Guillermo del Toro-Produced Antlers Gets R Rating for "Gruesome Images"

Guillermo del Toro has cemented his legacy as a master of the macabre throughout his career, with [...]

Guillermo del Toro has cemented his legacy as a master of the macabre throughout his career, with his latest producing effort, Antlers, keeping in tradition with his embrace of horror, as the MPAA has given the film an R rating for "violence including gruesome images and for language." Not all of his films lean so far into violent subject matter, as his producing efforts like Mama and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark have delivered audiences riveting horror experiences while maintaining slightly tamer PG-13 tones, as well as his animated Trollhunters series being aimed at younger audiences. Antlers is slated to land in theaters on April 17th.

In Antlers, a small-town Oregon teacher (Keri Russell) and her brother (Jesse Plemons), the local sheriff, discover that a young student (Jeremy T. Thomas) is harboring a dangerous secret with frightening consequences. The new trailer reveals that dangerous secret to be that someone close to the young boy, perhaps his father, is possessed by none other than Wendigo, with the boy bringing them their meals (the other people in the town).

The film is inspired by the story "The Quiet Boy" from Nick Antosca, creator of SYFY's Channel Zero.

Antlers was directed by Scott Cooper, who previously delivered audiences films like Crazy Heart, Black Mass, and Out of the Furnace. The filmmaker previously teased his influences when diving into the world of horror.

"I was so influenced early on by the work of John Carpenter, like Halloween, or certainly The Exorcist which is a favorite of mine, or even Tarkovsky's Stalker," Cooper shared with Collider. "So I'm able to bring all of that into one film which is exciting."

The filmmaker also pointed out that it was his unfamiliarity with the genre, and del Toro's encouragement, that led to him taking the project.

"[Guillermo] said I've obviously never seen you direct a horror film, but there's a lot of horrific moments in your movies, so I'm more interested in someone who doesn't work in that genre to step into it," Cooper revealed. "Which is I guess a bit like Friedkin in a sense, having not directing in that genre before he took on The Exorcist. So I find that exciting, I've made my musical of sorts and my personal film with Out of the Furnace and my anti-gangster gangster movie, and then the Western… [Guillermo is] fantastic and so supportive and wildly imaginative, so it's really been a great collaboration. I'm very fortunate that he asked me to do this."

Antlers lands in theaters on April 17th.

Are you looking forward to the movie? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

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