What are you thinking common sense?! This movie is for mature teens!
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Poltergeist
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings(Flash is loading. If this text does not disappear you need to install the latest flash version)
Not age appropriate for kids under 11, age appropriate for kids over 13; suggested age 12. -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
One of the all-time great haunted house movies.
Themes in this movie include: family relationships, revenge
updated 09.22.09
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 12–13
The good stuff
What to watch out for
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Role models :
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Violence:
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Sex:
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Language:
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Consumerism:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
About Poltergeist
Parents need to know that this movie touches on many things that are frightening to kids (and some adults), including scary shadows in the dark, monsters in the closet, and separation from family. A character rips the flesh from his face (though eventually we see he's hallucinating). A young boy is attacked by a ghost-inhabited tree. A girl is taken from her parents and held in a netherworld where she's menaced by a character it's intimated is evil. The parents are seen smoking marijuana, and are apparently regular users.
Read our full review by M. Faust
Families Can Talk About
- Families can talk about what makes this movie so scary. Are the effects, the ghosts and other things that you see, that are so frightening? Or is the situations?
- Did you identify with the little girl who was taken away? What about the little boy attacked by a tree?
- Did this movie make you think of the times when you were little that you thought there were monsters in the closet or under the bed?
- Why do people like watching movies that frighten them?
Our Members Say
See all 32 member reviews
Most Recent Reviews
- I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
Scary!
- I rate this title on for age 11 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate language
Good horror for tweens.
I enjoyed this movie alot, but it's not as good as other horror movies. The violence is one gory scene which a man rips the flesh from his face revealing chunks of gore (we see he's hallucinating, though), a boy is attacked by a tree, and some scary images. Language is very mild, and no sex if I remember correctly. I rate this OFF for 8 and under, IFFY for 9-10, and ON for 11 and older.
- I rate this title on for age 8 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
I LOVE IT!!!!
The only bloody part is when the man scratches his face off, the rest is just plain scary! It scared me so bad!
- I rate this title on for age 10 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate language
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
A great movie!!!
This is a great movie. The only scary part is with the clown. I was 10 when I saw it, and was only scared for one night.
- I rate this title on for age 13 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate language
- Excessive consumerism
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
I watched it and I had nightmares... there are some great parts but Common Sense forgot to mention that there is a long scene where rotting disgusting corpses burst from floors and the ground and there is a scene where the mother is caught in a pool filled with decomposing bodies. And for kids scared of clowns (even not scared of clowns!) it may be not suitable. It's not for kids ages younger than 12 or 13.
- I rate this title on for age 14 and give itMy concerns are:
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
- My highlights are:
Haunted House Top Notch for Teens
I have loved this movie from the day it came out. I went to the theater with my mom and when we got home, she hid in the hallway and as I was walking to my room, threw my toy clown at me...sick and twisted. I love this movie and my oldest loves it, too.
- I rate this title on for age 10 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate language
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
m
It never scared me. my parents tried to scare me when I was 10 because no other movie could. even my older brother was scared by it. not me. but apparently it scared everybody else. there is violence swearing drugs and smoking. still it's a cool movie even though it didn't scare me
- I rate this title iffy for age 13 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
Great horror film!
An awesome ghost movie that is very intense and contains one particularly gruesome scene.Do not be fooled by the PG rating, it's not for kids. Also, there is a scene of drug use. Unlike today's horror films, this movie does not rely on cheap scares to keep the audience interested, it is a genuinely scary movie. However, this movie is awesome and everyone should watch this great movie.
- I rate this title iffy for age 11 and give itMy concerns are:
- Inappropriate language
good for tweens or older.
Although this movie has mild language I do recomend it for kids who enjoy a good scary movie. My son loves scary movies but now a days it is very hard to find one that doesnt have sex or nudity in it. With this movie you need not worry about sex or nudity. The worst thing you see in regards to nudity is the mother in her underwear. The language in this movie was also mild and there is one scene where the parents are smoking drugs in the bedroom but to a child could be taken as a cigarette.
- I rate this title iffy for age 12 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Negative role models
definitely 12 and up...
No positive messages, no good examples at all. BUT who cares!? This was my favorite scary movie growing up, and on my daughter's 13th (this year), I will absolutely allow and encourage her to watch it. Be forewarned, I did have nightmares, but it was AWESOME to be that scared.
- I rate this title iffy for age 12 and give itMy concerns are:
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
Great movie for teenagers, strongly recommend it. That doll is really freaky, and I love the scene where the man starts clawing at his own face.
- I rate this title iffy for age 10 and give it
this scared me when i was like 8 (beacause of the clown LOL) but now that i think bout it its not so scary anymore but it was good
- I rate this title on for age 14 and give itMy concerns are:
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
- I rate this title iffy for age 11 and give it
- My highlights are:
Wonderful movie... but not scary
This is one of my favorite movies ever; even though the special-effects are horrible. Which makes me ask myself why the heck does this movie scare you? After I thought about it for a bit I realized that it scared me mostly because of the doll the boy is scared of that comes to life (it's not scary but it just disturbs me), and what happens to that family because my family thinks our house is a little bit haunted. But anyway great movie!!!!! See it see it see it!
- I rate this title on for age 10 and give it
Excellent horror movie~
Even though it has some cheesy parts that made me laugh, this is a pretty scary movie. For the most part the graphics aren't fantastic (it's not a brand new movie) but the dead who pop up at the end look pretty real. @_@ It's not explicit in violence or language or other stuff, but because it had some scary images and it IS a horror film it's probably nor suitable for kids under 10 years old. Great movie; I recommend it.
- I rate this title on for age 2 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate language
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
- I rate this title on for age 13 and give it
Spectacular haunted house movie is not for the faint of heart
First thing.... I LOVE STEVEN SPIELBERG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a fantastic movie about a simple haunted house, i won't try to explain the plot because it's too complicated, but it dose have some issues: 1. little actual violince, scary ghosts and skeletons, a man rips his own face of but if you could handle the face melting scene at the end of raiders of the lost ark, you should be ok. 2. mild language incluing Bas--rd, D--n, one use of "the finger". 3. the mom briefly smokes marjuina. So this is an awsome haunted house movie for teens 13 and up......if you think your brave enough.....MWAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
- I rate this title iffy for age 12 and give it
- I rate this title on for age 9 and give it
One of my favorite.
I watched this with my friend in her THeater room at her house. It was 10:00 at night, on a VERY large screen, in the woods.(Her house in the woods.)Being the baby I am, I was kinda scared. My other friend hid under a blanket every other 5 minutes, so I don't fell too bad about my scaredy-cat actions. I would've been more frightened, but my friend's 1-year-old brother was hitting something against the wall now and then, so that brought me back to reality. An astonishing movie. I just wish clowns didn't seem so scary now.
- I rate this title on for age 10 and give it
Awsome!!!
The movie Poltergeist was the best horror movie I have ever seen. I watch it all the time with my family. A lot of young kids would find it really scary so if your kid is ten and younger I suggest not to let them watch it or else they'll be creeped out for days.I watched it when I was 9 years old and I didn't find it to scary but I bet other kids will. There is a scene that might make some people quesy Because one part this guy looks into a mirror and his mind gets took over by ghosts and he imagines he's taking his face apart and it's really gross.This movie is defentily a good movie.
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Ratings at a Glance
| 60% | of parents say it's too violent |
| 40% | of parents say there's too much drinking, drugs, or smoking |
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