Why The Boogeyman Is Rated PG-13 (2024)

Warning: This post contains mild spoilers for The Boogeyman

When it comes to horror films, there is an expectation that it will be rated R, but while there are plenty of horror movies that are given the R-rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, there are several films within the same genre, like Rob Savage’s The Boogeyman and M3GAN, this year’s meme-worthy horror romp, that get slapped with the tamer PG-13 rating instead. After all, strong language, a good amount of gore, and general violence tend to make up the core of the horror genre’s biggest and most notable films,

There are plenty of reasons why a film like The Boogeyman, adapted from the short story by Stephen King, would be given a PG-13 rating, despite having its fair share of language and violence. The Boogeyman is quite scary, too, but its rating ostensibly makes it more accessible to the general public. Now that the horror film is available on digital formats, its PG-13 rating will likely appeal to a wider audience looking for a good horror film that doesn’t necessarily have the trappings of something with a hard R-rating. The film’s rating, however, doesn’t diminish the amount of scares or the intensity that settles into its story.

The Boogeyman's PG-13 Rating Explained: Terror, Violence & Language

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The MPAA gave The Boogeyman a PG-13 rating for terror, violent content, teen drug use and some strong language. As with all horror films, there are scary elements. A big part of The Boogeyman’s eeriness stems from the terrifying nature of the titular creature. The Boogeyman leers, stalks, attacks, mimics, and kills its prey. These aspects are the scariest and are responsible for much of the tension in the film. The Boogeyman starts off with a fair amount of terror, as the creature’s violent nature is highlighted after killing a child in her crib. The rest of the film is filled with plenty of fright as well, not holding back.

To that end, the horror film has quite a few scenes containing violence. Sadie Harper (Sophie Thatcher) and her family are hunted by the Boogeyman as it preys on their grief, and the film’s gruesome elements come to light when the monster viciously attacks, lunging with its grotesque shape, feeding with its sharp teeth, or a past victim wields a gun to fight it off. The jump scares are enough to lend itself to the rating, as the creature sits and there is a scene where Sadie’s friends use drugs. The language in the film is ultimately tame, but there characters use expletives here and there throughout The Boogeyman.

Is The Boogeyman Movie Suitable For Children?

The Boogeyman may be rated PG-13, but it isn’t suitable for younger kids to watch. The titular creature tends to attack the film’s youngest characters, and children are threatened, facing violence and potential death throughout. Given the ferocity of the horror film’s monster, the level of terror present throughout, and the intensity of certain scenes’ brutality, The Boogeyman isn’t exactly a film made with a younger audience in mind. To be fair, most horror films aren’t, but there is the occasional one that is more palatable for younger viewers. The Boogeyman, however, isn’t one of them, not with its subject matter or the way the creature goes after the characters.