Early word is that the film's release date got pushed back to mid summer (was supposed to be late spring if I'm not mistaken) because the MPAA would not give the film a PG-13 rating. Why? Because of certain scenes described as "Strong Frightening Sequences."
So what does the director do? He goes back to reshoot those scenes to make them less frightening and get the PG-13. Mind you, this is only the "early word" and it indeed may not be true, but it's up on imdb right now, and if it weren't true I'd imagine that Dimension Films would've done their best to squelch the rumor by now.
If it is true, this is a low point in horror cinema, in my opinion. Now I'm not a guy who "hates PG-13 horror" flicks and thinks that they can't be scary. And I sort of almost understand trimming a film's gore, profanity or nudity to get a PG-13 if it keeps the tone of the film intact, it is a business after all, and neither of those are essential elements to a horror move. But actual horror is, and reshooting a film to make it less frightening? What the hell!? It's a horror movie. I can't imagine better pub for a horror movie than being able to say that the film is rated R primarily because of "Strong Frightening Sequences." Not gore, not nudity, not swearing, no. Apparently the the MPAA (another rant I'll save for elsewhere) feels this film should not be seen by anyone under 17 unless they have a parent or guardian with them primarily because it's too frightening to be rated PG-13.
I was pretty keyed up on seeing this flick too. I'd seen the original Japanese version (again, another rant for elsewhere) and thought it showed promise, but was a little too abstract & "j-horror" for my liking, and I like asian horror flix. But now... screw Pulse man...
Thank you for listening...
So what does the director do? He goes back to reshoot those scenes to make them less frightening and get the PG-13. Mind you, this is only the "early word" and it indeed may not be true, but it's up on imdb right now, and if it weren't true I'd imagine that Dimension Films would've done their best to squelch the rumor by now.
If it is true, this is a low point in horror cinema, in my opinion. Now I'm not a guy who "hates PG-13 horror" flicks and thinks that they can't be scary. And I sort of almost understand trimming a film's gore, profanity or nudity to get a PG-13 if it keeps the tone of the film intact, it is a business after all, and neither of those are essential elements to a horror move. But actual horror is, and reshooting a film to make it less frightening? What the hell!? It's a horror movie. I can't imagine better pub for a horror movie than being able to say that the film is rated R primarily because of "Strong Frightening Sequences." Not gore, not nudity, not swearing, no. Apparently the the MPAA (another rant I'll save for elsewhere) feels this film should not be seen by anyone under 17 unless they have a parent or guardian with them primarily because it's too frightening to be rated PG-13.
I was pretty keyed up on seeing this flick too. I'd seen the original Japanese version (again, another rant for elsewhere) and thought it showed promise, but was a little too abstract & "j-horror" for my liking, and I like asian horror flix. But now... screw Pulse man...
Thank you for listening...
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