Poltergeist (1982) - Parents Guide Movie Rating

MPA: PG BBFC: 15 Maturity Rating 16+

BBFC Reason: Contains strong horror

BBFC Ratings info: POLTERGEIST is a US horror film in which a suburban family are terrorised by spirits. Threat: There are frequent scenes of threat in which the family - including children - encounter supernatural occurrences, and occasional moments of strong horror including a man's face disintegrating and a woman falling into a muddy pool containing decomposing bodies and skeletal remains. There is occasional use of mild bad language, including 'shit' and 'ass'.

Sex & Nudity

mild

Diane is sleeping in a shirt and panties. A ghost pulls up her shirt, revealing her stomach and panties. You can clearly see her genitals bulging in her underwear for a few seconds. The ghost drags her around the room for an extended period of time, with her panties constantly visible. She then spends the next 15-20 minutes in only her shirt and panties. No actual nudity, and not meant to be sexual. In the scene where the ghost pulls up Diane's shirt, it feels like the ghost is assaulting her as she repeatedly tries to pull her shirt down to cover herself but the ghost pulls it back up and throws her around the room.

Violence & Gore

moderate

Tame overreacted effects, this film is PG content execpt the flesh ripping hallucination A tree comes to life, breaks a bedroom window and tries to drag away a small child, but he is saved in time. A man is seen tearing his face apart. We see bloody chunks of flesh fall into a sink, and his completely mangled face is seen several times. A flash of light reveals that it was only a hallucination, and he is completely unharmed. A young girl is sucked screaming into a portal. Several decaying corpses and skeletons are seen towards the end of the film. A woman falls into a large hole filled with water were several skeletons appear. They are very grotesque looking. A woman is attacked by spirits and flung around a room. She is unharmed. A creepy clown doll pops out and attacks a child. It wraps its arm around his neck and strangles him, before dragging him under the bed. The child is able to get the upper hand and he escapes, tearing up the clown doll. A mouth-like portal tries to suck two children into it. They scream in terror, but are unharmed.

Profanity

mild

2 uses of hell 7 uses of Shit 3 uses of Son of a Bitch 1 use of Bastard

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

moderate

The parents are seen smoking marijuana. They discover it in a drawer at home, and decide to smoke it together. It is implied that it was hidden there long ago and forgotten about; a remnant of the couple's younger "hippie" days rather than something they still do. Adults are seen drinking beers while watching a football game. Steve can be seen in Dr. Lesh's office with a cigarette that you never actually see him smoke.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

severe

There are many prolonged sequences of strobing lights in this movie that may trigger seizures to people with photosensitive epilepsy or any other photosensitivity. One scene has a tree attacking and attempting to swallow a young boy. The tree crashes through a window and actually pulls the kid outside with its branches. A scene has a man hallucinating that he is pulling the skin and flesh off of his face. The bloody chunks fall into a sink. There is a jumpscare at the end of the film where a clown doll pops out from behind a boy and tries to strangle him. It is very sudden and frightening, and is seen by many as the scariest scene in the film, and one of the scariest scenes in cinema. One scene in a closet has a man angering a demonic spirit. The spirit's grotesque face manifests in the doorway. One scene has a woman trapped in an unfinished swimming pool and discovering that it is filled with rotting skeletons. One scene has a closet morph into a giant, mouth-like portal that tries to suck the children in. The ending scene has the family being blocked from leaving their home by coffins rising out of the ground and opening to reveal skeletons. Although no deaths are evident in the film, it has many scenes that place children in threatening conditions. Several scenes might also be considered too strong for the youngest audiences. One scene features scores of skeletons. A jump scene where a woman opens a door and a deafening shriek occurs, and another where a loud thunder and an explosion of wind comes down the stairs, knocking people to the floor.