Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark screened for LA celebs and movie writers tonight. Online reaction sounds enthusiastic. Anne Thompson (@akstanwyck) reminds us on Twitter that this movie couldn’t be what it is without an R rating — originally earning that MMPA stamp for “pervasive scariness” — and wiki explains why:
This picture, which was developed with Miramax but in the wake of the division’s closure will be released by FilmDistrict, was rated R despite filmmaker ambitions to the contrary. “We originally thought we could shoot it as PG-13 without compromising the scares,” Del Toro said. “And then the MPAA came back and gave us a badge of honor. They gave us an R for ‘pervasive scariness.’ We asked them if there’s anything we could do, and they said, ‘Why ruin a perfectly scary movie?'” Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark was rated R by the MPAA for violence and terror.
Two more clips after the cut, courtesy of HitFix. These put me in the mood for something scary tonight before bed. Any reader recommendations for recent frighteners that might be relatively obscure and slithered under our radar?