If you're an adult and you grew up watching horror movies, then you can probably recall some of the early scary movies you watch that got you invested in the genre. Many of us 1990s babies can recall films like Poltergeist, Ghostbusters, Scream, Urban Legends, The Addams Family, and many more as the type of films that piqued your overall interest in scary stuff.
Critics are praising the recent slasher film Clown in a Cornfield as a really fun gateway horror movie for the modern era, the type of film younger audiences will have a blast with. Following that line of thought, we created a list of other low-stakes horror movies to watch.
Hell Fest (2018)
I am a vocal supporter of horror movies taking place at carnivals, fairs, amusement parks, etc. I think it's an underutilized location and I'll never get sick of it. Hell Fest is great because not only are the main characters terrorized at a carnival, but it's a Halloween-themed carnival, adding to the overall fun and spectacle of this teen slasher movie.
Like Clown in a Cornfield, Hell Fest received an R rating, but the gore and language are about what you'd expect from a film like this aimed toward younger viewers. This is prime "gateway horror" viewing and perfect to set the mood for the incoming "summerween" season.
Haunt (2019)
Another movie set on Halloween night, Haunt is an entertaining slasher that also has a killer clown in it, perfect for anyone who liked that aspect of Clown in a Cornfield or wants to see Terrifier some day but perhaps isn't ready yet. In Haunt, a group of friends visit an "extreme" haunted house to test their limits and discover that they've entered a real-life death trap.
In some ways, Haunt is similar to the real-life McKamey Manor and the various lore and stories surrounding it. Some fans theorize that the writers were inspired by it, so if you've fallen down a McKamey Manor rabbit hole online before this is a great movie to watch.
Five Nights at Freddy's (2023)
Five Nights at Freddy's has a massive fandom thanks to the popular video games that spawned the entire franchise. Fans of all ages flock to this bonkers story about animatronics that come to life and kill people. But sometimes I think people forget that the games were originally aimed at a younger audience.
Five Nights at Freddy's has always been an entryway into horror and the live-action film from director Emma Tammi feels like it. While some might have been disappointed by the lack overt bloodshed and gore, it fell inline tonally with the content that came before. The sequel film is coming out later this year.