A horror movie recently released in the US is reportedly so horrific it is making people vomit, pass out and require medical attention.
Terrifier 2 is a low-budget slasher sequel said to be even more extremely gory than the original 2016 film that was previously available in New Zealand via Netflix.
Reports online about cinemagoers fainting and vomiting are only based on unverified social media posts, but leaked clips of the film do show extreme violence and critical reviews confirm the intensity of the film.
One of the most popular social media posts about the film includes a photo of emergency responders attending to a person in a cinema lobby.
"[Watching] #Terrifier2 my friend passed out and the theatre called an ambulance. Highly recommended," Twitter user Andrew Liming captioned the photo.
The film again follows villain Art the Clown who, after being killed at the end of the last movie, is resurrected by a sinister entity to once more commit mass murder.
In his review for IGN, Matt Donato awards the film a rating of seven out of 10, calling it "the pinnacle in terms of indie slasher kills sequences, which are more than appealing enough to please genre fans".
"Terrifier 2 rips, tears, hacks, shreds, butchers, disembowels, decapitates, devours, pulverizes, tenderizes, slices, dices, skewers - I'm missing plenty - and knock-em-out-dead eviscerates the current competition when it comes to low-budget slasher effects," writes Donato.
"[Writer/director] Damien Leone orchestrates sensational slasher extremism that's so foreign in today's modern horror scene, proficiently perverse enough to compile a personal highlight reel of year-topping horror kills."
One Twitter user described the film as "an amazing gory mess" and claimed "the guy behind me passed out cold and crashed into my chair, another guy left because he didn't feel good... [and] I heard a guy puking hard and loud in the bathroom".
"Holy shit! Terrifier 2 was fantastic! Definitely not for the weak stomachs! Someone actually fainted during my screening of this movie," said another tweet.
Another said: "So I um just got done watching Terrifier 2 and yeah, this has been the most disturbing movie I have ever seen. Like this shit is on a different level of sadistic. We were so stunned that we couldn’t even speak after it ended."
"Terrifier 2: The first movie in my lifetime where I’ve read reports of people fainting and vomiting in the theatre and then after finally seeing it myself thinking, 'yeah, I get that'," tweeted another.
While news websites have reported these reactions, it should be noted that they have not been confirmed by emergency services in the US. People marketing the film, including executive producer Steve Barton, have subsequently issued a warning based on the social media reactions.
"This movie contains scenes of graphic violence and brutal depictions of horror," the warning reads.
"Viewers who are faint of heart, prone to light headedness or have weak stomachs are advised to take extreme caution. There have already been numerous instances of fainting and vomiting in theaters. For those choosing to continue, you have been warned."
According to horror website Bloody Disgusting, following its initial October 6 release Terrifier 2 is having its US cinema run extended due to how successful it's been, having a current reported haul of US$1.4 million in ticket sales after being produced for just US$250,000.
There is currently no word on any potential New Zealand release for Terrifier 2.
