Gremlins (1984) 

Gremlins is basically a horror movie, but not in the traditional sense. The memorable character, Gizmo, won audiences over for his incredible cuteness, but the film takes a dark turn. Soon, the small town faces havoc when dealing with these evil title creatures. 

In the mid-1980s, this somehow didn’t receive an R-rating. The movie may still be made today, but the number of characters killed, including the murder of an elderly woman in her wheelchair would be too shocking for the audience without anything less of a rating.