Certificate

In order to give 'Beggars Hollow' an age certificate we did some research on BBFC (British Board of Film Certificate). There are seven possible certifications ranging from U to R18. As a group we knew that producing a horror movie would mean that we had a higher certificate, somewhere between 12 and 18.

12
Material that is not generally suitable for children aged under 12. No one under 12 may view the film in the cinema if not accompanied by an adult. A work which has a very dark or unsettling tone which could disturb the audience would be less likely to be passed as a 12. Moderate physical and psychological threat is permitted as long as horror sequences are not too frequent or sustained.

I found very few examples of 12 rated horror movies. The Gremlins is one of the few I could find and I would hardly class it a horror. Our movie does not have a childish theme nor is aimed at a young audience so it will definitely not fit under the 12 certificate.

18
Films rated 18 are for adults only. No themes are prohibited. They may contain real sex, discriminatory language and strong sexual violence. In terms of horror, they may contain very strong horror, fire or substained threat. 

The 18 rated films which we previously researched contain huge amounts of blood and gore. For example, Saw, Child's Play and The Nightmare on Elm Street are known for huge amounts of violence. We tried to avoid this horror concept and chose to focus on an eery storyline instead of expletive gore. Which is why the 18 certificate is unsuitable for our film.


15

No one under the age of 15 is allowed to see this rating at the cinema, they can not buy or rent this certificate either. In a 15 the audience may expect strong violence, strong language or drug taking. In terms of horror, a 15 certificate can have a strong threat and horror as long as there is no sustained focus on sadistic or sexualised threat.

The majority of our film inspirations were rated a 15. We share themes and concepts with movies such as Sinister, Insidious and The Woman In Black, so as a group we decided to adopt their age certificate. Rating 'Beggars Hollow' a 15 as it contains moderate threat which could be disturbing to some viewers aged 14 and below.