Better scripts, acting help PG-13 thrillers

HOLLYWOOD — Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro's 8-year-old daughter, Mariana, hasn't yet been able to see what her dad does all day. "She keeps asking me, 'When can I see one of your movies?' "Del Toro says. Now the director can finally bring her along: For the first time in his five-film career, he's made a movie that isn't rated R. "I'll be happy to buy her a popcorn and sit next to her," Del Toro says.

Intense dramas and scary horror films usually carry enough carnage to earn the restrictive rating, and the recent box-office charts have been dominated by R-rated bloodbaths such as "Dawn of the Dead" and "The Passion of the Christ." But a growing number of directors — such as Del Toro with his new film, "Hellboy" — are exploring a less gruesome middle ground: the PG-13 thrill ride.

From the recent "Secret Window" to July 30's "The Village," an array of filmmakers are trying to shake up moviegoers without resorting to full-volume viscera. Thanks to surprisingly lenient ratings, particularly when it comes to violence, these directors can still display a lot of killing, and despite Del Toro's decision, young children easily could be traumatized.

These PG-13 movies also are much easier to market, especially on television, and can obviously attract a broader audience than films rated R. Of the 25 movies released last year that grossed more than $100 million, 15 were rated PG-13, while only five were rated R. The PG-13 scary movies are particularly popular with young women: When DreamWorks first tested "The Ring," the film's strongest response by far came from girls ages 13 to 18, whom the studio says tend to avoid R-rated violence.

Against a backdrop of pop culture brutality, it's increasingly difficult to create films that deliver true chills. Unlike violent genre films, these films are much more dependent on execution than executions.

"It's a great filmmaking challenge," says producer Barry Josephson, who is making "Hide and Seek," a Robert De Niro thriller about a motherless child and her imaginary friend, which is designed to get a PG-13 rating. "You don't have the luxury of lopping off someone's head."

For much of the last two decades, Hollywood habitually abandoned scary PG-13 movies. The staple instead became hard-core slasher films like "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Scream" and "Halloween." "People ran away from the form because they didn't know how to do it," says Bill Mechanic, the former Fox studio chief who is now producing "Dark Water," a ghost story starring Jennifer Connelly that is intended to get a PG-13 rating.