The 7 Scariest PG-13 Horror Movies
the PG-13 rating’s origin Story
In the early 1980s, parents complained about the graphic content in PG-rated movies like Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) was pressured to create a new rating between PG and R. They introduced the PG-13 rating in 1984.
A natural assumption is that PG-13 horror movies are tamer, and thus less frightening, than their R-rated and unrated counterparts. Are these films just gateway fodder for genre novices?
Related: Ten Great Horror Movies For Beginners
Suspense vs. Gore
It’s true that PG-13 movies are significantly restricted in terms of the violence they can depict. But let’s consider what makes a movie truly scary. Blood and brains flying all over the place? Nope. It doesn’t take graphic content to create tension and dread. In fact, some of the creepiest horror movies ever made have brandished the PG-13 rating.
These films don’t need gallons of blood or a million f-bombs to affect us. Instead, they apply a literary device that’s been used for centuries: suspense. Here are the seven scariest PG-13 horror movies.
7. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a rare genre combo: a horror legal drama. Father Richard Moore (Tom Wilkinson) is put on trial for negligent homicide after the death of a devout college student, Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter). He is represented by Erin (Laura Linney), an agnostic lawyer.
The prosecution alleges that Moore mistreated Emily by denying her medical attention. He says that she was possessed by a demon and medical care wouldn’t have helped her. Erin is privately doubtful about demonic possession, but she resolves to do her best to defend her client. Her skepticism is shaken when frightening unexplainable events begin to occur.
Creepy flashbacks of Emily’s supposed possession are interspersed throughout the film. Of course, the demonic antics are limited by the film’s rating. We don’t see Emily hurling profane invectives or performing perverted acts with a crucifix like Regan in The Exorcist.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose doesn’t need shock value to deliver frights. Carpenter’s feverish acting and contorted body language is more than enough to make this movie effective. The suspense of the trial outcome adds to the film’s tension.
This movie has a great cast. Jennifer Carpenter delivers an intense and believable performance. Tom Wilkinson is stellar as always. Laura Linney strikes the right balance between open-mindedness and skepticism.
Stream The Exorcism of Emily Rose on Apple TV
6. The Boogeyman (2023)
The Boogeyman is an adaption of a short story by Stephen King. It stars Sophie Thatcher as teenager Sadie Harper. She is mourning the loss of her mother, who was killed in a car crash. After a terrifying encounter with a strange man, Sadie’s family, including her dad and little sister Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair), is terrorized by a mysterious monster.
This is one of several horror films that explore the concept of a “boogeyman”, a vaguely defined monster that parents use to scare their children into behaving. A boogeyman can be pretty much anything. It’s a blank slate that horror filmmakers can interpret however they want.
With ghosts, demons, vampires, etc. we go into a movie with a decent idea of what to expect. Not so with a boogeyman. That element of unpredictability works to this movie’s advantage.
The chemistry between Thatcher and Blair is what really makes this movie work. A monster is only scary if you care about the characters that it’s tormenting. Sadie and Sawyer’s relationship is believable and relatable. It’s easy to root for them to survive, and that’s why The Boogeyman is one of the scariest PG-13 horror movies.
5. Drag Me to Hell (2009)
After denying a mortgage extension to an elderly customer, ambitious loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) experiences a series of hellish visions. As her life falls apart, she realizes that the old lady she spurned has placed a hex on her. Christine will be dragged to hell in three days if she is unable to reverse the curse. The impending deadline high stakes make Drag Me to Hell an excellent example of a high-suspense horror movie.
Drag Me to Hell is about an average person who makes a controversial decision and pays the price for it. Christine isn’t evil, but the curse is indifferent to whether she’s a bad person or not. This movie is best known for its shocking and nihilistic ending.
The film was directed by Sam Raimi (Evil Dead) and features his typical mix of humor and horror. It’s not as fun as Evil Dead, but it has plenty of moments that make us jump.
Stream Drag Me to Hell on Amazon Prime
4. A Quiet Place (2018)
In A Quiet Place, a family living in rural New York struggles to survive in a world ravaged by extraterrestrials with hypersensitive hearing. Any sound, even a pin drop, can mean instant death. Lee (John Krasinski) and Evelyn (Emily Blunt) move quietly from place to place with their deaf daughter and two young sons.
This movie has almost no spoken dialogue. The characters mainly communicate through gestures and sign language. Its most compelling character is Regan (Millicent Simmonds), the daughter. Simmonds, who is deaf in real life, delivers a fantastic performance.
A Quiet Place gives new meaning to the concept of uncomfortable silences. This movie is mercilessly suspenseful. That’s something that all of the scariest PG-13 horror movies have in common.
Stream A Quiet Place on Paramount Plus
3. The Grudge (2004)
Karen Davis (Sarah Michelle Gellar), is an American social worker who has recently moved to Tokyo with her boyfriend. She becomes the caregiver for an elderly woman after the previous nurse mysteriously disappeared.
Karen encounters the terrifying ghosts of a young mother and son who were murdered in the home three years earlier.. She realizes that her new home is cursed by their angry spirits.
The curse spreads like a disease, consuming everyone in its path. Most ghost flicks wait until night time to inflict terror. In this movie, the ghosts are just as likely to pop up in the middle of the day. This keeps us on our toes waiting for the next scare.
The idea that ghosts are not confined to one location, and can follow their victims anywhere, was innovative at the time. The Insidious and Paranormal Activity franchises later used similar concepts.
The Grudge is an American remake of Ju-On: The Grudge (2002). Both versions were directed by Takashi Shimizu, who has made dozens of Japanese horror flicks. Sarah Michelle Gellar gives one of her best performances as Karen.
Stream The Grudge on Amazon Prime
2. The Ring (2002)
Like The Grudge, The Ring is a remake of a Japanese film: Ring (1998). Rachel (Naomi Watts) is a journalist investigating an allegedly cursed videotape that kills viewers seven days after they watch it.
Rachel has a personal stake in the investigation. Her niece was one of the tape’s victims. After watching the video herself, she desperately tries to halt her own impending doom by unraveling the mystery of the tape’s existence. Like Drag Me to Hell, the fast approaching deadline adds significant suspense to the storyline.
Meanwhile, the viewers of the tape continue to meet grisly endings. People who are squeamish about animal deaths should skip this one. A horse meets a gruesome demise in one of the movie’s most notorious scenes.
The Ring is set in Seattle, so we get the obligatory scenes of characters trudging through dreary rain-filled city streets. As a resident of the area, I must point out that we get a decent number of sunny days out here. Seriously!
This is a bleak, grungy film filled with eerie imagery. Samara (Daveigh Chase), a ghostly girl who appears in the infamous tape, became a minor horror icon after spending this movie scaring the hell out of everyone. She has an especially terrifying scene near the film’s conclusion.
Stream The Ring on Google Play
1. Insidious (2010)
Out of all of the scariest PG-13 horror movies, none can match the sheer uninhibited terror of Insidious. After their son inexplicably lapses into a coma, a seemingly ordinary middle class couple is terrorized by sinister paranormal entities. Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) change homes, but the spirits continue to pursue them.
In desperation, they hire a group of paranormal investigators led by Elise (Lin Shaye) to drive the entities away. Meanwhile, long-buried family secrets resurface, leading to a shocking final battle with evil forces.
Insidious was directed by James Wan (Saw, Dead Silence, Malignant). Most of Wan’s films are R-rated, but ironically Insidious is his most frightening movie. As with The Grudge, the demons and ghosts often appear when we least expect them.
This movie is loaded with well-executed jump scares and a wide variety of creepy entities. Insidious never lets up. Wan keeps the tension and scares coming right up to the last second.
