'Hellboy II: The Golden Army'

Rated: PG-13.

Suitable for: 13 years old and up.

What you should know: This is the second movie based on the Dark Horse comic book character Hellboy (Ron Perlman), an affectionate demon who smokes cigars and shoots monsters who threaten humanity. In this installment by Guillermo del Toro, he fights a mechanical army designed to destroy the human race.

Language: Crude with some mild expletives.

Sexual situations and nudity: All implied.

Violence/scary situations: That's for sure -- for example, humans are consumed by creatures called Tooth Fairies that leave nothing but blood and calcium behind. Also, epic battle scenes with sword play, beheadings and explosions. Creatures are very intense -- the monsters that nightmares are made of.

Drug or alcohol use: Hellboy likes his beer.

'Journey to the Center of the Earth'

Rated: PG.

Suitable for: 8 and up.

What you should know: The latest film version of the popular 19th-century Jules Verne science-fiction novel, about a trio looking for a lost explorer and finding a lost world in the middle of the Earth.

Language: Nothing objectionable.

Sexual situations and nudity: One kiss, but nothing more than that.

Violence/scary situations: Many harrowing plunges and narrow escapes from various prehistoric reptiles and flying fish with big teeth. The 3-D effects are more ornamental than frightening.

Drugs or alcohol use: None.