Normally, any movie with a doll is terrifying — look at Breaking Dawn, for example. Renesmee is scary as hell. While the Twilight films didn’t have to censor the horrifying love child of Edward and Bella to get a rating fit for their teen audiences, plenty of films have been edited to fit into a more accessible rating, like Perks of Being a Wallflower and, more recently, Black Adam. The upcoming horror movie M3GAN is no different. In an interview with Games Radar, director Gerard Johnstone explains that when they were reshooting and reediting the film to get it down to a PG-13 rating, the changes added suspense and mystery, making the movie scarier than before. “Making it PG-13 was something that happened after the fact, but it was always so close to PG-13 anyway,” he says. “What I was really stoked about is that when we reshot those scenes, they were more effective. It’s like, ‘Yes, you do have to cut away at certain times,’ but it’s fun having to rely on sound and suggestion so much.” He cites other PG-13 horror flicks, such as Drag Me to Hell, as inspiration when reworking the film. Teens, prepare for the worst and hope for the best when meeting your first scary doll.
