Do the kids get to see the movie or what?
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It’s not just horror movies. Any production with children has to protect them from what can be a very stressful working environment with dark subject matter.
The first safeguard is the children’s chaperones, whom are there to make sure the child’s boundaries are respected and the children aren’t suffering. That’s their whole job on the set.
Second is the crew understanding they are working with children and arranging things to minimize the stress. The most basic functions of this are legal, limiting the number of hours you can keep a child on set and what they can do. A good director will also arrange the children’s scenes so they aren’t unduly stressful. Kubric could be a monster but famously Danny Lloyd (Danny from The Shining) wasn’t aware they were making a horror movie.
Third is the cast. They can be really helpful with keeping things from being scary for their children costars, but it’s a lot to ask of someone that is working and are unlikely to be there every scene. The Wizard of Oz set kind of sucked for Judy Garland, with the nicest member of the cast being Margret Hamilton.
These safeguards don’t always work, and it’s important to keep underage performers as protected as possible. They should always have a chaperone at all times, and anything they say should be taken very seriously.
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