Movie-goers collapse and vomit in shock during midnight screening of new horror film

Two movie-goers treated by paramedics after witnessing graphic scenes Reported incident happened at Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah Third woman had to leave cinema because she 'couldn't stand suspense' Film producers insist they had to call ambulances and it wasn't staged

By Ellen Connolly and Mark Duell

Last updated at 3:31 PM on 31st January 2012

Two movie-goers had to be treated by paramedics after they experienced adverse and shocking reactions to graphic scenes in a new horror film at the world-renowned Sundance Film Festival.

One viewer was watching a midnight screening of V/H/S last week when he ran from the cinema screen, collapsed and began to suffer seizures, according to the film’s co-writer Simon Barrett.

While he was being treated, his girlfriend also ran into the lobby and began to vomit. The night before, another woman reportedly left in tears because she could not stand the suspense.

Terror: The new horror film V/H/S was too much for one viewer who ran from the cinema and passed out

Co-writer Simon Barrett admits that 'while very funny in parts, the film is also quite intense and gory'

The lurid accounts of movie-goers passing out will no doubt lead some to suspect that this may have been an attempt to court publicity - but the film's production team insist what happened was real.

Producer Roxanne Benjamin, posting on Twitter as the drama unfolded at the film festival in Park City, Utah, said they were forced to call ambulances and insisted it was a 'scary' experience.

 

'It was scary and not fun, and everyone is grateful the guy and his girlfriend are OK,’ she wrote. ‘And they wanted to go back in the theatre!

'One of the managers for the theatre was sitting near the guy, and said he just got real real pale and stood up and bobbed and weaved his way out the door.

'Once he was in the lobby, he kind of turned around and collapsed. He seemed to go into a seizure and so we called 911.'

Supernatural: The movie, which was just acquired by Magnolia Pictures, is about a group of criminals who watch a variety of homemade and shocking VHS tapes

Horror debut: The cast and crew of V/H/S at the premiere during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival this month

Ms Benjamin said the two were treated for about half an hour, but did not need to go to hospital.

'It was scary and not fun, and everyone is grateful the guy and his girlfriend are OK'

Producer Roxanne Benjamin

Speaking from the festival, Mr Barrett told MSNBC that the man became ill while watching a particularly 'intense series of scenes' that include graphic injuries to a person.

He said it was not the first time that V/H/S had created such a reaction, adding that in a screening the night before during the same scene another young woman left the theatre in tears.

She spent the rest of the film in the lobby. The filmmakers spoke to her briefly and she told them 'I just got scared', but she didn't return to the theatre, Mr Barrett said.

Vertigo-inducing scenes: Like The Blair Witch Project, pictured, there is some shaky camera work in V/H/S

The film, acquired by Magnolia Pictures for more than $1million, follows a group of petty criminals looking for a VHS tape in a remote and rundown house, only to find a trove of recorded nastiness.

'Once he was in the lobby, he kind of turned around and collapsed. He seemed to go into a seizure and so we called 911'

Producer Roxanne Benjamin

Like The Blair Witch Project, also a Sundance midnight movie that kicked off the genre in 1999, there are some vertigo-inducing moments of shaky camera work in V/H/S, particularly in the beginning.

The gang of criminals watch a variety of homemade VHS tapes containing supernatural moments.

At one point, a fleeing character tumbles down a flight of steps and gets a fracture in his wrist - the white bone jutting out through the skin as the predatory fiend appears at the top of the staircase.

Mr Barrett said that the segment, 'while very funny in parts, is also quite intense and gory,' and noted that the film's handheld camera style and other factors 'can probably be a bit difficult to take'.

HERE ARE SOME OTHER FILMS TO SEND YOU RUNNING BEHIND THE SOFA...

The Blair Witch Project by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo S?nchez became a landmark film in horror movie history when it was released in 1999 to huge critical acclaim.

Audiences were left stunned by the realistic nature of the film, which left more to the imagination than most of its predecessors. It meant that less details provided more scares for viewers.

The 2007 release Paranormal Activity, directed by Oren Peli, featured a couple disturbed by a demon at night in their home, and it was acclaimed for its slow build up and horrifying ending.

It became the most profitable independent picture in cinema history thanks to a miniscule $15,000 budget and shocked audiences with its simple filmography rather than Hollywood special effects.

The Exorcist, a 1973 film directed by William Friedkin that still gets viewers running for the hills when they watch it over and over again, featured a child becoming possessed by a mysterious entity.

The movie was praised by horror fans for feeling claustrophobic and Entertainment Weekly labelled it as a ‘viscerally harrowing movie’ that is ‘so disturbing it will mess you up for months’.

And finally... The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 might not be one of the scariest films ever, but some movie-goers had seizures because of flashing lights in a controversial birth scene.

The fantasy film contains a series of red and white flashing lights during the scene when Kristen Stewart's character Bella gives birth to a baby girl that is half-human and half-vampire.

 

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Movie-goers collapse and vomit in shock during midnight screening of new horror film

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero