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Trailer For 'The Nun' Has Caused Controversy For Being Too Scary

Trailer For 'The Nun' Has Caused Controversy For Being Too Scary

People are not happy with YouTube and a tweet warning people about the shocking ad has got nearly 100,000 retweets.

Nathan Standley

Nathan Standley

If you see a YouTube ad come up with a dark screen and a warning to turn down your volume - get the hell outta there.

YouTube is not unfamiliar with complaints of over-the-top advertising, and a horrendous jump scare teaser for new horror flick The Nun is the latest case doing the rounds.

WARNING: TERRIFYING TRAILER TO FOLLOW

The film is a pre-prequel and the latest instalment from The Conjuring franchise - it's about a bunch of people who go to the Vatican investigating a nun's suicide only to find a demonic nun tearing about.

It looks stupidly scary and will inevitably be terrifying audiences when it hits cinemas on September 7.

But those that have seen the five second mini advertisement (timed to avoid YouTube's five second skip advert option), especially when they weren't expecting it, will have experienced horror that even the film itself will surely struggle to match.

The Nun / Warner Bros. Pictures

The clip starts with a warning for viewers to turn their volume down - which in itself is a pretty ominous sign - before a horrendous split-second image from the movie appears to a startling bang and piercing scream.

That might be acceptable for people who are interested in horror films, and therefore looking at videos related to them such as reviews or other trailers - but it turns out the advert has been popping up before very innocent and unrelated videos and traumatising their unsuspecting viewers.

It's certainly not something you'd want to see if you hate horror films and jump scares - which is fair enough.

Twitter

In fact, a warning tweet issued from one of those viewers, who had been quietly expecting her Fortnite gaming video to pop up, when she was caught off guard by the shocking ad has amassed nearly 100,000 retweets.

Arguably, then, the ad's done what it set out to do.

But people are still unhappy about advertisers' freedom to scare the living daylights out of them just to get a few more ticket sales.

The Nun / Warner Bros. Pictures

YouTube has been in trouble over its advertising policy before - adverts for horror film Slender Man have also been terrifying people. One person on Reddit described how they had seen a tarantula crawling out of a girl's mouth when they just wanted to listen to American rock band 'The Offspring'.

Polygon has suggested that the adverts might be against YouTube's code of conduct - they highlight that their policies say that 'promotions containing violent language, gruesome or disgusting imagery, or graphic images or accounts of physical trauma,' and 'promotions that are likely to shock or scare' are prohibited.

For now, if you see an ominous black screen with a turn volume down warning on an advert, run.

And if you don't want to see this sort of thing in the future, disable the 'Horror' category in YouTube's ad settings. You're welcome.

Featured Image Credit: The Nun/Warner Bros. Pictures

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Horror film