• Director(s)

    Jay Cheel

  • Production Year

    2020

  • Genre(s)

    Documentary

  • Cast

    Hector Avalos, Vincent Bauhaus, Linda Blair, Doug Cowan, Eileen Dietz, Arturo David Rogriguez Gonzalez, Sarah Graff, Mitch Horowitz, Barton Lane, Matt Miller, Jay Cheel, Jay Cheel, Andrew Nicholas McCann Smith, Laura Perlmutter, Ohad Benchetrit, Justin Small, Scott McClellan, Mike McLaughlin, Jared Raab, Jay Cheel, Zosia Mackenzie, Peter Mihaichuk

TV Show

Cursed Films

CURSED FILMS is a US arts documentary series; this episode looks at Tobe Hooper's 1982 horror film, 'Poltergeist'.…

CURSED FILMS is a US arts documentary series; this episode looks at Tobe Hooper's 1982 horror film, 'Poltergeist'.

  • Director(s)

    Jay Cheel

  • Production Year

    2020

  • Genre(s)

    Documentary

  • Cast

    Hector Avalos, Vincent Bauhaus, Linda Blair, Doug Cowan, Eileen Dietz, Arturo David Rogriguez Gonzalez, Sarah Graff, Mitch Horowitz, Barton Lane, Matt Miller, Jay Cheel, Jay Cheel, Andrew Nicholas McCann Smith, Laura Perlmutter, Ohad Benchetrit, Justin Small, Scott McClellan, Mike McLaughlin, Jared Raab, Jay Cheel, Zosia Mackenzie, Peter Mihaichuk

infrequent strong language, moderate horror, domestic abuse
Classified Date:
20/12/2022
Use:
Physical Media + VOD/Streaming
violence
There are factual references to the murder, by strangling, of an actress by her boyfriend.
threat and horror
Clips from horror films include a child being attacked by a clown, a young girl being menaced by a ghost and a screaming woman in a swimming pool full of skeletons.
language
There is infrequent use of strong language ('f**k'), as well as other terms such as 'son of a bitch', 'crap' and 'God'.
flashing/flickering lights
This work contains flashing images which may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy.
additional issues
There are factual references to the death of an eleven-year-old girl from illness.
strong injury detail, suicide
Classified Date:
20/12/2022
Use:
Physical Media + VOD/Streaming
suicide and self-harm
In a clip, a woman hangs herself at a children's birthday party.
injury detail
In clips from films, a man is decapitated in slow motion, people feast on human flesh and twins lie murdered in a bloody corridor. There is a real still image of a bloody bombing victim.
additional issues
There is female breast and pubic nudity. There is moderate horror in clips from films. There are references to real murders, terrorist attacks and plane crashes.
strong horror, sex references
Classified Date:
21/12/2022
Use:
Physical Media + VOD/Streaming
threat and horror
Clips from The Exorcist show scenes of strong threat and horror in which a young girl's physical appearance and behaviour alters as she becomes possessed by a demonic spirit. Her face appears to decay, and we see her thrashing on a bed, levitating and vomiting over a man's face. There is sight of the face of a demonic entity from the film. There is also footage of a real life exorcist supposedly driving out supernatural forces from people, resulting in them grimacing, growling, contorting their bodies, coughing and retching.
sex
There are verbal references to a 13-year-old female character masturbating with a crucifix; a brief clip from The Exorcist implies this action but does not show it in any detail.
flashing/flickering lights
This work contains flashing images which may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy.
additional issues
There is infrequent strong language ('f**k') and milder terms including 'cock' and 'hell'. There are verbal references to cast members being injured during the making of The Exorcist due to their treatment by members of the production crew while filming key scenes. There is sight of blood on the faces and clothes of characters in film clips. There are undetailed references to mental health issues in children.
brief sexual threat, moderate violence, bloody images
Classified Date:
20/12/2022
Use:
Physical Media + VOD/Streaming
violence
There is moderate violence and bloody images in clips from films.
sexual violence and sexual threat
In a brief clip from the film, two men knock a woman to the floor and tear open her shirt.
additional issues
There are mild references to real deaths.
strong language, sex references
Classified Date:
21/12/2022
Use:
Physical Media + VOD/Streaming
language
There is strong language ('f**k') and milder terms which include 'shit', 'dick', 'Christ', 'piss' and 'hell'.
sex
There is brief sight of a woman whose bare breasts are exposed, with tape covering her nipples.
additional issues
There is real life footage of a fatal helicopter crash, but there is no sight of injury detail. There are references to the deaths of a man and two children, aged 6 and 8, and real footage from a funeral. There is a montage of images from other films, including sight of a possessed girl vomiting in a man's face and a man with a bloody face miming the act of shooting himself with his hand. We see clips of a monstrous figure engulfed in flames and a car crashing following a chase. A man jokingly suggests he would shoot himself in the head if he couldn't work in film.
Please note: each rating can only be used for the distribution method listed in the Use column. For more information on each Use click here.
references to suicide and sex
Classified Date:
16/08/2023
Use:
Physical Media + VOD/Streaming
sex
There are verbal references to sex orgies, but these are not graphic in detail.
suicide and self-harm
There are multiple references to the supposed suicide of a little person on the set of THE WIZARD OF OZ, which is said to be discernible on certain copies of the film.
additional issues
References to discrimination include the derision of little people acting in THE WIZARD OF OZ among other titles, who were subject to exaggerated stories about their conduct. A director apologises for his part in perpetuating these discriminatory stereotypes, along with racist and elitist ones, which are clearly not condoned by the work as a whole. Drug references include the addictions of Judy Garland and her daughter; however, drug misuse is not glamourised or condoned. Upsetting references are made to abortion and Garland's suffering mental health. Dramatic reconstructions include injuries featuring blood and burns, as well as a scene of violence in which a director slaps a young Garland across the face. There is infrequent use of strong language ('f**k'), accompanied by other milder terms ('hell').
sexual violence, strong bloody images, nudity
Classified Date:
14/08/2023
Use:
Physical Media + VOD/Streaming
sexual violence and sexual threat
There are scenes from ROSEMARY'S BABY which imply a woman is raped by a demonic creature.
injury detail
Real crime scene photographs show blood-drenched carpet in the aftermath of the murder of Sharon Tate and her companions by members of the Manson family. There is also the bloody aftermath of a woman's suicide taken from ROSEMARY'S BABY.
nudity
There are scenes of sexualised breast nudity, as well as full frontal male nudity.
additional issues
There are recollections to domestic violence involving a near-fatal shooting. There are also moderate references to sex and to drug misuse.
infrequent strong language, moderate violence, injury detail
Classified Date:
14/08/2023
Use:
Physical Media + VOD/Streaming
violence
There are brief scenes of moderate violence, featuring crunchy hand-to-hand combat, and scenes of gunfire.
language
There is infrequent use of strong language ('f**k'), accompanied by other milder terms ('hell').
injury detail
There are scenes featuring animated blood spurts as part of a film poster, burns from the Chernobyl accident, and people with bloody facial injuries.
additional issues
There are also references to illness and death.
strong violence, bloody images
Classified Date:
16/08/2023
Use:
Physical Media + VOD/Streaming
violence
There are scenes from a number of horror films, particularly by director Wes Craven, featuring strong violence, such as a woman's head exploding in bloody fashion, and a woman having her chest carved into with a knife.
injury detail
There are scenes of blood during scenes of violence, as well as still images from films depicting people with injuries, burns, and zombie-fied flesh.
additional issues
The documentary unpacks the racist stereotypes and connotations that have been used to depict 'voodoo' practices and Black people in Hollywood films. Archive footage shows segregation in Haiti in the 1920s and features racist terms, such as 'colored'. There is infrequent use of strong language ('f**k'), accompanied by other milder terms ('shit', 'God' and 'damn'). Photographs depict people smoking. There are also references to the struggles with mental health many crew members experienced during the making of THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW in Haiti in the 1980s.
Please note: each rating can only be used for the distribution method listed in the Use column. For more information on each Use click here.

  • Classified date

    20/12/2022

  • Distributor

    RLJE International Ltd

  • Language

    English