Why We Rated This Appropriate for Ages 17 and UP

What to watch out for

• Language:

  Lots and lots of "s--t," "f--k," and other expletives and clinical terms.

• Messages

• Sex:

  Brief toplessness early on in the phony trailer for Machete and in strip-club dressing room. "Artful" near-explicit nudity in a love-scene montage (interrupted by a "missing reel"). Female characters dress skimpily in shorts and tight tops,... More

  Brief toplessness early on in the phony trailer for Machete and in strip-club dressing room. "Artful" near-explicit nudity in a love-scene montage (interrupted by a "missing reel"). Female characters dress skimpily in shorts and tight tops, and there are glimpses of what are supposed to be diseased, decayed, and mutated male testes. Lots of suggestive exotic dancing. Discussion of lesbian relationship. Close

• Violence:

  Almost every possible mutilation is on display (including actual forensic photos). Pus-oozing zombies eat people, get dismembered, and burst into bloody messes. One of the victims is a little boy who accidentally shoots himself accidentally... More

  Almost every possible mutilation is on display (including actual forensic photos). Pus-oozing zombies eat people, get dismembered, and burst into bloody messes. One of the victims is a little boy who accidentally shoots himself accidentally; a pet dog is run over by a convoy. The female lead loses her leg to zombie cannibals and replaces it with a gun and rocket launcher. Attempted rape. Close

• Drugs:

  Social drinking in a bar scene; talk of drugs.

• Consumerism:

  Not an issue.

What Parents Need to Know

About Planet Terror

Parents need to know that this tongue-in-cheek zombie gorefest celebrates and partially re-creates the brutal sex-and-action "exploitation" movies that played in bad-neighborhood theaters from the 1960s through the '80s. That means it luxuriates in blood-soaked violence and sexually suggestive sleaze and has loads of swearing, carnage, and erotica (though actual nudity is brief). It's a campy takeoff, but the humor is quite gruesome, not the goofy silliness found in Scary Movie-type parodies.

Families Can Talk About

Families can talk about the movie's intentionally shocking material. Why would the ultra-violence and butchery of this film be considered entertaining? At what point do viewers become desensitized to this type of barrage of violence and gore? Is the excess meant to be funny? Do you think films like this one only appeal to a certain audience? Who is that audience, and why are they drawn to material like this? Are the vintage '60s and '70s exploitation movies that this one was inspired by still relevant today? How would you characterize the women in the movie? Are they victims or heroines? How does their sexuality work for and against them?