Fantasy Island: How Scary & Violent Is It?

Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island errs on the side of caution with its PG-13 rating, which doesn’t allow for much explicit content regarding fantasies to be shown, nor scenes of intense terror or violence.

Originally based on a TV series in the ’70s and ’80s, the movie’s source material was relatively tame, but with the addition of a horror angle to the story, fans wondered whether Blumhouse would amplify the scares of even lean more on the angle of guests living out their fantasies with other titillating content, but overall, Fantasy Island was very tame, and would be appropriate for audiences aged thirteen and up. The film shot in Fiji, which allowed for a gorgeous, scenic background and full immersion in its tropical setting, but opening weekend for the film didn’t yield much reward for Blumhouse and director Jeff Wadlow.

With critics and audience reviews on Fantasy Island being largely negative, horror fans are left wondering whether they should take a chance on journeying to the theaters to catch this film. So, how scary and violent is the movie? The PG-13 rating has been issued by the MPAA for “violence, terror, drug content, suggestive material and brief strong language“. Here’s the breakdown of Fantasy Island‘s rating.

How Scary Is Fantasy Island?

Fantasy Island provides a few, run-of-the-mill scares, but nothing too intense for most viewers aged thirteen or over. There are a few sequences where characters are being pursued by a large man, known as Dr. Torture, with various different surgical tools, including a bone saw. There are occasionally sequences of terror with characters being pursued by other threats on the island, as well as some realistic moments of terror that involve gun violence and implied physical harm. One character in particular appears in random, sudden intervals and causes the few jump scares in the film, but these are reasonably mild, and not violent.

How Violent Is Fantasy Island?

For the most part, Fantasy Island is largely bloodless. The majority of the film’s violence comes from one scene of torture – though no major bodily harm is incurred – and the rest is through sequences of shoot-outs, gun violence, and one sequence with a burning building. One of the main characters comes to Fantasy Island to live out his fantasy of being a soldier, and some of the most intense scenes in the movie stem from this side-plot. Grenades and other weapons are utilized in the film, and while some characters are killed, their deaths are brief and bodily harm is not shown explicitly, and doesn’t linger.

The Rest Of Fantasy Island’s Rating: Drug Content, Language & Suggestive Material

As is the nature with fantasies, some guests have come to indulge in “sex stuff”. There is no nudity in Fantasy Island, and all sexual content is implied or referred to in passing, instead of being shown directly. There are characters depicted drinking and using drugs, and there are references to using drugs – marijuana, in particular – along with drug paraphernalia being shown on-screen. The film does contain adult language, but Fantasy Island doesn’t oversaturate with the profanity used, and is pretty tame by most PG-13 horror movie standards.

About The Author

Jack Wilhelmi
(581 Articles Published)

Jack Wilhelmi is the horror features editor at Screen Rant, and has been with the site since 2019. He is a lifelong fan of the horror genre, and loves any excuse to discuss genre-related topics, since none of his friends dare challenge him in horror trivia. He has been published on the independent horror blog Morbidly Beautiful, and has covered major genre film festivals such as Cinepocalypse in Chicago. He has also served as a judge for the Ax Wound Film Festival.

In his free time, he is a devoted dog dad to a high-spirited rescue pup named Peter Quill and enjoys volunteering with various animal rescue organizations. Jack likes to travel and explore dark tourism-related and other various haunted locations. He enjoys studying psychology, the paranormal, and will watch literally any schlocky B-movie on the planet for a laugh.

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