British Board of Film Classification Gets All Wussy Over Horror Films
American actors Bruce Davison (left) and Ernest Borgnine in a scene from the horror film “Willard”
WITH cinema a feeble force in today’s world of Grab What You Want, When You Want It media, it seems those in charge are determined to make it all even weaker.
Cinema’s make you leave the house, sell you lousy food, half deafen you with badly mixed bass tracks on films, stink up your nostrils with bleach and, worst of all, force you to watch films with dreadful chattering strangers. All for a million pound per viewing.
Why, it isn’t any wonder that people would rather sit at home and watch Netflix or get films from torrents.
With that in mind, one thing that is consistently fun is watching horror films at the cinema. They’re designed to be loud, brash, assault your eyes and ears and you can have fun being part of a crowd all scared witless at the same time. Going to the movies, it seems, is designed for horror.
However, the British Board of Film Classification is to look more closely at the psychological impact of horror films under new guidelines to decide on movie ratings. They want a tougher stance on who they let in to watch frightening films, meaning young people won’t get their character built by watching appalling horrors dreamt up by some delightful crackpot.
It is good news for 15 year olds though (and the 13 year olds with moustaches who get into older films) as the BBFC are going to be more flexible about allowing very strong language in 15 films.
The board say that greater weight will be given to the theme and tone of a film or video around the 12/12A and 15 ratings – particularly the “psychological impact of horror” and “strong visual detail such as gore”. The dirty buggers are also showing particular interest in sexual content, saying that they’re responding to concern about “the sexualisation of girls and pornography”.
The content of music videos and access to online porn were “special worries,” it said.
The BBFC’s director David Cooke said: “Our new classification guidelines reflect explicitly concerns raised by the public during the 2013 consultation and will, I believe, ensure that we continue to be in step with what the public wants and expects in order to make sensible and informed viewing decisions.”
Bully for you. Everyone will watch what they like online anyway, so you may as well not bother.
The new guidelines will come into force on February 24.
Posted: 13th, January 2014 | In: Film, Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
