Not suitable under 15, parental guidance to 17 (violence, scary scenes, language)
This topic contains:
Children under 15 | Not suitable due to violence, scary scenes and language. |
Children aged 15–17 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes. |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Horror themes and violence |
Length: | 108 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Auggie (Gabriel Rush) and Chuck (Austin Zajur) convince their nerdy friend Stella (Zoe Margaret Colletti) to come out for Halloween but when the boys’ Halloween prank, on town bully Tommy (Austin Abrams), goes wrong they end up hiding in the car of a stranger named Ramon (Michael Garza) who is supposedly passing through town. Once the imminent threat has passed the trio decide to take Ramon to see something really spooky. The old Bellows’ house, an old mansion on the edge of town, has long been chained and boarded up in the hopes that no one will set foot inside and unleash the darkness responsible for the disappearance of numerous children. Ramon easily unlocks the door and they all explore inside. Ramon and Stella uncover the entrance to a secret room where the legendary Sarah Bellows (Kathleen Pollard) was confined, weaving her web of horror stories that brought about terror and death. It is here that Stella comes across Sarah’s own book containing numerous handwritten tales which Stella decides to take home and read. Unfortunately, Sarah is angry and, once again, the horror is unleashed through her stories. Now it is up to Stella and her friends to solve the mystery of Sarah Bellows and stop the darkness before they all disappear.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Family breakdown, adolescents separated from family, teenagers as victims, familial abuse, racism.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Some children over the age of thirteen may also be scared by the above-mentioned scenes.
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a horror movie based on the series of books by Alvin Schwartz. The movie itself is well-made but this is not a film for young viewers and is better suited for older teens.
The main messages from this movie are to never give up and to always remember that there is power in stories. Stories can set us free, they can teach us to care, they can make us brave enough to face our deepest fears and they can help us find our way home.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as.
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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ABN: 16 005 214 531