Upcoming loose sequel The Craft: Legacy has received a PG-13 rating, as opposed to the original’s R, but it’s really not cause for concern. By the genre’s very nature, horror tends to be about dark subject matter, death, and rated R. Sure, there has always been horror specifically targeted at younger viewers, but for the most part, the best horror usually boasts an R rating. With that in mind, whenever a horror movie earns a PG-13, there always tends to be a section of the horror fandom who takes umbrage.

While that’s somewhat understandable, at the same time, there have been plenty of creatively successful horror films that were rated PG-13. The Ring was a PG-13 film, and few found that to be lacking in scares. The same could be said for The Sixth Sense, or Insidious, or 1408, or Drag Me to Hell, and the list doesn’t stop there. So there’s plenty of examples of why a PG-13 rating doesn’t have to mean a horror movie will be awful.

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Recently, Blumhouse’s upcoming sequel The Craft: Legacy was officially rated PG-13 by the MPAA. Since the 1996 cult classic original was rated R, many fans are taking this to mean that the new film will be toned down and sanitized by comparison. While that might end up being true, the rating won’t be the deciding factor.

Why The Craft: Legacy’s PG-13 Rating Isn’t A Problem

While The Craft 1996 was indeed rated R, the fact that it got that rating is very questionable. Targeted as it was at teenagers, director Andrew Fleming and company set out to make The Craft a PG-13 movie, and that’s pretty evident in practice. There is very little violence and gore, only a smattering of bad language, and no nudity or graphic sex scenes. In fact, according to Fleming himself, The Craft was only rated R due to concerns about it involving teenage girls and witchcraft. Considering the religious fervor around the Harry Potter books just a few years later, and the MPAA’s history in the 1980s and 1990s, this kind of puritanical rating criteria is extremely plausible.

Judging by how much darker pop culture has gotten overall in the last couple of decades, and other films that have gotten PG-13 ratings, there’s very little question that were the exact same film to be made now, The Craft would be rated PG-13 and not R. That’s not to say that The Craft: Legacy won’t turn out bad for any number of other reasons, but as far as a PG-13 rating being one of them, fans should calm down and realize it’s nothing to be feared.

Key Release Dates
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  • The Craft: Legacy (2020)Release date: Oct 28, 2020
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Michael Kennedy
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Michael Kennedy is an avid movie and TV fan that’s been working for Screen Rant in various capacities since 2014. In that time, Michael has written over 2000 articles for the site, first working solely as a news writer, then later as a senior writer and associate news editor. Most recently, Michael helped launch Screen Rant’s new horror section, and is now the lead staff writer when it comes to all things frightening. A FL native, Michael is passionate about pop culture, and earned an AS degree in film production in 2012. He also loves both Marvel and DC movies, and wishes every superhero fan could just get along. When not writing, Michael enjoys going to concerts, taking in live professional wrestling, and debating pop culture. A long-term member of the Screen Rant family, Michael looks forward to continuing on creating new content for the site for many more years to come.

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