effects are a little cheap, most of the ghost effects blend well with the picture. This one isn’t all about visuals. The characters and the story are compelling and the dialogue is catchy.

The actors are perfect in their roles and their performances are close to flawless. Ghostbuster isn’t shy on effects, making use of animatronics, rubber suits and an abundance of color keying. Get ready to be entertained all the way through; sucked in a surreal New York that gets increasingly sinister as subplots converge.

#3

The Goonies

1985

In order to save their home from foreclosure, a group of misfits set out to find a pirate’s ancient treasure.

Stars

8/8

STORY

7/8

CREATIVITY

7/8

ACTING

8/8

QUALITY

8/8

An exciting opening sequence introduces all the protagonists, in their everyday life, while the bad guys, criminals, are being chased by cops. The town is picturesque. Not much happens, there, we learn, until today. The Goonies follows the ultimate adventure film recipe, but targets children and teenagers, which doesn’t mean adults won’t have the time