Does an R Rating Signify a Better Horror Film?
by Britt Hayes
People began buzzing today about the upcoming film The Last Exorcism (premiering at LA Film Fest tomorrow night), produced by Eli Roth, and its official rating of PG-13. Some are crying foul, declaring that there is no way this film will be nearly as effective with a softer rating. My initial reaction was similar, mostly because anything involving Eli Roth is typically filled with buckets of blood and viscera; however, this is a film about an exorcism, not a flesh-eating disease or a torture warehouse. But then my common sense kicked in. A PG-13 rating isn’t indicative of the filmmaker’s intentions, necessarily. Sometimes I’m weary when a filmmaker says they’re aiming for an R rating. This can mean bad things – like heaping on unnecessary gore and effects – and can end up looking like visual hyperbole. There’s a good chance that director Daniel Stamm didn’t exactly have a rating in mind, and simply set out to create an effective horror film. I much prefer that idea to a director who piles on blood for blood’s sake.
The MPAA ratings boards constantly shifts its standards. Some years, nudity is more passable while blood is not, and other years, blood and gore are acceptable, but full frontal is off limits. If you’ve seen Kirby Dick’s fantastic documentary, This Film Is Not Yet Rated, you know that the super secretive MPAA changes members, which can account for their shifting standards. (They’re also known for giving big studio films favorable ratings, while being more critical of independent releases.)
The question is this: Is a horror film rated anything less than R automatically bad? I know people who cringe during a trailer when the rating comes up at the end. They may get excited by what they see in the trailer, but when they hear ‘PG-13″, they immediately dismiss the film entirely, regardless of how good it may be. Granted, there have been a slew of remakes with this rating that were fairly horrible, but they were tailored for a younger audience from the outset. Labeling a horror film “bad” based on its rating is an atavistic outlook. This isn’t the 70′s, and ratings aren’t what they used to be.
In light of all this ratings talk, I, with the help of some friends (HI SCOTT!), have come up with a handy list for you of some fantastic horror films that were just as effective – if not more so – as their R-rated counterparts.
The Ring (2002)
Rating: PG-13
While I haven’t revisited Samara and her creepy, hair-over-the-face glory in a few years, I do recall being thoroughly terrified when I saw The Ring in the theater. Gore Verbinski’s remake of the 1998 Japanese film Ringu, follows a mysterious videotape and the notorious demise visited upon you by one sad, little girl ghost. The scare factor of this film rests on a few things. It was the first in a run of American remakes of Japanese ghost stories. At the time, we weren’t yet tired of the genre. Little sickly ghost children, water, and long black hair was still fresh and new to us (or at least those of us whose cinematic education never traveled abroad). For me, the scene with the horse on the boat made me a bit nervous, but it was the scene where Samara crawls out of the TV that had me squirming the most. The Ring plays to our innate desire to believe in the supernatural and that ghosts could come to haunt – and possibly kill – us.
The Others (2001)
Rating: PG-13
Seems the early millennium was filled with movies about ghosts, but Alejandro Amenábar’s dramatic period thriller is, in my opinion, the best of the bunch. Grace (Nicole Kidman) and her two children are living in a spacious, foreboding mansion with just their maid (Fionnula Flanagan) and groundskeeper while father has gone missing in the war. The eerie fog and gray British setting set the perfect atmosphere. This is a house and a family in despair, on the precipice of something unfathomable. While the twist is well-known by now, I won’t spoil it for the few of you that haven’t seen this chilling ghost story, punctuated with intense performances. Nicole Kidman (a woman I have a love/hate relationship with) has a great turn as a seemingly-neurotic mother, always dashing back and forth, her emotions just boiling under the surface of her porcelain exterior. The effectiveness of The Others lies with the tone and the performances. Without the perfect marriage of the two, the audience couldn’t possibly be willing to follow the story where it goes, and the end would never hit as hard and fast. No amount of blood or intestines could make this a better film. It’s just not necessary.
Poltergeist (1982)
Rating: PG
Rated PG! How had I forgotten? I have many fond memories of watching Poltergeist as a child. Do you also recall your nightmares so fondly? Tobe Hooper’s horror classic (co-written and produced by Steven Spielberg) tells the story of a family in a very haunted suburban home, and their daughter, Carol Anne, who is very much in tune with these nasty spirits. Poltergeists aren’t your typical ghosts, as Zelda Rubinstein’s memorable character explains. They’re violent, angry ghosts who wish to do harm. They fuck with your furniture and animate scary clown dolls. It’s all fun and games until you go to the bathroom and your face starts peeling off in the mirror. That scene alone was enough to solidify this film in my brain as terrifying. By today’s standards, Poltergeist probably would have gotten a harsher rating, but it was the 80′s.
Jaws (1975)
Rating: PG
We can’t have this discussion, especially this year (the 35th anniversary of Jaws), without talking about Steven Spielberg’s great white classic about the big shark that terrorizes the coastal town of Amityville. Ironically, the film would have been more violent if the mechanical shark had worked properly. Instead, much of the time we don’t see the shark (mostly his fin), which makes the film more effective. This aggravating twist of fate for Spielberg and co. worked to their advantage. Sometimes what you don’t see is more frightening than what you do, and what you create in your mind to fill in the visual gaps can be more effective than any special effects on screen.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
Rating: PG-13
The Exorcism of Emily Rose functions as part horror, part courtroom drama, and boasts the excellent cast of Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, and Jennifer Carpenter (who you may recognize as Deb from Dexter). Lawyer Erin Bruner takes on the case against a priest (Wilkinson) accused of negligent homicide after he performs an exorcism on Emily Rose. The film is loosely based on the true story of Anneliese Michel, and it’s with that phrase – “based on a true story” – that The Exorcism of Emily Rose first grabs your attention. Audiences love when films, particularly horror, are based on true events. Even better in some cases (Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity), if you can almost trick them into thinking the film isn’t fictional. But what really sells this film is Jennifer Carpenter’s performance as Emily. She contorts her body and face in such painful, agonizing ways, and without her performance, her possession could never be an effective sell.
1408 (2007)
Rating: PG-13
John Cusack plays Mike Enslin, a writer who visits “haunted” locales and debunks the paranormal in this adaptation of a short story by Stephen King. He’s pretty disaffected as far as ghosts go, but room 1408 at the Dolphin hotel is a room he is not prepared to reckon with. Featuring a stellar supporting role by Samuel L. Jackson, 1408 is a chilling ghost story that will engage you from start to finish. The little mind-fucks crawled under my skin and drove me to pause the DVD a couple of times to collect myself. There are two endings – theatrical and director’s cut – and the director’s cut is the better of the two. Director Mikael Håfström was asked to use the alternate ending because initial audiences found his original ending to be too depressing. I disagree. Sometimes the unhappy ending is more pleasing and provides a better resolution than the easy-out crowd-pleaser.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Rating: PG
Another film that would never get a PG rating by today’s standards. Invasion of the Body Snatchers has been adapted from the Jack Kinney novel several times over the course of the last several decades, but the 1978 version starring Donald Sutherland is by far the best. The first version of the story I saw was 1994′s Body Snatchers: The Invasion Continues, starring Gabrielle Anwar. But it was because of that version that my dad introduced me to the classic ’78 version starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum (!), and Leonard Nimoy (!!!). Alien pods invade San Francisco and start to replicate humans. Emotionless pod people begin taking over the town, and the film progresses down a rabbit hole of paranoia and fear. The veiny, vine-like alien appendages creep up the bodies of the characters as they sleep, cloning their DNA. There are few fears greater than that of being taken advantage of or harmed while you lay asleep, helpless. Unlike some of the other films in this list, there is a good deal of blood (including a face-melt and a bludgeoning) in Body Snatchers, but that isn’t what makes the film effective. It’s the manipulation of our own paranoia that crafts this efficient film.
Signs (2002)
Rating: PG-13
Not everyone will agree with me on this one, and I only agree with myself about 85% of it. M. Night Shyamalan’s third outing, Signs, tells the story of former preacher Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) who has lost his faith after his wife is killed in a car accident, and is left alone with his brother, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), to take care of his two children. Crop circles begin inexplicably showing up on his farm, followed by eerie happenings. His family is quick to believe in alien activity, but Graham is still grappling with the unbelievable and unable to let go of the past. The film is creepy and punctuated with moments of humor, and I find it a fun watch until the last few minutes where everything sort of falls apart with a terrible signature Shyamalan twist. There’s hardly a bit of blood in the whole film, but it’s effective because it’s suspenseful and mysterious. If we hadn’t seen the aliens in their entirety (the scene with the pantry is spooky enough), or if they hadn’t looked so generic, perhaps the film would have worked better as a whole. But I think it deserves a place on this list because – regardless of the ending – it manages to captivate and keep you on the edge of your seat.
