Being an adult of indeterminate years, I’m always intrigued by any film that gets an 18 certificate – what horrors may lurk within? I thought I’d round up all (don’t quote me) of 2011’s 18 certificate movies, and see how many turned out to be worth seeing. For an unscientific evaluation, I’ll use their Rotten Tomatoes score. For an even more unscientific evaluation, I’ll estimate myself how many were worth seeing. See the full list below.
So according to RT, 52% of these 2011 18s get a ‘fresh’ (‘fresh meat’ for 18s rather than ‘fresh tomatoes’) rating, which sounds pretty good to me. I have no idea what the percentage would be regarding 15 certificate films, or 12 films. You’ll just have to take my word for it that I’m pretty sure it will be lower.
And six 18 certificate movies scored over 90%. Add them to your LoveFilm / Netflix account now!
At least three of 2011’s 18 certificate movies (‘Drive’, ‘Kill List’, ‘Tyrannosaur’) featured in most critic’s 10 best movies list.
According to me, I’d say twenty-four of the thirty-eight 18 certificate movies were worth seeing (the top twenty, plus ‘The Devil’s Double’ (Dominic Cooper in one of the year’s best performances), ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (which I thought was a glorious, though memorable, failure), ‘Super’ (I thought it was funny) and ‘Drive Angry’ (I thought this was funny too, for a while).
I hope you enjoyed this totally unscientific post.
Here’s a brand new slogan the BFI can use in their future advertising for cinema in the UK.
‘Most 18 certificate films are good.’
That one’s on me, guys.
Below is the full list, if you want to see the facts for yourselves. All were rated 18 in the UK and released in 2011.
WEEKEND
Director: Andrew Haigh, Stars: Tom Cullen, Chris New, Laura Freeman,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 95%
ELITE SQUAD – THE ENEMY WITHIN
Director: Jose Padilha, Stars: Wagner Moura, Caio Junqueira, Andre Ramiro,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 95%
SNOWTOWN
Director: Justin Kurzel, Stars: Daniel Henshall, Lucas Pittaway, Louise Harris,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 93%
DRIVE
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn, Stars: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Christina Hendricks,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 93%
NEDS
Director: Peter Mullan, Stars: Marianna Palka, Steven Robertson, David McKay,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 93%
AS IF I AM NOT THERE
Director: Juanita Wilson, Stars: Natasa Petrovic, Miraj Grbic, Feda Stukan,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 92%
THE YELLOW SEA
Director: Na Hong-jin, Stars: Yun-seok Kim, Jung-woo Ha, Seong-Ha Cho,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 89%
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Director: David Fincher, Stars: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Stellen Skarsgard,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 86%
WAKE WOOD
Director: David Keating, Stars: Eva Birthistle, Ella Connolly, Brain Gleeson,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 84%
TYRANNOSAUR
Director: Paddy Considine, Stars: Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman, Eddie Marsan,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 80%
COLD FISH
Director: Shion Sono, Stars: Makoto Ashikawa, Denden, Mitsuru Fukikoshi,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 79%
RED WHITE & BLUE
Director: Simon Rumley, Stars: Noah Taylor, Amanda Fuller,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 78%
KILL LIST
Director: Ben Wheatley, Stars: Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, Harry Simpson,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 78%
THE WOMAN
Director: Lucky McKee, Stars: Pollyanna McIntosh, Sean Bridgers, Angela Bettis,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 74%
A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS
Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson, Stars: Neil Patrick Harris, Danny Trejo, Danneel Ackles,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 70%
ATTENBERG
Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari, Stars: Ariane Labed, Giorgos Lanthimos, Vangelis Mourikis,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 68%
HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN
Director: Jason Eisener, Stars: Rutger Hauer, Gregory Smith, Molly Dunsworth,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 67%
SHADOW
Director: Federico Zampaglione, Stars: Jake Muxworthy, Karine Testa, Chris Coppola,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 67%
KILL THE IRISHMAN
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh, Stars: Ray Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Val Kilmer,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 62%
GUILTY OF ROMANCE
Director: Shion Sono, Stars: Miki Mizuno, Makoto Togashi, Megumi Kagurazaka,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 60%
RED STATE
Director: Kevin Smith, Stars: Michael Parks, Melissa Leo, John Goodman,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 58%
THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE
Director: Lee Tamahori, Stars: Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 53%
MOTHER’S DAY
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman, Stars: Rebecca De Mornay, Jaime King, Shawn Ashmore,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 53%
SLEEPING BEAUTY
Director: Julia Leigh, Stars: Emily Browning, Rachael Blake, Ewen Leslie,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 51%
SUPER
Director: James Gunn, Stars: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 47%
BLITZ
Director: Elliott Lester, Stars: Jason Statham, Luke Evans, David Morrissey,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 46%
DRIVE ANGRY [3D]
Director: Patrick Lussier, Stars: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 45%
STRAW DOGS
Director: Rod Lurie, Stars: James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, James Woods,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 42%
GHOSTED
Director: Craig Viveiros, Stars: John Lynch, Martin Compston, Amanda Abbington,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 40%
SCREWED
Director: Reg Traviss, Stars: James D’Arcy, Noel Clarke, Frank Harper,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 38%
HATCHET II
Director: Adam Green, Stars: Danielle Harris, Tony Todd, Kane Hodder,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 36%
THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE II (FULL SEQUENCE)
Director: Tom Six, Stars: Ashlyn Yennie, Laurence R. Harvey, Maddi Black,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 31%
TURNOUT
Director: Lee Sales, Stars: Ophelia Louibond, George Russo, Francis Pope,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 30%
3D SEX AND ZEN EXTREME ECSTASY [3D]
Director: Christopher Sun, Stars: Saori Hara, Leni Lan, Vonnie Lui,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 22%
TRAVELLERS
Director: Kris McManus, Stars: Tom Geoffrey, Alex Edwards, Shane Sweeney,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 17%
THE VIOLENT KIND
Director: The Butcher Brothers, Stars: Cory Knauf, Taylor Cole, Bret Roberts,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 17%
MIDGETS VS MASCOTS
Director: Ron Carlson, Stars: Gary Coleman, Jordan Prentice, Jason Mewes,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 0%
WORLD OF THE DEAD – THE ZOMBIE DIARIES
Director: Michael Bartlett, Kevin Gates, Stars: Philip Brodie, Alix Wilton Regan, Rob Oldfield,
Rotten Tomatoes rating 0%
