12 MORE Great PG-13 Horror Movies (Part Two)

Wowsers! When I wrote about 20 Awesome PG-13 Horror Movies earlier this year, I figured it was just going to be a little “treat” for me as a writer. I love talking about this subgenre and I was always planning to write a Part Two, but I thought I’d be saving it for a rainy day when I was feeling glum – that I would be the only one actually deriving any joy from the topic and I’d be abusing my role as Head Editor by rambling on about something only I thought was cool. BOY was I wrong! Part One instantly became our second most popular post on all of HorrorFam.com of all time. THANK YOU!

So, since you seem to dig PG-13 horror movies as much as I do, I’m publishing Part Two right NOW! You’re already reading it. This is it. Part Two! And, thanks to my own personal list, and all of YOUR recommendations (thank you to everyone who replied to my Newsletter and DM’d me on Instagram), I absolutely have enough great PG-13 horror movies for a Part Three. Or even a Part Four, if you keep sending me suggestions. I watch ’em all eventually and most of them have made it into the ongoing list in my spiral notebook (apologies to the fellow who recommended Dylan Dog: Dead of Night – I did watch it, but it just wasn’t for me. It made me really curious about the comic books though!).

Anyway, just like last time, I’m going to be going over horror films that have been rated PG-13 by the MPAA. These are films that they classify as “Parents strongly cautioned – Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.” So, while many of these horror films are great/safe choices for most audiences, they’re not ALL great “first time horror films” or “best horror films for 10 year olds” or “good horror movies to show kids.” These are still HORROR films! Most of ’em still bring on the scares!! Don’t go traumatizing youngsters. I’ll call out which ones I think could be great PG-13 horror movies for younger audiences, but it’ll be up to you to do your due diligence and pre-screen my suggestions before exposing them to the kiddos in your life.

I’ll go into why each PG-13 horror movie I’ve selected was rated PG-13 by the MPAA at the bottom of each review. I’ll try not to get too spoiler-y when I do so. All of these films have “mild” to “moderate” swearing (each PG-13 film is allowed one F-bomb, per the ratings board, though not all of these choose to use it), so I’m not going to mention the “Language” warnings in detail every time. Just know that, unless I say otherwise, all of these films have swearing.

Here we go! A dozen more great PG-13 horror movies to add to your streaming watch lists!

This post contains affiliate links. If you watch a movie we’ve recommended using our links, you’ll be helping to support HorrorFam.com at no additional cost to you!

Happy Death Day (2017)

Christi Bandy had been recommending Happy Death Day to me for nine years and I finally got a chance to watch it this year! She was absolutely right to hype it up: It’s a ton of fun.

I’m extremely difficult to sell unlikeable protagonists to. You have to invest a lot of your own, real-life, time with a main character. Why would I want to hang out with someone icky and mean? Boo! If a main character is horrible, they should at least be hysterically funny, y’know? So, when Happy Death Day started, and Tree (short for Theresa) wasn’t making me laugh and was being an awful person to everyone she met, my reaction was “Uh-oh.” But, based on my bestie’s repeated recommendations, I stuck it out – and I’m glad I did! Happy Death Day ended up being a really sweet slasher film. I think, if she can manage to get past Tree’s initial horribleness, my mom would really love Happy Death Day! And “Can I show this to my mom without it giving her recurring nightmares?” is one the ways I gauge whether a horror film is a safe choice for nearly everyone. (Mom loves monsters, but is very sensitive and selective when it comes to which horror films she watches).

Christi once described Happy Death Day to me as “Groundhog Day meets Scream” and that’s dead-on. The plot revolves around Tree being murdered by a masked killer on her birthday, and then waking up on her birthday again, and being killed again. Basically, Tree needs to solve the mystery of just who the heck the masked murderer is (that’s the Scream-style mystery + slasher aspect) while being caught in a time loop (ala Groundhog Day).

I liked that they played fair with the mystery aspect regarding the killer. That’s always a big grumble for me. I don’t like it when it turns out to be some random stranger. I know that happens in real life, but that’s no fun (in real life or in films). So, I was very pleased. Especially since I’d guessed correctly. It’s not difficult, but I still got an extra dopamine hit from that “achievement” and this is my review, so I’m awarding Happy Death Day a bonus star for that.

In addition to the usual slasher antics that come from a terrified gal being chased around by a masked killer, there’s also a “ticking clock” element that gives Happy Death Day additional suspense. Although Tree is surviving each of her deaths, they’re still having an impact on her. Physically, she can’t keep dying and still survive. She needs to figure out what the heck is up and FAST. She needs help! But, since she was an enormous jerk to everyone, she needs to not only learn how to be a Final Girl, she needs to learn how to be nice. It ends up being very rewarding to have a character you went “uh-oh” too for their off-putting personality transform themselves into someone you genuinely root for and hope will succeed!

Happy Death Day is rated PG-13 due to “terror” and a moderate amount of violence. You know how Bill Murray goes through a phase where he dies repeatedly in Groundhog Day? Tree has similar experiences. Like Groundhog Day, most of her deaths aren’t (fully) shown, but you see enough to know exactly what happened each time (there’s very minimal on-screen blood in the entire film!). There’s also references to sexual relationships (mostly verbally, as jokes or implications to Tree’s past transgressions; however, she’s shown heavily making out with a married man in one scene, and a male character is implied to be about to have some “alone time” with an adult video on his laptop – there are topless men sharing a cartoonish smooch but nothing graphic – and the character watching the video is clothed) and “brief nudity” (Tree is nude at one point but is only shown from the back, above the butt, with other characters reacting). “Drug Use” was also mentioned due to references to being “wasted”/drunk and Tree’s repeated usage of Tylenol. “Language” is the main flag for this one, and it goes in strong with the swears, but the potty mouths calm down considerably after the first third of the film, once Tree starts getting her act together.

Where to watch Happy Death Day (2017):

Mr. Vampire (1985)

Mr. Vampire was one of the best horror movies of 1985 AND it’s a great PG-13 horror film! I couldn’t stop grinning when I watched it.

The stunt work in Mr. Vampire goes above and beyond. There were so many times when I had my mouth hanging open, absolutely agog at what the actors were putting themselves through in the name of making a fantastically fun horror-comedy. The martial arts fight scenes are wonderful, and the physical stunts in general are absolutely amazing. They launch themselves off of walls to perform kicks, they set stuntmen on fire, they execute insane flips… They make use of each environment and prop to its fullest capacity and it’s an absolute joy to watch.

As for the plot, Mr. Vampire‘s main character is a man named Mr. Kau (Ching-Ying Lam, the actor/stuntman, was 33 but he’s wearing appliances/hair pieces to appear “old” for the role) who’s a Taoist priest. He’s essentially running a mortuary, giving out spiritual advice, and acting as the neighborhood’s “Van Helsing”/Vampire Slayer as necessary. Mr. Kau has two apprentices, who tend to make a mess of things. They all have varying levels of goofiness (sometimes lapsing into full-on Three Stooges routines), and even the “scariest” monster moments have a lot of slapstick elements.

Comedy is extremely subjective, so Mr. Vampire may not be for everyone. I found it incredibly charming! This is oversimplifying it quite a bit, but imagine Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein mashed together with one of the goofier Jackie Chan martial arts films (as in his fully-comedic 2000’s films rather than his more serious 1970’s roles). It’s cartoonish levels of silliness mixed with awesome physical combat and multiple monsters!

I loved the monsters in Mr. Vampire. The title vampires are the hopping variety (jiāngshī) and they show up quite a bit. However, there are also evolved forms of the jiāngshī that are a bit more like zombies. There’s also a ghost lady who can throw her own head as a weapon! (Maybe I should update my list of Best Improvised Weapons in Horror Films? Hahahaha!).

Mr. Vampire is rated PG-13 for “vampire violence and some sexuality.” There’s almost ZERO naughty language in Mr. Vampire! They don’t even use their one F-bomb. There’s ONE sh*t on screen via the subtitles, but that’s it. The sexuality pertains to some awkward flirting and a bit of kissing later on (nothing graphic) and you briefly see bare male butt cheeks when a character gets his pants pulled down as a joke/distraction tactic. There’s some blood (we’re dealing with vampires, after all!) but it’s very “Halloween costume” looking (a little bit of red face paint around the mouth area). The most “gore” is a non-graphic puncture wound and there’s a ghost character shown with a protruding eyeball (half her face is messed up with what looks to be globs of red and white wax with a ping-pong ball “eyeball” plopped into the muck – it’s very old-fashioned 1950’s-style gore effects). I would have LOVED Mr. Vampire as a kid!! If you or your child is into martial arts AND horror, Mr. Vampire is a fantastic choice. It’s a great PG-13 horror movie for 10 year olds, or slightly younger if they’re already into the genre.

Where to watch Mr. Vampire (1985):

Haunted Mansion (2023)

I did a thorough review of Disney’s Haunted Mansion back in 2023, but if you still haven’t gotten around to this one… Check it out! Frank and I saw it in theaters and then we shared it with my parents once it hit streaming. We all really enjoyed it.

Haunted Mansion is very much a movie version of the classic Disneyland ride it’s based on. If you’re a fan of the ride, or if you’ve always wanted to experience the ride but have never been able to (I’ve lived in Los Angeles for over 40 years, I’ve only been to Disneyland three times in my lifetime, and my last visit was in 2006 and it was too expensive then!), or if you just really like haunted house movies and you’re wishing there was a “safe” one to share with your entire family… This may be the film you’ve been looking for!

Haunted Mansion (2023) is rated PG-13 for “scary action.” There’s ZERO blood or gore. The absolute strongest swear word they use is “damn.” As I briefly mentioned during my initial review, our local theater haaaated this movie because the Hatbox Ghost who shows up near the end kept causing children in the audience to piss their pants in terror (we even had to wait a few extra minutes before our own theater viewing because additional clean-up was needed on the seats from the previous audience). The ride at Disneyland has the same effect on kiddos! If you’re thinking to share Haunted Mansion with young children, maybe show them the photos I’ve attached above (or show them the trailer) to gauge whether or not the “scary action” is TOO scary. Or, at least put a towel down on your couch. However, for most audiences, Haunted Mansion is a fun family-friendly PG-13 horror film!

Where to watch Haunted Mansion (2023):

Underwater (2020)

This one was a recommendation from my dad! He primarily reviews classic horror films here on HorrorFam.com, but he watches his fair share of newer horror movies as well and Underwater is a PG13-rated horror film that he thought was pretty neat. He said that he enjoyed the performances (specifically noting that, as a Twilight fan, he’d kind of forgotten that Kristen Stewart is an actual actress and Underwater managed to remind him), the uncomfortable claustrophobic tension, and the monsters (though he lamented that they’re difficult to see properly due to the titular underwater nature of the film).

I thought Underwater was good as well. It’s not my new favorite film or anything (nor is it Dad’s), but I enjoyed it. I already have a fear of deep water (probably because I can’t swim…), so I found the setting extremely uncomfortable. There are also quite a few tight spaces the characters have to navigate, similar to The Descent, as well as the pressures of limited resources (survival horror!) and the dreaded unknown Something that’s lurking in the dark.

Put very simply: Underwater is Alien…under water. Instead of a space ship, it’s a drilling & research station in the Mariana Trench. The dynamics between the crew members of the Kepler 822 are very similar to those of the Nostromo crew. Something IMMEDIATELY goes wrong with the Kepler 822 – things are implied to have been humdrum for the crew for months but when we start watching the film, shiz hits the fan in a big way. The first 10 minutes are action-packed!

The surviving Kepler 822 crew need to abandon their broken facility, don their diving suits, and walk along the Mariana Trench to the next closest underwater research station before they completely run out of air. It’s a very tense situation! And so much of what’s actually underwater is still a huge “unknown.” Underwater touches upon the madness that comes from extreme isolation, the fear of the dark, and there’s even a heavy helping of cosmic horror. Because, in addition to dangerous deep sea life and “facehugger” style mini-monsters there’s an even BIGGER monster that “lies dreaming,” if you catch my drift.

Underwater is rated PG-13 for “sci-fi action, terror, and brief strong language.” There’s zero sex or nudity (characters are shown in modest sports bras/two-piece bathing suits but you’ll see more bare skin at any real-life beach), the swearing is minimal, and there are two sort of “jump scare” blood splatters (diving helmet windows go red with blood but whatever happened to the character’s actual heads isn’t shown). Underwater is a great PG-13 horror sci-fi film for folks who are timidly testing the waters (heh!) before moving onto stronger fare like Alien or The Thing.

Where to watch Underwater (2020):

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

I added 10 Cloverfield Lane to my list of great PG-13 horror movies after a newsletter subscriber (shoutout to Scott!) asked me if I knew of any good “single location” horror films he hadn’t already seen. This one wasn’t on his list, so I recommended it – and then I realized it was rated PG-13, so now I’m recommending it to YOU as well!

10 Cloverfield Lane takes place almost entirely in a tiny underground bunker. And there are only three characters to keep track of: Howard (John Goodman), Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.). Sometimes it’s nice to not have to keep track of 15 fodder characters while they get whittled down by a killer! Three well-done characters portrayed by three great actors are more than enough to carry this one.

Michelle gets into a car accident at the beginning and wakes up in Howard’s bunker. Howard says there’s been an attack and that he saved her life when he found her on the road. Now, the air outside is poison, and they can’t leave – ever! Emmett, a construction worker, is also trapped inside the bunker and claims he begged to be let inside when he saw something strange, that he presumes was the attack Howard described.

But was there really an attack? Is the air outside actually poison? The longer they spend in the bunker, the more it seems like Howard isn’t the nice guy he claims to be. Did he actually save Michelle and Emmett from a horrific fate – or is he just a psycho holding them prisoner underground?

Unlike Cloverfield (2008), 10 Cloverfield Lane is filmed in third-person. Cloverfield is also a PG13-rated horror movie, but I don’t like it nearly as much as 10 Cloverfield Lane and a large part of that is because the shaky first-person camerawork for the “Found Footage” makes me nauseous. That said, there IS a connection to Cloverfield in this movie; however, you don’t need to have seen Cloverfield to enjoy it.

Without getting too close to spoiler territory, I tend to think 10 Cloverfield Lane goes on a few minutes too long. It’s 99% awesome, but I’ll admit to mixed feelings about the ending. I usually lean toward the feeling that it should end right when Michelle says “You’ve got to be kidding me.” But sometimes I think, “Nah. Those last few minutes are silly fun after all the intensity.” If you watch it, or have watched it, let me know what side of the fence you land on in regard to the ending!

10 Cloverfield Lane is rated PG-13 for “thematic material including frightening sequences of threat with some violence, and brief language.” This film is TENSE. Even when “nothing” is happening, the tension never lets up. The characters (and you!) can never truly relax. There are also some graphic injury scenes (characters get cuts and need stitches, someone gets splashed with flesh-melting acid, someone is burned) and you can see dead/decaying animals (pigs) outside.

Where to watch 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016):

The Final Girls (2015)

The Final Girls was recommended to me by one of our newsletter subscribers! (Shoutout to Michael!). He suggested that I might like it, after I’d been gushing my love for Totally Killer. And they are VERY similar, in terms of plot. They’re both horror comedies that involve their teenage girl protagonist travelling back in time to the 1980s to save their respective moms. Kinda. In Totally Killer, the protagonist literally time travels to save her real-life mother from an actual serial killer. In The Final Girls, the protagonist’s mother – a former scream queen – has already passed on and the daughter (along with several of her friends) “time travels” by magically entering one of her mom’s old slasher films, and tries to save the character played by her mother from the Jason Voorhees-type character within the film’s universe.

I haven’t polled an extensively wide pool of people on their thoughts, but my initial findings are that men seem to prefer The Final Girls and women seem to prefer Totally Killer. I fall in line with that current pattern. However, unlike The Final Girls (2015), Totally Killer (2023) is an R-rated horror film. They’re both pretty equal in terms of violence, but while The Final Girls has far more scantily clad ladies and sexual humor, the swearing is light and drug usage is kept off-camera. Totally Killer isn’t as sexual, but has more swearing and the characters eat weed brownies on screen.

A lot of folks think The Final Girls is an awesome PG-13 horror movie! I thought it was good, but I’d been spoiled by watching Totally Killer first, which was more to my personal taste in terms of humor and characters. Plus, I intensely disliked the real-world version of the mom in The Final Girls‘ prologue and that made me give the film character version of herself the daughter tries to save the side-eye for far too long into the movie, even though the fictional/movie version of the mom was actually really sweet! But that could just be a “me” thing. Watch both films, when you get the chance, and let me know what YOUR thoughts are!

The Final Girls is rated PG-13 because of violence (on-screen machete kills, eyeball gouging, getting hit by a car, etc.) and crude humor.

Where to watch The Final Girls (2015):

Where to watch Totally Killer (2023) – Rated R:

No One Will Save You (2023)

No One Will Save You was one of Christi’s Top Horror Films of 2023! I caught up with it in more recent history. It’s good! I will say this though: Whether or not No One Will Save You is a scary horror film depends HEAVILY on whether or not you’re afraid of gray aliens. Christi is terrified of them. I am very much not. I think they’re cute! Our experiences with No One Will Save You in regard to fear levels couldn’t have been more different.

But, even if you’re totally unafraid of the Grays, No One Will Save You is worth a watch. I didn’t think I’d run into another mute protagonist so soon after I’d reviewed Mute Witness but along came Brynn! The main character of No One Will Save You doesn’t speak. There’s only one line of dialogue in the entire film (well, two, if you count the cut-off anonymous phone call toward the beginning).

Brynn is a young woman living alone on the outskirts of her town. We’re shown early on that she’s an outcast, and she’s treated as a pariah whenever she ventures into the main city. A woman quite literally spits on Brynn’s face!

So, when an alien shows up at Brynn’s house, there’s no one she can turn to for help. Over the course of 93 minutes, things just keep getting worse and worse for poor Brynn. Without too many spoilers, the aliens have an Invasion of the Body Snatchers or Invaders from Mars game plan that they’re beginning to execute. Basically, they’re making the surly townsfolk even more of an unpredictable menace to our main gal.

As a seasoned horror viewer, you’ll guess what’s up with Brynn long before it’s revealed, but it’s still well done. I wasn’t familiar with Kaitlyn Dever before No One Will Save You but she does an excellent job. It’s practically a one-woman film and she absolutely carries it. I found that especially impressive since she had to do it all in silence. Kudos!

I loved the music throughout (Brynn shares my love for the oldies) and, while I felt no fear the bulk of the movie (due to my aforementioned “awww” reaction to Grays), the ending 100% stuck with me. I was on the fence about whether I would include No One Will Save You on this list – I initially thought it was a good but not great PG-13 horror movie – but they absolutely nailed the ending. I laughed. Then I dwelled. I got did the “Oh, man. What would I do or feel in that situation?” ponders. That was fun! I watch WAY more horror films than I end up writing about on HorrorFam.com, and my memory is generally considered pretty good, but so many of them lately have just passed through my eyes and out the back of my head. The fact that No One Will Save You stuck the landing, and stuck in my brain, is what sealed its fate for ending up on my list.

No One Will Save You is rated PG-13 for “violent content and terror.” Again, the “terror” the MPAA notes is going to be largely dependent on how you feel about gray aliens. As for the “violent content,” most of it is directed AT said aliens. Once again, I found a good contender if I ever do a sequel to my Improvised Weapons article haha. Brynn gets pretty creative fending off her otherworldly attackers! There’s also a human death on screen (no gore) and the deaths of certain townsfolk are implied due to them being contortionist alien hosts later on. This is another one that has ZERO swearing! The cut-off phone call I mentioned is the only ALMOST swear (the anonymous caller says “you’re a fu-” and Brynn hangs up on him before he can drop the bomb).

Where to watch No One Will Save You (2023):

The Shallows (2016)

The Shallows is one of my mom’s favorite 21st century horror films! Full credit goes to her for introducing this one to me.

Again, my fear of deep water played heavily into the scare levels for this one. Mom absolutely loves swimming and beaches and all that jazz, so she was captivated by the “gorgeous scenery” for the first third of The Shallows and the horror aspect didn’t hit her until the MASSIVE SHARK showed up. Me? I was sweaty-palmed from the minute Nancy, the main character, arrived at the beach!

Nancy is a surfer gal who decides to go to “her mom’s” beach. It’s a secluded beach in Mexico that her mother frequented when she was pregnant with Nancy. Since her mother recently passed on, Nancy decides to return to the beach now that she’s out of the womb and can actually enjoy it, as a way to connect with her mom on another level.

Well, a big onery shark also decides to show up for Beach Day! Like spiders, sharks tend to get an unjustly bad rap; however, there are a few bad apples that hatch. This shark, who goes out of his way to feed off of humans (as evidenced by his ignoring other food sources in favor of a couple fodder surfers who show up briefly), is one of the Horror Movie Villain sharks.

The Shallows is kinda like a Jaws for one. Instead of terrorizing an entire town or boatload of people, he munches two strangers and then spends the entirety of the runtime hunting Nancy!

After his initial near-miss attack while she’s surfing, Nancy is severely injured and stranded in the ocean. She’s too far out to make a safe swim for safety, but close enough that she can SEE the shoreline. She’s bleeding, she has no food, she has no drinkable water, and no one is expected to check on her for over 24 hours.

At one point she befriends a seagull, whom she names “Steven Seagull,” and those scenes are a highlight. If you want a giggle, check out Sully’s IMDb page (the seagull who played Steven). I’ve read varying reports regarding the authenticity of his page, but it still made me smile. Someone out there put in the effort to give a seagull a thoroughly professional-sounding Bio on IMDb and I love it.

The Shallows is rated PG-13 for “bloody images, intense sequences of peril, and brief strong language.” Basically, shark bites bleed a lot and the gore effects are very realistic. You see Nancy’s wound, you see her tend to her wound, and the camera isn’t shy about it. It doesn’t take up a huge duration of the overall 86-minute runtime, but it’s definitely noticeable. Even if you know it’s just latex and corn syrup, you’ll still go “Gyahhhhh!” Also, Steven Seagull has a dislocated wing when he and Nancy first meet that needs to be set back into place (that’s not as graphic, and I included his lil strawberry jam injury in the photos above so you can see, but I still winced for poor Steven as a character). And, yeah, “intense sequences of peril” describes the action pretty well. It’s great!

Where to watch The Shallows (2016):

Van Helsing (2004)

Van Helsing is one of my dad’s favorites. When I told him I decided to add it to my list of great PG-13 horror movies, he said, “It is great. It’s like an eight-course dinner of pizza and ice-cream and donuts and gooey chocolate frosting!” I can’t say in full honesty that I understand entirely what he meant with that review, but the overall vibe sounds correct. I’ll let you try to decode his exact meaning in the comments. Maybe he’ll reply if you’re correct. He left his first comment on HorrorFam.com just last week, so he knows how now!

As for myself, I can’t deny what silly fun Van Helsing is. It has that “key” something I’ve mentioned loving in films like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and The Monster Squad: ALL the classic movie monsters coming together in one film!

It starts out with a black & white intro with Dr. Frankenstein and Igor creating the Monster and the mob of torch and pitchfork-wielding townsfolk rampaging at the castle gates. The scene plays out as an homage to Frankenstein (1931) and then flashes forward (you can tell it’s the future because it’s in color!) and Hugh Jackman’s Van Helsing is facing off against a Hulk-like Mr. Hyde in a brawl. It’s a lot.

Van Helsing isn’t the film you choose for a first-time watch if you’re already feeling overstimulated because it’s just a constant bombardment of nonsense coming at you at all times. This is another one I’d say isn’t for everyone (it isn’t even for me some days), but if you’re in just the right kind of wacky mood it’s *chef’s kiss*

It’s camp! I think that’s the best way I can describe it. Every single aspect of it – from its plot to its pacing to its costumes to its acting to its general aesthetic – is exaggerated to absolute extremes. It has funny moments (whether they’re intentional or not will be up to you to decipher), but is primarily played straight. And yet it’s immensely theatrical and over-the-top. Whether you think it’s “good,” “bad,” or “so bad it’s good” will be up to your personal preferences. What I can guarantee is that you won’t forget you watched it!

Some of the 2004 CGI effects haven’t held up well, especially when played on HD televisions or computers, but the practical effects still look good. Plus, it’s just fun to see so many creative renditions of classic movie monsters. You’ve got Dracula, his vampiric brides, Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein’s monster, werewolves… Ooh! The werewolves! Certain scenes look a little rough (when they went heavy on the CGI), but the werewolves in Van Helsing are in my Top 5 for Best Werewolf Design. I love the Wolf Man, but my favorite werewolf transformations are the ones that are more drastic, and the finished result is more wolf than man. And since Altered Beast (1988) was the first video game I ever played, the werewolves in Van Helsing got an extra half star for being the closest thing I’ve seen to a live-action version of that first/last “Power Up” transformation.

Van Helsing is rated PG-13 for “nonstop creature action violence, frightening images, and for sensuality.” I think I covered the MPAA’s first two points above. As for the sensuality, there’s no on-screen sex or nudity. Dracula’s wives transform into batlike monsters that are, I guess, technically nude but they don’t have visible genetalia. They’re like de-clothed Barbie dolls. Nothing scandalous. And there’s one scene where Van Helsing’s sidekick wakes up next to a lady and they’re both wearing nightgowns, implying they spent the night together. And EVERYONE – guys and gals – is wearing the tightest clothes possible (see the poster for reference), but that’s just how folks dressed in the 1880s! Kidding. Kidding.

Where to watch Van Helsing (2004):

The Woman in Black (2012)

After the success of The Mummy (1999), Van Helsing (2004) was supposed to be a full-on reboot of the Universal Monsters. It wasn’t appreciated at the time. The Woman in Black (2012) has a somewhat similar story… It was supposed to kick off a new era of Hammer Horror films (and it did relatively well, as it had the highest grossing box office weekend in Hammer’s entire history and got overall positive reviews from critics!), but audiences were kinda “meh” about it.

My dad didn’t like The Woman in Black. He’s a HUGE fan of the old Hammer Horror films and he had gripes about the lack of technicolor, the lack of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, and the lack of beautiful babes. I agree with him on his first point (I’d love to see a more color-saturated version of The Woman in Black!) but I was able to look past his other grumbles and enjoyed The Woman in Black for what it is.

I just kept grinning thinking about how much fun The Woman in Black would have been to bring to a sleepover as a tween! I think it’s a great PG-13 horror movie for that particular audience! It’s a very simple ghost story that’s juuuuuust spooky enough for gentle thrills but not scary enough to keep kids up at night or send them home crying. There are a few “jump scare” moments that might cause tween viewers to spill their popcorn as they scream and laugh, but I think it would be AMAZING to watch with a group of girls. If I were still in the 10 to 13-year-old slumber party age group and I was asked to pick a Spooky movie, this is one I would’ve shared.

I normally recommend showing a horror comedy for introducing new audiences to horror. However, if you or someone you know likes horror books or hearing ghost stories but you’re having trouble getting into visual/film horrors, then The Woman in Black MIGHT be a good choice. It’s well-acted, the story is very simple (it’s very much a traditional ghost story – it feels much more like a classic 1940’s supernatural mystery than a reboot of Hammer Horror’s 1950’s-1970’s glory days), it’s only 95 minutes long, and the MOST blood/gore is a little girl coughing up some blood. Other than a few ghostly jump scares from the title woman, Daniel Radcliffe is mostly terrorized by whispery winds and creaking rocking chairs. If your imagination runs away from you, you can mentally elaborate on what the off-screen screams imply, but what’s actually SHOWN is very tame.

The Woman in Black is rated PG-13 for “thematic material and violence/disturbing images.” The film opens with three little girls going into a trance and then jumping out an attic window. Their mother’s anguished screams are heard. That made me go “whoa.” You don’t SEE anything, but my imagination DID fill in the blanks for that one. It was to early into the film for me to be on my guard yet! After that, I was prepared for any and all creepy shenanigans that were thrown at me. Other than that, there’s a little boy seen walking into the ocean (it’s said aloud later that he died), another little girl throws an oil lamp down at her feet (we see a burst of flame and Daniel Radcliffe’s reaction lets us know that she’s, well, cooked), other similar incidents are spoken about, and then there’s the little girl I mentioned earlier with the one bloody scene in the movie (don’t drink lye, Kids!).

Where to watch The Woman in Black (2012):

Predator: Badlands (2025)

Frank and I saw Predator: Badlands in theaters! And then we watched it again with my parents. We all loved it. I think everyone on the HorrorFam.com team loved this great PG-13 horror sci-fi action flick! AJ Spencer called dibs for it to be his Horror Streaming Pick of the Month and at least four of us were like “Aw, dang! That’s what I was gonna pick!!” It’s a blast.

Predator: Badlands is chock FULL of rowdy action violence, but most of it “doesn’t count” in the eyes of the MPAA because it’s not done to human beings. They pulled a Mortal Kombat (1995)! Love it.

In fact, there are no human beings in Predator: Badlands. The main character, Dek, is a Predator alien. He’s on his first hunt, on an EXTREMELY hostile planet (literally everything tries to kill him, even the grass!), and he teams up with an android. The android, Thia, is a Weyland-Yutani synth (so this is also a crossover with the Alien franchise!). She’s missing her lower half but is a total smartyboots. Dek is the brawn, Thia is the brains, and they embrace the opportunities working together provides.

The characters are fun, empathetic (they’re inhuman and have some notable cultural differences to most of us, but they’re also relatable and you genuinely feel for them), and energetic. The action sequences are creative and fun to watch. The organic monsters and synthetic adversaries are formidable (you know a baddie is bad when you’re worried for a Predator’s safety!!).

I also love the final act. I don’t want to spoil anything, but when young Dek gears up for his big Final Boy showdown… Amazing.

Predator: Badlands is rated PG-13 for “sequences of strong sci-fi violence.” I think I already explained the what/why pretty well above. The action is non-stop!

Where to watch Predator: Badlands (2025):

Escape Room (2019)

Escape Room has the “very personalized torture” aspects of the Saw franchise, the “Rube Goldberg machine” absurd deaths of the Final Destination franchise, and the “whoever made this elaborate trap can’t be human” uncomfortableness of the Cube franchise. It has the vibes of ALL of those but, unlike most of those, you can actually share Escape Room with your gore-phobic friends!

There’s a heavy mystery element to Escape Room. Each of the characters is sent a puzzle box, supposedly from one of their close friends or family members. Once they solve the puzzle, they unlock an invitation to the world’s greatest escape room. They call come from different walks of life, but they each have one key thing in common. Six characters enter… how many will leave?

It quickly becomes evident to (most) of the characters that the escape room they’ve been invited to isn’t the fun day out they thought it would be. Even the waiting room is part of the trap they’ve been lured into. It evolves into an oven, and they need to work together to quickly solve the clues to escape the waiting room into the REAL escape rooms… which are even worse!

I’m including a photo of the waiting room, but it’s by far the least visually interesting room in the film. I don’t want to spoil the others at ALL! They’re so fun. If you watch it, know that my favorite room/trap is the one that heavily features Petula Clark’s “Downtown” as part of a deadly game of Musical Chairs. The set design for that room was amazing and the traps that are set off while they’re trying to solve the clues to get out had me literally on the edge of my seat!

I loved all the puzzles they solve throughout the film. I’m a huge fan of puzzle games, especially horror puzzle games. I got really into Escape Room and was trying to solve the puzzles in real time with the characters. I’ll admit it though: I’d be dead meat. I do really well with puzzles when I can take them at my own pace – but my own pace is not quick enough to survive this film’s world!

Each of the characters, and the very nature of what it takes to survive, is treated as a puzzle. I loved that as well. In the moment, it’s fast-paced and almost silly but it has some good “hmmm” things to ponder afterwards, if you sit with it. Maybe I just find a lot of life puzzling and it was oddly comforting to watch characters also be over-stressed and over-puzzled! No one I know has seen Escape Room and I’d love to hear what someone else things. I thought it was great!

Escape Room is rated PG-13 for “terror/perilous action, violence, some suggestive material, and language.” That last one is the biggie! This is one of those rare PG-13 horror films that somehow gets away with TWO F-bombs. The second one is whispered, but the Closed Captions heard it, so I’m not sure why the MPAA didn’t. One of life’s many mysteries! They also say sh*t a LOT. I don’t blame ’em. They’re under extreme pressure. But if you’re sensitive to swearing, then Escape Room might be rough for you. (I generally do okay with swearing in films, but I’m alarmed by it in real life because I think someone’s either really injured or really angry!). And the action sequences certainly do put the characters in perilous, terrifying situations. And one character in particular is prone to physical violence. As for the “suggestive material,” I’m not really sure what the MPAA board was referring to. There’s one character who says something along the lines of “I’m not a virgin” or “I’ve had sex before” or something to that effect but that feels like a bit of a stretch. That’s the only thing I can think of that they might be referring to though! Overall, if you want something similar to Saw or Cube but without the graphic torture gore, Escape Room is an excellent choice!

Where to watch Escape Room (2019):

Do you want to read about even MORE great PG-13 horror movies…?

I absolutely WILL unleash a Part Three to this series in the future; however, when will be based entirely on your feedback. If viewership numbers and messages to my inbox go bonkers for Part Two like they did for Part One, then I’ll get straight to work on Part Three! If not, well, then I’ll save it for my personal “rainy day.”

For now, I hope you enjoy the 12 great PG-13 horror movies I covered today. I even slipped in one “light” R-rated film that you might enjoy! 13 films total. 🙂

I tried really hard to include mostly films from this century this time around. I threw it back to the 1900s only ONCE this time! I know I lean a lot on the “comfort” horror films of my youth, but I do watch a lot of brand new horror movies – and a lot of them are great. I’ll try to remember to call them out more often! (Though, spoiler alert, Part Three has more than one awesome PG-13 horror film from the 1980s. I can’t help it! It’s shaping up to be an even mix of 20th and 21st century horror films haha).

Huge thanks, again, to everyone who wrote to me after Part One and to YOU for reading Part Two! Be sure to subscribe to our free newsletter so you don’t miss when Part Three comes out.

Images for this article were purchased via CineMaterial (posters) and MoveStillsDB (stills).