In Defense of PG-13 Horror

Most horror fans worth their salt are skeptical of horror films rated PG-13. They are often a ploy to sell tickets to the 'tween audience, rather than deliver a quality and well-crafted fright film. With that said, there are exceptions to every rule, and lately a handful of PG-13 horror films have really delivered. We revisit some that defied the rating and fired on all four cylinders.

By Tyler Doupe

Made by Blumhouse Productions, the company responsible for Dark Skies, Insidious was a box office smash. With an estimated budget of $1.5 million, the film cleared $50 million domestically. In addition to being a moneymaker, it’s also one of the best horror films of the past five years. Insidious rose above its PG-13 rating and delivered epic scares.

This 1980s kid-friendly horror comedy landed a PG-13 rating and still delivered a really fun viewing experience for audiences of all ages. A tale of the Universal Monsters come to life, The Monster Squad is the perfect blend of classic and contemporary horror, and is a nostalgic favorite for many horror fans who grew up watching it in the ‘80s.

Another nostalgic favorite, The Gate was Stephen Dorff’s feature film debut, about a kid who discovers a portal to hell when a tree is taken out of his backyard. With a rotting corpse blown away by a boom box, horrific pet death and no parents anywhere, it's a wonder it was marketed as a kids' film!

Following the success of the 1984 box office hit Gremlins was Critters. Though Critters wasn’t a completely fresh idea, that didn’t stop it from being a great deal of fun. It also brought enough originality to the table that it managed to step out of Gremlins' shadow and stand on its own. Also working in Critters' favor, it stars genre vet Dee Wallace Stone as the matriarch of the family visited by the vicious little aliens.

The Joe Dante classic Gremlins served up family-friendly horror fare with a PG–rating, thus it isn’t included on this list. The horror comedy sequel Gremlins II hit the market in 1990 when the PG-13 rating had been in use for several years and as far as sequels go, it didn’t disappoint. It was an enjoyable and humorous follow up to the 1984 original. Rumors of a remake of the original Gremlins have been circulating the Internet for some time.

Drag Me to Hell is signature Sam Raimi, complete with loads of blood, vomit, animal sacrifice, and extreme depravity. This film pushed the PG-13 rating to the absolute max and we still have to wonder if Raimi bribed the MPAA to avoid an R-rating.

House II garnered a PG-13 rating, while its predecessor House was released with an R-rating. Changing the rating of a film for a sequel is always a risky move, but the PG-13 rating didn’t hurt House II. In fact, the campier, silly House II has a large cult following, with some fans professing to like it even more than the original film.

The first Poltergeist film landed a PG rating, as it was released pre-PG-13. Its follow-up, Poltergeist II, is not only a great PG-13 horror film, it’s a great horror film, period. It delivered the scares and stands as a horror sequel that didn’t tarnish the original. Tobe Hooper turned over the directing reins to Brian Gibson (The Juror) and the result was a very enjoyable follow-up to the 1982 classic.

The blockbuster smash The Ring terrified audiences in 2002 with its eerie imagery and creepy plot. Though it isn’t loaded with excessive gore, foul language, or gratuitous nudity, The Ring delivered with a creative storyline and scares aplenty. This remake of the 1998 film Ringu deserves much of the credit (or blame) for the string of horror remakes that hit theaters in the ‘00s.

The Fangoria Fright Fest label is responsible for the release of this little known film. Fragile was filmed in 2004, but didn’t make it to DVD in the States until 2010. Calista Flockhart was well-cast as a nurse trying to keep her young patients safe from a malevolent force. Fragile pushes the boundaries of its PG-13 rating. The film is atmospheric, unnerving, and worth seeking out.

This ‘found footage’ exorcism tale polarized audiences. People either loved or hated the ending. This critic was a fan. Ashley Bell was pitch perfect as Nell Sweetzer. The surprise ending left audiences curious as to her fate. Our curiosity was answered when The Last Exorcism Part II hit theaters early in 2013.

Returning home after a stint in a mental hospital, Emily Browning's recovery is put in jeopardy by a cruel stepmother and a ghost haunting her house. Thankfully her sister is there to see her through the chaos that ensues as together they try to prove that stepmom Rachel killed their mom.

After a decade of hit-or-miss movies, Nicole Kidman starred in this chilling story about a woman who lives in a darkened old house with her two photosensitive children. The majority of the movie is a mystery, with a chilling twist at the end as she begins to think her house is haunted.