With Halloween rapidly approaching, the age-old tradition of gathering your besties, eating snacks and treating yourselves to a wonderfully scary horror movie is here!
Several new horror movies were released this year, such as “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” “Alien: Romulus,” and “The Substance.” Among these promising titles is “Terrifier 3,” the third movie in the indie horror series, “Terrifier.” While the film was released to an above-average reception, it has garnered controversy for its gory opening scene. This scene depicts the murder of a family of four, including two children, from Art the Clown, the titular killer of the franchise.
Beyond the opening scene, the film contains several shock horror scenes and some nudity and sexual content. Currently, the film remains unrated by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) but fans and the directors have admitted walking out of the theater because of how uncomfortable and bloody the opening scene was alone.
Regardless, the scene has sparked a discussion about the role of censorship in horror: Are there situations where horror goes too far? Should these instances be censored for audiences?
I asked several students around our beloved campus “How do you feel about censorship in horror movies?” and they mainly answered that they felt indifferent though it should not be used to directly impact how scary a horror movie is.
When asked about “Terrifier 3,” most students believe that the scene in question was fine, if a little gory by today’s horror movie standards. The people who walked out of the theater simply could not handle the violence, and that’s okay, but that is not the movie or the filmmaker’s fault.
As for me, the writer of this article, my thoughts align with student responses. The MPA rating system is designed to advise moviegoers about explicit content within movies.
For example, a movie may be rated PG for parental guidance if the movie has a questionable scene or light (or cartoonish) violence within it. A movie with an R rating is meant for strictly adults, and it may contain swearing, violence, blood, and even nudity or sexually explicit content. If a movie is so shocking and grotesque that it is declared unrated, such as “Terrifier 3,” it risks being banned altogether. If anything, instead of blatant censoring of scenes, the film should be given the infamous X rating… a movie not for the faint-hearted.
Before we limit what is shown on screen, we should acknowledge content warnings and be aware of our own limits.
