I it true?

[Juice]

Is it true what I've heard, that you American people can't rent a an R-rated movie when you're not 16 yet?
I mean, in Holland there's also a law against that, but the videostore guys never give a damn about that. Is that different in America?

[Mr. Movie Man]

well it's like this. At Blockbuster Video, you have to be 17 to rent an R rated movie. I have never really had any trouble at all with renting, even when I was below the age. Most of the people don't care, but the age limit recently went up to 18 where I used to live. It was because of the Columbine shootings, which happened in Colorado in 1999. However, I was still able to rent R rated movies, except for sometimes when a woman would be working, then I would have to drive down the street to the other Blockbuster where they were nicer. I had to go on nights when a particular person wasn't there, because some are nice and some are EVIL!!!. Also, you have to be 17 or older to see an R rated movie in the theaters, unless you have a parent with you, then it's ok. But if it's rated NC-17, then you MUST be 17 to see it and even if you are younger and are with a parent, they still will not let you in. However shitty that may be, I still was able to see 99.9 percent of the R rated movies I wanted to see. You just sneak in, or have someone by the ticket for you. The only problem I had with an R, was in 98' when Wild Things came out. I was 15 and there were security guards outside of the door, only because there was a scene where Kevin Bacon show his penis. It was really fuckin ridiculous because it was R, and it was the first time that guards were ever outside of an R rated movie during the time that the theater was there. My friends and I eventually snuck in when The guards were talking with someone else. American Psycho was easy to see, because I was 17 at the time, but a friend of mine wasn't, so he ran in and hid from the lady. we were ok. Sometimes you could be under the age, but a parent could come up with you and sign his or her signature on the ticket, and the person would see it and would let you in. It was underlined by the theater stamper so that the ticket taker would know that it was ok, and that you didn't just sign it yourself. The ticket taker almost always checked our tickets, because sometimes if you were under the age, they would still sell you the ticket, but once you get inside there is always a suspicious person who will not believe you are old enough. You have to find the right people. I guess I have been lucky, because I had very little trouble seeing R rated movies before I was 17.

[FeverDog420]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Mr. Movie Man:
The only problem I had with an R, was in 98' when Wild Things came out. I was 15 and there were security guards outside of the door, only because there was a scene where Kevin Bacon show his penis. It was really fuckin ridiculous because it was R, and it was the first time that guards were ever outside of an R rated movie during the time that the theater was there.</font>

I remember when I was 15. I was an usher in a movie theater, and we had security guards watching the door for ROADHOUSE. All these little teen chicks were dying to see Patrick Swayse's ass (ah, the '80s), and dozens were denied access.

When I was underage I had no problem seeing horror flicks, or much else for that matter; I was allowed in for BLUE VELVET, ANGEL HEART, MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, EVIL DEAD II, and scores of other flicks when I was a kid. The only times I was denied was for STAND BY ME (whatever) and REFORM SCHOOL GIRLS (understandable).

I've worked at many theatres throughout high school and college, and carding patrons usually depended on the movie. We Americans know there's two types of "R" movies - the ones that barely missed the PG-13 (like ALMOST FAMOUS), and the ones that are referred to as "Hard-R" flicks (like BASIC INSTINCT). It's the whims of management that dictate what R movies that theatres turn a blind eye to. In college I remember that JUDGE DREDD was okay, but not HOUSE PARTY 3. All the other ushers were afraid of a cap in their white asses if they had to turn away hordes of black teens from HP3; I was the only one who'd do it. Needless to say, my white ass remained bullet-free, but, jeez, it was just a HOUSE PARTY movie. Stupid racist practices, eh?

One last example was the time we were denying artsy kids access to MAP OF THE HUMAN HEART because management figured an "art" movie contained "arty" sex. Morons.

FeverDog

[Juice]

Yeah, that's all kinda like in Holland. We've got movie for al ages people above 12, above 16 and above 18, that's very hard porn or extremely shocking horror. (You MUST be at least 16 to rent Faces of Death movies and of course no kid can rent porn). And we also have some assholes who wouldn't give me horrormovies when I was 13... But most of the people do.
Then, another thing:
When I watch Jerry Springer, I'm always annoyed by the cencors. Are all the programmes and movies with nudity and "bad words" cencurated when they're on tv inthe USA? i mean, can you watch Friday 2, 4 or 5 on tv and enjoy titties, or are they cut out.

[The Shadow]

Yes, unfortunately they do cut that stuff out. When I first went to rent an R rated movie at Blockbuster when I was 13, I was told I had to be over 17. But, I got my mom to tell them I could rent them and they entered that into their computers. Now, I am able to rent anything I want (BB doesn't carry porn) without being questioned. I've rented NOTLD, DOTHD, Day of the Dead, Phantasm American Pie 2...well anything.

[AlienClown]

Juice, the only way a movie would be shown on US TV with its nudity/violence/language intact, would be on Pay-Per-View or a premium movie channel like HBO or Cinemax.

[Juice]

Pour Americans.

[Jason13thh]

We don't have this problem in my country, hopefully.
Of course if you are 8 years old you won't be allowed to rent a horror flick.

[PapaJupe2k]

Interesting discussions here. I remember in 1989 when Halloween 4 came out and I was under 17 I actaully got inside and saw about the first 15 minutes of the movie, and then the usher came and kicked my friend and I out. I don't remember the exact circumstances regarding this but I was pissed for about a week after this. Good topic.

[JAMIE_LLOYD_02]

some of those movies u guys mention are not scary i think it is stupid if u have to be a certain age to see a horror movie gosh.

[*sweet psychotic*]

I live in the USA and I've never had any problems renting, buying, or going to see movies, oh well.

[Juice]

Kinda agree with JAMIE_LOYD_O2... Of course a five year old kid can't rent horror in Holland, but when you're about 12, I think you should be able to rent R-rated horror. I also hate censors... Now that never happens in Europe.

[AlienClown]

Juice, in your last comment, how can you say censorship never happens in Europe? Even though I know in recent years things have laxed, for a long time citizens of England, Germany, and Finland straight-out BANNED films for many years. Then when they were unbanned they were released in cut-up and edited versions. There have been many posts on this very board with Europeans having to put up with censored versions, and having to seek out or even import the uncut versions of movies. Maybe you meant something else with that last comment, and just weren't specific enough.
And in regards to the original question, there is no such law that anyone under 16 cannot rent an R-rated movie. Most video stores don't give a damn, and if they do, they don't bother to check or enfore such a rule. The ONLY case something like this exists in, is for corportate video store chains like Blockbuster, and maybe Hollywood video. If a parent decides that they do not want their child to be able to rent R-rated movies, they can put a restriction on their account so their child will be unable to rent any. So really I could only see either very strict or very protective parents doing such a thing.

[Juice]

O GOD! BIG MISTAKE!!! How could I be that stupid?! I'm sorry.

[Juice]

Still, there is some sort of a law like that in Holland. One man checked on me before renting me a video once.

[ParileseMonster]

Really do not feel bad for us Americans, we are hardly Poor Americans, we have it pretty damn good here in America. I have no complaints and I am glad I live here and I always will. I doubt I will ever tread upon any other soil because I just do not want to, this is my home and I see lots of kick ass horror any time I want to. Besides there is a need for certain laws and rules, Logically without them it would be insane in society.

[Juice]

I was just kiddin' dude.

[Casbal]

Can someone explain to me what "unrated" means? How old do you have to be to be admited to an unrated movie? If it's 18+, then what's the difference between unrated and R?

[AlienClown]

Unrated, is a movie that could have been cut down to an R rating, but wasn't, or a movie that was in theatres rated as R, and then its UNRATED (EXTENDED or UNCUT) version is released on video/dvd. Unrated movies aren't really shown theatrically, they won't get distribution. Therefore gaining admittance to an unrated movie isn't an existing factor of the system. An R rating means you have to be at least 17 to be admitted, or be accompanied by someone of at least 17 years of age, if you are not yet 17.

[Casbal]

Ok, now I understand, thanks. In order to be shown theatrically in the US, a movie needs to get a rating first. We have a similar system in Germany. Hoever if a movie gets an R-rating (called "18" here), there won't necessarily be any additional cuts. For example, cutting rude language (like they often do in the UK*) has never happened here. Only if certain scenes would lead to the banning of the movie (for violating the law), the movie is cut.

There used to be a few banned movies in Germany, but nowadys we have become quite liberal as far as horror is concerned (for example, Nazi propaganda is is still being banned as soon as it emerges). I don't think a single horror movie was banned in Germany during the last decade, and many that used to be banned no longer are.

*I made the horrible mistake of renting the UK version of Dusk Till Dawn a while ago and you won't believe it: The famous "pussy-pussy" speach by Cheech Marin was cut out!!! (And that wasn't the only thing they cut).