British Board of Film Classification defends age re-classification of A Nightmare on Elm Street

The British Board of Film Classification has defended its decision to change the age certificate of horror film 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'.

The BBFC just lowered the age limit to watch Wes Craven's 1984 horror movie, which stars Robert Englund as supernatural killer Freddy Krueger who attacks teenagers as they sleep, from 18 to 15 for UK audiences.

The organisation stated that although the slasher film features "bloody moments" these are "relatively discreet" compared to modern video games, new horror movies and online content.

The decision was made to change the certificate on August 1 following a new application from Warner Bros ahead of a home entertainment reissue in September.

The re-classification provoked ire on social media and even prompted 'Downton Abbey' creator Julian Fellowes to say: "I should have thought that showing 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' to a 15-year-old constituted child abuse. I can't help feeling that these people should get out more."

Now, a spokesperson for the BBFC has defended the decision insisting that the 15 rating is in line with age ratings given to current horrors.

The spokesperson told The Guardian newspaper: "At the BBFC, we review the classification of older films when they are submitted to us by the distributor, typically ahead of an upcoming rerelease. When doing so, we apply our current standards as set out in our published Classification Guidelines.

"In the case of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street', although the film features various bloody moments, it is relatively discreet in terms of gore and stronger injury detail. The kills often leave more to the imagination than visceral detail, and largely occur within a fantasy context. Compared to more recent precedents for violence and horror [classified] at 18 – such as 'Halloween', 'Thanksgiving', 'Immaculate' or 'Saw X' – the film is now containable at 15 and we reclassified it accordingly.”

'A Nightmare on Elm Street' is considered a classic of the slasher genre and it spawned six sequels, a 2010 remake and one franchise combining spin-off 'Freddy vs. Jason', which was released in 2003 and pitted Freddy against Jason Voorhees from the 'Friday the 13th' films.

Fans also got TV series 'Freddy's Nightmares', video games and comic books.