Age rating for horror films

Age rating for horror films

The 18 certificate was created in 1982 as the successor of the previous X certificate, which in turn was the successor of the H certificate (with H standing for "horror"). Typical reasons for restricting films to the 18 certificate category have included scenes of hard drug use, supernatural horror, explicit sex, sadistic violence and sexual violence — the last two of which have in the past led to a certificate not being issued at all, effectively banning the film in the UK. It was only recently that the censors passed films with explicit ('hardcore') sexual acts despite the 18 certificate existing for many years.