Parents need to know that this movie contains a first sequence where a young man shoots his sleeping family in their beds; a mild drinking scene at a restaurant; a sex scene between married couple George and Kathy (her nude back is shown); repeated scenes of George turning increasingly mean, violent, and scary-looking; his axe-attack on the family dog; and a last sequence where he chases Kathy and her three kids with a shotgun and axe. George and Kathy use strong language (repeated uses of "f--k").

Families can talk about haunted houses. How do these stories address fears of relocating, old houses, and seemingly inexplicable mass murders? How does this version reinforce the children's concern about accepting a new father and feeling disloyal to the dead father? Families might also discuss the movie's representations of troubling extended family relationships (stepfather who turns abusive and then murderous), ineffective religious agents (a priest is frightened by the house and abandons the family), and the mother's confusion at her husband's erratic behavior (afraid of him herself, she allows him to threaten her children).