Apparently the ratings board is changing its own policies, giving a new film called The Conjuring rating of R based on their feeling that it’s too frightening:
I am baffled by this.
Has anyone seen the movie? Of course, I’m dying of curiosity about it now!
There were cops keeping children from going in to this movie when i went to watch Pacific Rim.
A friend asked me to take her 12 year old son one day this week. I had heard about the rating, but here in Ontario, it’s rated 14A. We are planning on a matinee on Tuesday.
I should clarify that this kid watches almost nothing but scary movies and has since he was about eight. I am taking him because I love them too and his mother can’t stand them.
I am sure, of the two of us, I will be more frightened.
Major Christian propaganda.
As in “If you aren’t a devout Baptized Christian, the demon will get you.”
And it is intensely violent, though not necessarily full of blood and gore. I could see it scaring many kids senseless.
Saw it Saturday late afternoon. Pretty crowded. Couple of kids that I would place at 10-11. There wasn’t alot of gore, but it was violence and intense. I’m still torn about whether it was actually good. I mean it was better than most of the “horror” movies that are out nowadays but I still never found myself engaged. A lot of the jump scares were shown in the trailer. It was well done, but I don’t think I was ever surprised by the content. It was self consciously old fashioned and therefore I don’t think the story was particularly original.
Supposedly it was based on a Rhode Island family haunting that took place in 1971.
Well good! They SHOULD be taking the content of the movie into consideration, rather than just counting nipples and the times someone says “fuck.”
The Planet of the Apes reboot scared my son more badly than any other movie, including some that were much more overtly violent.
The point is that being scary is not a valid reason for an R rating. That’s a reason for a PG-13 rating, at most. It’s a reason to warn parents that the movie may not be for their kids, not a reason to try to keep kids from seeing it altogether.
That said, you guys are saying that it is horribly violent, and that can engender a legitimate R rating. But not merely being scary. No movie can be so scary that only an adult can handle it, anymore than can any other piece of fiction.
It is based on a Rhode Island family haunting that supposedly took place in 1971.
I assume they were off-duty cops (and/or cop impersonators) paid to put on a show. That’s pretty tacky.
I saw this today and my most pervasive thought was that this was the softest R I’ve ever seen. So yeah that part was weird.
As for the movie itself, I think the reason it is getting so much buzz must be because it’s just a horror movie that is completely competent, and that is apparently pretty novel. It was decent, very by-the-numbers, occasionally creepy, never fully engaging, and way tamer than I was expecting given the hype.
Come to think of it, it really is pretty crazy to age restrict anyone under 17 based on scariness alone. Especially since it’s not THAT bad. It’s pretty much like all those old haunted house movies in the vein of Amityville, we’re not exactly talking about Evil Dead here.
Maybe it’s too scary for little kids sure, but in my experience most boys from about age 12 on would eat this stuff up. Some girls that age may be scared but hardly traumatized or anything. If I were a 16 year old being told I needed a parent to see this movie I’d be pretty pissed.
Supposedly it is based on a Rhode Island family haunting that supposedly took place in 1971.
Bored me. I fell asleep. My Wife said is was Meh, and not that scary.
I’m still amazed that the 1982 John Carpenter version of The Thing got an “R” rating.
You DO see a pair of hands getting bitten off (they’re prostheic, of course – no real hands were bitten off. And, although they got a handless guy for that scene, I’ve never understood why – you don’t have a long shot showing him handless). One guy gets shot in the eye, and another in the head. But it looks pretty much like any other death – you don’t see it in gory detail.
No, I’m convinced that most of the reason for the rating is all the gore and body parts of a blatantly non-existent Creature. Apparently you can’t showEvil Creature Guts (although there have been plenty of movies with Evil Creature Guts that got ratings lower than “R” – look at Men in Black)
When they first showed this movie on TV, on CBS Late at Night, they cut almost every single shot of The Thing, apparently feeling that Greasy Grimy Creature Guts were not appropriate TV fare. Even lat at night.
Hmmm…
[QUOTE=The Providence Journal]
The Warrens later concluded the Harrisville house was haunted by Bathsheba Sherman, who had lived there in the early 19th century. She had been a practicing Satanist, according to the Warrens’ account in The Journal, “who had murdered her young daughter as a sacrifice to Lucifer. So that she might remain on the premises to haunt the house for ever more, the woman followed established black rituals and took her own life. She hanged herself — hence her apparition to Mrs. Perron, according to the Warrens.”
[/QUOTE]
:dubious:
I have nothing to add about the movie, but I do know two guys (twins/ used to be on Ghost Hunters)) who were part of the original paranormal investigation team at the house this is based on. They have revisited the place several times. Nice people, and their stories can make a long, hot day at work move along.
Is your statement based on how the MPAA rates movies or your own misconceptions about how they rate movies?
Well…spill the beans! In what way were the stories interesting?
Oh, you know, the standard ghost story way of being interesting. I occasionally work at a place where those two also offer ghost tours after hours - going through historic buildings in the dark. They talk about cold spots, general heebie jeebies, and other such things. I don’t buy any of it, but as conversation goes it is more interesting than most “what did you do this weekend” chatter.
Several years ago, someone calling about the ghost tour asked if they could bring their own EMF meter. Oh, yeah - bring two.