‘MAMA’
Rating: PG-13, for violence and terror, some disturbing images and thematic elements.
What it’s about: A young couple takes in two children, raised in the wild. But raised by what?
The kid attractor factor: Kids in jeopardy, ghosts.
Good lessons/ bad lessons: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof."
Violence: Yes, on the edge of graphic.
Language: A hint of profanity, but some of it quite harsh.
Sex: Kissing.
Drugs: Suggested.
Parents’ advisory: A genuinely creepy ghost story, entirely too adult and intense for the very young. Suitable for ages 12 and older.
‘GANGSTER SQUAD’
Rating: R for strong violence and language.
What it’s about: When the mob threatens to take over Los Angeles in the late 1940s, cops take the law into their own hands to stop it.
The kid attractor factor: Gangsters, coppers, machine guns, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.
Violence: Graphic stabbings, shootings and dismemberings.
Language: Pervasive profanity.
Sex: Emma Stone, attempted rape, prostitution.
Drugs: Heroin is bought and sold, booze and cigarettes are consumed.
Parents’ advisory: A semi-jokey treatment of a gang war that’s a very hard R when it comes to violence. OK for 15 and older.
‘A HAUNTED HOUSE’
Rating: R, for crude and sexual content, language and some drug use.
What it’s about: A “Paranormal Activity" spoof in which the couple chased by a demon cope in comical ways.
The kid attractor factor: Frights, and rude and raunchy stuff, played for laughs.
Good lessons/ bad lessons: The usual “black people in scary movies vs. white people in scary movies" observations.
Violence: Some.
Language: Lots and lots of profanity.
Sex: Oh yes, simulated in all manner of ways.
Drugs: Pot is consumed.
Parents’ advisory: If they’re old enough to see the movies this spoofs, “Haunted" won’t hurt them — OK for ages 13 and older.
