MPAA explanation: horror elements, violence, profanity and intensity.
The film had already courted controversy in the US where it had supposedly provoked fainting, vomiting and heart attacks in cinemas.
It has had several sequels, and was the highest-grossing R-rated horror film (unadjusted for inflation) until 2017's It. The Exorcist has had a significant influence on popular culture and several publications regard it as one of the greatest horror films ever made.
Presented as the ultimate battle between good and evil, it asks its audience: are you right with God? The director's use of realism, underpinned by the premise that what happens to the 12-year-old Regan could happen to anyone, is what makes the movie truly unsettling.
Sex, Romance & Nudity
Woman shown in panties and tank top. Possessed child touches mother's breast, asks to be breastfed. Sex-related dialogue.
Any parent should keep this movie away from kids. It may be a classic, but it's a mature classic. This movie is very complex when it comes to religion, but also incredibly scary to some people to this day.
Parents Need to Know
It's very violent, with the opening scenes showing a man being burned to death and another bleeding from the eyes. There's also fist fighting, gunplay, and swords.
A horror classic, but keep it away from kids!
It may be a classic, but it's a mature classic. This movie is very complex when it comes to religion, but also incredibly scary to some people to this day.
The Exorcist mainly relies on shock value instead of ambiguity and that's why it hasn't aged well at all. The Shining is much scarier because it's far more realistic: murder-suicides, alcoholism, and domestic abuse are very real things that perpetuate themselves and will never go away.
1. The Exorcist (1973)
- Frequent non-graphic violence. - Frequent explicit violence. - Frequent portrayals of hand-to-hand and weapons violence, many involving children. - Frequent nightmarish imagery, portrayals of corpses, and unexplained aural and visual phenomena, with some blood and detail shown.
R: RESTRICTED. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
While The Exorcist has the better horror of these top two movies, Exorcist II does a better job of balancing its scares with a more coherent exploration of the Pazuzu lore and its thematic contemplations.
The scientific paper also notes that people had trouble watching The Exorcist because the medical scenes were accurate and there were sound effects. Audiences had negative reactions to the movie not because of mentions of the devil or the story of demonic possession but because a young girl was in a scary situation.
The Exorcist stairs scene where Regan spider walks toward her horrified mother and her house guests is infamous - but wasn't in the original version. Here's why The Exorcist spider walk scene was deleted from the theatrical cut, then later restored.
Developmentally, teens can handle dramatic and psychological suspense, but kids under 16 still shouldn't see slasher horrors, especially those that feature kids in dire danger or that have lots of gore.
Perhaps the most famous “cursed” movie of all time, the original 1982 Poltergeist, about a suburban family terrorized by a supernatural presence, climaxed with a scene in which the mom (JoBeth Williams) is dragged into a partially dug-out pool and is surrounded by skeletons – the reveal being that the housing ...
While there is no absolute age at which scary movies are appropriate, Dr. Dry recommends not introducing them to very young children because of the potential to create long-term anxiety.
An R-rated motion picture, in the view of the board, contains some adult material. The film may include adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements, so that parents are counseled to take this rating very seriously.
The MPAA rated Veronica Mars PG-13 for sexuality including references, drug content, violence and some strong language.
There's some fantasy violence (blood, fighting, use of weapons, and dead bodies). Expect lots of action and fighting. Characters get slashed, stabbed, and injured, and they can die in fights. Blood is shown but never any detailed gore.
Demon Slayer is rated TV-MA. The central core of the anime is about Tanjiro's training as a slayer and desire to cure his sister. Demons in the show are primarily ruthless, murderous creatures who devour their victims. The anime depicts these attacks graphically, blood and gore are a staple of the series.
Here are some tips on age-appropriate anime: Anime seen on the Cartoon Network (or other channels that show children's cartoons) before 9pm is probably safe for most children younger than 13. If it is on after 9pm, then you know it isn't appropriate for children younger than 13.