Well it seems that some of these horror films have an NC-17 rating but cannot be seen by anyone that has parental control.
And you have to sign in to see those so they are safe Jeffbert. Though for the life of me I don't think there's anything left in thirty year old horror movies to offend.
"The screaming skull" was restricted as a gimmick to get kids(tweens)to watch. Wm Castle invented that kind of thing. Lets take a look at "House on Haunted hill" and it's original promotion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_on_Haunted_Hill
Wm Castle
http://www.dreadcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=284237
When I was a child we would go every week to see these Chris Lee Hammer movies,they were rated M for mature. Later, these films were rated higher though why I will never know. Some of these Horror films were changed from M to Nc-17....
Night of the living dead was R rated. No one under 17 admitted. It was so awful that people were carried out scared to death. Today it is a joke. Kids sit there and laugh at it. Heck The original Frankenstein was so horrific that no children were allowed to see it, women fainted dead away! Brides of Dracula was R. For violence! The Simpsons has more suggestive sex and more violence and bloodshed than these Hammer movies.
But the ratings remain. Please. But the "Quatermass experiment" or as it was known in america"The Creeping unknown" was rated X.....
http://www.horror-wood.com/quatermass.htm
X!!! In Britain! The Monster in Caltiki is a terrycloth rag soaked in motor oil and caramel syrup with soap suds pumped through it!
It was so horrific the public had to be protected! Now kids laugh at it! A comic book has more terror! Please.
Mind warping scene from Hammer Dracula....
Absolutely no child can accesss any of the Nc-17 horror films Jeffbert. Honestly.