What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this is a review of the PG-13-rated movie and not the unrated DVD version. This horror film, while relatively bloodless, is still totally frightening (as in NOT for younger kids). It's full of freaky, scary stuff like monsters, creatures, and demons. Since the evil entity in the movie can jump from body to body, much of the violence in the film involves un-possessed people lashingout at possessed victims -- including children. There's also lots of talk about abstract, monster-related theological issues (i.e. can a Jewish rite of exorcism protect a non-believer?). A subplot about a Holocaust survivor leads to imagery of Nazi death camps and medical experiments. Because the film's plot revolves around a stillborn twin, there's also disturbing imagery involving pregnancy, birth, and infancy that's used to create shock and horror. Characters also drink, swear, and get intimate (though nothing too sensitive is shown).
- Families can talk about the way the film creates shock, tension, and horror with a relative minimum of blood. Is the movie's level of violence and unsettling imagery more or less scary because of its restraint?
- Why are audiences drawn to horror movies?
- Families can also discuss therole that traditional folklore of possession, demonic spirits, andghosts plays in the movie. Why do these stories appear so frequently inmost cultures?
- What role do they have intheology and tradition?