The Ghost Breakers (1940)
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◄ IMDb Polls
Poll: Most Family Friendly of the Horror Comedy Genre
In the bonus material to my copy of The Ghost Breakers (1940), screenwriter Larry Karaszewski said that while he and Scott Alexander were writing the screenplay for Goosebumps (2015), they wanted to write a family friendly horror comedy hybrid. They had looked for a movie with the right balance to use as their inspiration, and to get it right. He said that he was surprised how few they were, and that they had to go back to the Abbott and Costello films and others. (The ones he mentioned by name are marked by an *. The Abbott and Costello films are marked by **.) Using that as a starting point, and no “R” rated films on this list, and “PG13” is borderline, which of these films from the horror comedy genre is the most family friendly, or, in other words, would you show a 5 yr old without scaring him half to death?
If you got one to suggest that is not “R” rated or worse, but is horror comedy genre that is family friendly, (check the keywords), offer them here for consideration.
Make Your Choice
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The Cat and the Canary (1939)
* -
Scared Stiff (1953)
* -
Hold That Ghost (1941)
** -
The Time of Their Lives (1946)
** -
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
* ** -
Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff (1949)
** -
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
** -
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
** -
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)
** -
Gremlins (1984)
* -
Goosebumps (2015)
* -
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
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Corpse Bride (2005)
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The Canterville Ghost (1944)
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Monster House (2006)
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Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018)
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The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018)
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Hocus Pocus (1993)
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Coco (2017)
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The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
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The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
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The Addams Family (1991)
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The Addams Family (2019)
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Casper (1995)
(Suggested by toney_mathew) -
Coraline (2009)
(Suggested by toney_mathew) -
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
(Suggested by toney_mathew) -
Hotel Transylvania (2012)
(Suggested by toney_mathew) -
Frankenweenie (2012)
(Suggested by toney_mathew) -
ParaNorman (2012)
(Suggested by toney_mathew) -
Little Monsters (1989)
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The Little Vampire (2000)
This has an animated remake you might want to consider: The Little Vampire 3D (2017). -
Scooby-Doo (2002)
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Ghost Chasers (1951)
Suggested by ACT_1 -
The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters (1954)
Suggested by ACT _1 (The film was inspired by Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). But by including a gorilla in the film, it also pays homage to The Gorilla (1939) which was a play that had leaped from the stage to the screen.)
