The Haunting: parents' guide
Best for ages 12 and up. Rated G.
A black-and-white ghost story that frightens with sound and suggestion rather than anything shown, a good fit for kids around 12 and up who enjoy a slow-building chill. A researcher brings a lonely, guilt-ridden woman, a psychic and a skeptical heir to a notorious mansion, and the house seems to want the woman for itself. There's no gore, but pounding in the night and a door that bulges inward are genuinely terrifying. The backstory includes a hanging, and a main character dies at the end in a crash that may be deliberate. Its G comes from a 1972 reissue; we'd say 12.
What's in it
Violence
ModerateLittle is shown. A narrated opening depicts past deaths in the house, including a carriage crash, a fatal fall down the stairs and a woman hanging herself from the library staircase. Near the end, a car crashes into a tree, killing the driver.
Language
NoneNo cursing is noted in our sources; the dialogue is polite early-1960s studio fare, with nothing a young viewer would repeat.
Sex and nudity
MildNo sex or nudity. There is teasing banter and unspoken romantic tension, including Theo's interest in Eleanor and Eleanor's crush on the married doctor.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
MildNothing that matters to the story: at most incidental adult drinking of the period. No drunkenness or drug use.
Scary or intense scenes
StrongSustained, purely psychological terror: thunderous pounding on doors at night, laughter and whispers in the walls, a door that bulges inward, a hand held in the dark that may not be human, and a perilous climb up a rickety spiral staircase.
Sensitive topics
- Suicide
- Death of a parent
Worth talking about
Eleanor feels she has never belonged anywhere until the house seems to claim her. How can loneliness and guilt make someone vulnerable, and who might she have turned to instead?
On our lists
Similar picks around 12+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Wikipedia, the MPA, bbfc.co.uk. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.