Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the Conjuring universe. (Well, not love...).
As a mainstream horror film, this is pretty dumb and pretty bland but as a spooky movie for 13 years old it’s terrific. This is horror for the Teen Nick set and for what it is it’s good, It’s also 90 percent easter eggs and backdoor pilots that looks like it was designed as a Universal Horror Nights attraction first, Conjuring TV series sizzle reel second and theatrical feature third.
The Haunted Mouth (1974)
Always part of my Halloween video playlist, this long-form (13 min.) toothpaste ad/classroom film is genuinely kinda creepy. Back in the ’60s and ’70s spooky stuff for kids was often actually spooky but, ever since so much of it has gotten very cheesy.
Child’s Play (1954)
British kids fiddle with an atomic playset with explosive results.Couldn’t make this now. The free-range kids will seem more fantastical to today’s audiences than the mushroom cloud rising from a detonated shed.
Mr. Boogedy (1986)
Old school Disney Channel family chiller. Great, cheesy, fun.
The Haunting Hour (2010-2014)
- My Imaginary Friend
- Grampires
Watched a trio of episodes from the series R.L. Stines The Haunting Hour (2010-2014). Christopher Lloyd’s Grampires was by far the best of the bunch. I’ll watch a few later on in the season but there's only so much Canadian kids stuff I can take in one sitting.
- The Cast
Creeped Out (2019)
Another Canadian kid’s horror series on Netflix. Does nothing for me, but I’m not a kid. Back in my day, pre-Goosebumps, we, luckily, didn’t have as much of this watered-down synthetic kiddie horror.
