Parents Guide for
Gremlins (1984) More at IMDbPro »

Suggested MPAA rating: PG-13 for some mild violence and gore, disturbing images, brief language and smoking content.

Sex & Nudity: 2/10

A gremlin comically "flashes" a women.

A man is bare-chested.

Some mild sexual references.

Violence & Gore: 6/10

Violence and mayhem throughout. Sometimes blood.

Billy's mom turns the blender on when the gremlin is eating out of it. Splattering green slime everywhere.

Another gremlin is thrown in the microwave and blows up, splattering slime all over the microwave.

A gremlin attacks Billy's mom in the Christmas tree and scratches bloody cuts on her face and head.

Billy decapitates a gremlin with a sword and we see the head burning in the fireplace, but only for a few seconds.

A couple is attacked in their home by a bulldozer and presumably killed.

A woman is killed when her elevating chair malfunctions and catapults her out a window, we see her legs sticking out of the ground after she is flattened on the street.

We hear cars crash after a gremlin tampers with a stoplight.

A police car flips over after a gremlin disconnects the brake.

Gremlins are burned in a movie theatre.

The gremlin leader melts in a part. Most of this part would be intense for young children.

A gremlin chainsaws a radio in half causing it to explode and making a spark make Billy's head bleed.

Billy is shot with a harpoon gun and nearly killed by the Stripe gremlin with a chainsaw.

Billy reaches out for a phone and a gremlin scratches him and makes a cut on his hand.

A man is sticking his hand inside of a cabinet where a gremlin is and soon, you hear biting noises and the man screaming. Then, Billy comes in and sees the man lying on the floor and not moving which means he's obviously dead.

In a video kids are watching in science class, men are showing an example of a rabbit's heart after they cut open the rabbit.

Profanity: 3/10

One use of shit, and one use of asshole. Milder terms are thrown about.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: 2/10

Gremlins smoke, a character gets drunk, Gremlins get drunk

Frightening/Intense Scenes: 6/10

Many 'pop-out' moments where the creatures jump out of dark corners and attack the characters. A gremlin's graphic demise by sunlight involves him melting into a pile of slime.

Their first form is cute but when they "morph" children will find them frightening

Kate's "speech" some children might find frightening and disturbing (as well as some teens and possibly adults). During this speech she also says "...and that is how I found out there was no Santa Claus," which could be difficult to explain to some children.

A rabbit's beating heart is shown on a screen, in a science classroom.

0-5: Suitable for everyone (Care Bears). 5-10: Take some caution with young children (The Incredibles). 10-20: Suitable for children 8 years and over (THIS). 20-25: Recommended for mature audiences (Titanic). 25-30: Suitable for children over 13 (The Dark Knight). 30-40: Recommended for people 17 years and over (Saving Private Ryan). 40-50: Absolutely Adults Only (Cannibal Holocaust).



Total Explicit Content: 19/20

Suitable For Children 8 Years And Over.

Despite the guidelines that personal opinions are not encouraged, I feel compelled to express how I believe most parents would feel toward this film; most certainly NOT suitable for eight-year-olds! This film is actually very graphic and disturbing even to many adults. If released today it would most likely receive a "PG-13" rating, bordering on a "R".