A Nightmare on Elm Street rating change defended by BBFC

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has defended its decision to change the certificate of horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street from an 18 to a 15, saying that its audience research showed “strong support for older content to be reclassified in line with modern standards”.

The classic 1980s horror, featuring the malevolent, razor-gloved Freddy Krueger who stalks and murders teenagers in their dreams, was given an 18 certificate on its first UK release in 1985 , a designation confirmed on a subsequent cinema release in 2013 and a series of home entertainment releases. However, after a new application from its studio Warner Bros, the certificate was changed to a 15 on 1 August, ahead of a home entertainment reissue in September.

A spokesperson told the Guardian: “At the BBFC, we review the classification of older films when they are submitted to us by the distributor, typically ahead of an upcoming rerelease. When doing so, we apply our current standards as set out in our published Classification Guidelines. These guidelines evolve over time, informed by large-scale research, most recently involving 12,000 people, to ensure they continue to reflect the expectations of UK audiences. As a result, films may require a higher or lower age rating than they received in the past.”

The most recent set of guidelines was issued in March 2024, in which the BBFC acknowledged that “people are more concerned about violence across all the age rating categories … around distressing and disturbing forms of intense or realistic violence”. However, a BBFC spokesperson says that audiences’ primary concern is related to portrayals of “real-world violence” and that “modern audiences tend to be more accepting of violent scenes which are more fantastical in nature”.

The spokesperson added: “In the case of A Nightmare on Elm Street, although the film features various bloody moments, it is relatively discreet in terms of gore and stronger injury detail. The kills often leave more to the imagination than visceral detail, and largely occur within a fantasy context. Compared to more recent precedents for violence and horror [classified] at 18 – such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Immaculate or Saw X – the film is now containable at 15 and we reclassified it accordingly.”

The BBFC also explained other recent instances of where film certificates have been altered due to changing priorities for audiences. The 1937 drama A Star Is Born, starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, was changed to a 12 certificate from a U due to the decision of March’s character to kill himself. The Lee Marvin/Clint Eastwood musical Paint Your Wagon, originally released in 1969, contains frequent references to sex and has been reclassified from a PG to a 12. The 1986 stalker thriller The Hitcher, featuring Rutger Hauer, has, like A Nightmare on Elm Street, been downgraded from an 18 to a 15. Likewise, the Tom Cruise teen movie Risky Business – in which he hires a sex worker and subsequently runs a brothel from his home – as the film does not contain graphic sex.