Would you let a 12 year old watch an 18 horror film ?

[Halcyon]

I was appalled last night when my 12 year old sister came home from a halloween party and told us that they had watched an 18 certifcate horror movie.
The parents were there and didnt do anything. If I was those parents I would not have allowed this at all.
There is nothing wrong with a good horror movie but I do find that its an 18 for a given reason in that at the age of 12 you are not likely to understand everything and horroer movies arent exactly the nicest things to watch, eg. scenes of blood, beatings, killings, etc.

May be those parents thought that as it is Halloween, the 18 certificate is not applicable. Idiots :mad:

Anyway, my point is I think this is wrong.
My sister ended up turning away and not watching the TV, thankfully.

What do you think ?

[Electrolyte01]

That's wrong. If she was to actually watch that 18 I bet she wouldn't have been able to sleep :erm:

I'm appalled at them parents, like you say, the "18" is there for a reason. The law may not apply to it, but she could have been dead scared for watching it.

[Paul]

My daughter & her friends watch some of them - they have no trouble sleeping (they often miss the end because they fall asleep !!) - like everything else it depends on the person - simply being 18 does not suddenly make you able to watch them without being scared, nor does being under 18 make you unable to realise they are just films).

[Macca371]

My older sister first let me watch Scream at the age of 9 and the amount of times I woke up sweating after a nightmare! Must say though after watching the exorcist when I was 15 I thought it was silly and laughed all the way through it, ratings are not totally accurate.

[Maggy]

Yes I would and have allowed my children to watch horror films.However I only did so after checking out the film myself and making sure that it would be suitable for them to do so plus having a discussion about it first with the child.

However I would NOT allow a visiting child under the required age to watch such a film.I owe it to other fellow parents to think very carefully about what they would wish and it would be simpler either to just say no or phone up and check with the parents.

Incog.

[punky]

I suppose I must have been 12 when I watched my first horror movie. Can't say it did me a lot of harm.

I suppose it depends on the kid. If mine was super neurotic I wouldn't but if he was 'normal' then I probably would. Don't forget 12 year olds nowadays are a bit different than a few years ago. Back in the 70's "The Exorcist" shocked even the most toughest adults. Nowadays the kids are more likely to laugh at it.

[Mr_love_monkey]

My parents let me (and the rest of the family) watch anything we wanted really - provided that they thought it was ok - i.e. they would usually watch whatever it was first, and then let us watch it - the only film that they never let us watch was 'The Hills have eyes' but everything else, we watched, and it's never done me any harm...

[scrotnig]

Well, I was allowed to watch cert 18 horror films from the age of 3 months, and it never did me any harm - except for psychological maladjustment and blurred vision.

Yours truly,
Flight Lieutenant Ken Frankenstein (Mrs).

[ZrByte]

I gotta say it depends on the film. I was under 10 when I first saw Aliens, that film scared the crap outta me until I finally saw the end, now its one of my alltime favorite movie and has been since I was about 10, I also considder this to be more scifi than horror, same goes for terminator.
However, The first part of IT (steven king) still scares me today, dont know what it is about it but that film freaks me out no end. I actually find the second part quite funny though. 28 days later also freaked me out a bit, zombie movies have never bothered me because zombies are slow dumb and unmotivated, this freaked me out because they where fast and angry.
I was nearly crying with laughter when I first saw omen and the exorcist.

Age ratings really mean nothing, as has been said before it should be based on the person.

[TheBlueRaja]

I gotta say it depends on the film. I was under 10 when I first saw Aliens, that film scared the crap outta me until I finally saw the end, now its one of my alltime favorite movie and has been since I was about 10, I also considder this to be more scifi than horror, same goes for terminator.


Yup, i was about to post the same thing, both Alien and Aliens i watched as a kid and it scared the living hell outa me, i didnt manage to get through them - ran off half way through :D

But i could never say that was a bad thing as the memories of that experience, which are actually one of the stongest memories i have of growing up, make me enjoy those films even more when i watch them today - and i would love to be able to watch a film today that could instill the same amount of fear that those did when i was a kid.

Class.

They just dont do them like that anymore either.

[Maggy]

They just dont do them like that anymore either.

You cannot make statements like that when you are only 28 or people will think you are an old fogey. ;)

[TheBlueRaja]

Haha,
Its true though - hollywood are all CGI and happy endings now - "safe" films that make money but wont exactly leave a lasting impression. When films get the chop like AVP and Terminator 3 so that they make the lower rating band (i.e. 12 or 15) something is wrong.

Maybe its just me, but when two actors get into a fight in a movie these days im getting a bit fed up with shakey cam and shots of arms and legs flying everywhere, but no action that you can "see", or badly cut films.

The days of the Action movie are long gone, now all we get is matrix esc kung foo action and sleep inducing large explosions. Seen it.

Take a look at the last James Bond film, what a disaster - thats not James Bond that some daft yanks view of what James Bond is. Less of the CGI / big bangs / and Q jokes please and some more classic bond please - kind of like Borne Identity - but with a decent ending and less frikkin yanks.

[Tezcatlipoca]

I saw plenty of certificate 18 films way before I was 18.


I think it depends on the film.

[bb31]

im 35 and not allowed to watch 18 horror moivies !!! toooo scary :Yikes:

my daughters 15 and has to vet the movies for me! but i think at 12 she wouldnt have wanted to watch the omen or the exorcist anyway.

[Gareth]

I'd only let a 12 year-old watch an 18-rated film if the sound was turned down. Doesn't matter how scarey a film is, once you watch it with no sound they're always hilarious :D

Otherwise, er.... no. Not a chance! A nice safe episode of The Waltons would be OK though.

[Xaccers]

I was 5 when I saw Alien, now that's a great film, not very scary though.
For me to allow my children to see films which are rated above them, it would depend on how neurotic my kids had grown up to be.
Hopefully like me, they'd know that films aren't real and would be able to enjoy them without having nightmares.

[Halcyon]

I do think that some horror films are plainly ridiculous and funny but others can play mind altering tracks on young people and you can seriosuly get your head messed up as some scenes can be quite shocking in certain movies.

[kronas]

i stay away from scarey movies i dont see the point in them really, ill watch any film but it has to have a good storyline, i mean horror movies are really bad these days arent they ?

[basa]

As the parent of one 9 year old and one 12 year old we usually allow ours to watch 18 movies but ask them to look away if we feel there is going to be gratuitous violence aka severed limbs, stabbings etc. We also tend to feel uncomfortable about blant sex acts as well !! :disturbd:

However we do feel they both understand the difference between films and real life and it does give them an insight into what people do and can do to one another. After all the news often contains far more horrific sights and that is real which is more disturbing.

[TheBlueRaja]

I think its amazing how many people have said they remember watching Alien as a kid though - which kinda is my point - perhaps sometimes an 18 movie which is really scary can have a positive effect.

Although i can imaging some kids freaking out - so i suppose it depends on your kid as to whether they should be allowed to watch.