A family takes in an artificial man whose hands were never completed by his inventor, leaving him with scissors for hands. The film, directed by Tim Burton, stars Johnny Depp as Edward and Winona Ryder as his love interest Kim.
Classification Issues
- Violence
- A protracted fight sequence features a number of heavy blows, including a man being repeatedly struck with a poker. A person is stabbed with a blade, resulting in sight of blood.
- Injury detail
- The central character sometimes cuts others, using the scissors he has for hands. Most of the cuts are accidental but some occur during fighting.
- Additional issues
- There are sequences of mild threat. Scenes also include infrequent mild bad language ('dick', 'bastard') and discriminatory language ('retarded'). Occasional verbal and visual sex references include a woman attempting to seduce a man by straddling his lap. There is an undetailed reference to sexual violence. Adult characters drink and smoke and there is a scene of drink-driving.
Cinema classification
Edward Scissorhands was submitted for classification in December 1990. Examiners at the time described the film as an “allegorical fairytale”, with the character of Edward appearing like “a cross between Frankenstein, Kaspar Hauser and the late Jim Morrison of the Doors”.
The US Motion Picture Association had awarded the film a PG-13 rating and the film was submitted to the BBFC with a 12 classification request.
Examiners noted that the film’s theme of good versus evil and its fairy-tale qualities were comparable to those of traditional Disney films such as Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. On this basis, they characterised the overall viewing experience as more consistent with a PG classification than a 12. They also identified similarities with recent PG-rated films, including The Witches and Willow, both of which had been widely viewed by children aged 9 to 11.
Examiners did, however, give particular consideration to the violence in the film’s final scene, in which Edward, acting in defence of Kim, strikes another character, resulting in that character falling from a window and dying. To ensure the film remained within the parameters of a PG classification, examiners proposed cuts to reduce the intensity of the blows in this sequence.
Children and teenager screening
The BBFC screened the film for a group of 95 children aged 6-17 on 3 February 1991 in order to gather feedback on the classification from this audience.
The research survey categorised responses by age group: 6–9, 10–13, and 14–17. Following the screening, most participants across all age groups agreed that the film was exciting and funny, although just over half of respondents in each group also described it as scary. Overall, the feedback indicated a generally positive reception, with enthusiasm expressed by the majority of viewers. A few of the younger participants felt that parts of the film were somewhat too frightening for them.
Subsequently, the film’s distributor chose to make the cuts suggested by the BBFC and the film was classified PG in April 1991.
Video classification
The distributor submitted the same cut version of Edward Scissorhands on video in December 1991 and it also passed at PG. At this time, on video, there was a choice between repeating the film cuts for PG or passing the film 15 uncut, as the 12 rating was not available on video until 1994.
The cut version passed at PG again in 1995, but in 2007 Edward Scissorhands was submitted on video in its uncut form and classified 12 for moderate violence.
