WARNING: Scary images below
An ad for the upcoming horror film The Nun has been yanked from YouTube on account of complaints from viewers rattled by a drastic rise in sound with a shocking image.
The clip, just six seconds long, plays cleverly with digital culture, shows a volume bar decreasing to give the appearance of a quiet clip to come, as a means of baiting viewers to increase the volume on their own computers.
At that point, a shrill noise plays alongside a close-up shot of the frightening nun.
Too scary for YouTube: A preview for the upcoming horror film The Nun has been yanked from YouTube on account of complaints from viewers rattled by a drastic rise in sound
It was played as a sponsored ad proceeding unrelated videos, spurring one Twitter user under the handle @bbydvas to tweet a word of caution to others in response to its alarming nature.
The user wrote: ‘WARNING! If you see an ad on youtube with the volume sign being turned down and nothing else, ITS A JUMPSCARE for the new NUN movie coming out. i advise you look away and/or turn down the volume if you have anxiety or just straight up hate jumpscares, pls rt to save a life.’
As of Wednesday afternoon, the tweet garnered more than 150,000 likes – and a response from YouTube, which said it had taken action in response.
‘Appreciate you bringing this to our attention!’ YouTube responded, with a link to its rules vis a vis violent and shocking content in ads. ‘This ad violates our shocking content policy and it’s no longer running as an ad.’
Storyline: The film tells the story of a probe by Father Burke (Demián Bichir) and Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga, pictured here) to learn about a young nun’s death in Romania
Chilling: The horror film will be first of the genre in a fall season including the latest in the Halloween series and Suspiria
The movie, which features Bonnie Aarons as the Demon Nun, is part of the Conjuring universe. It tells the tale of a probe by Father Burke (Demián Bichir) and Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) spurred on by the Vatican to learn about a young nun’s death in Romania.
Farmiga explained her character’s backstory, telling Entertainment Weekly that Sister Irene ‘had a difficult and isolating childhood,’ and ‘experienced these visions that set her apart from her peers and eventually led her to a life in the church.’
The film hits theaters September 7.
Tricky: The clip, just six seconds long, plays cleverly with digital culture, shows a volume bar decreasing to give the appearance of a quiet clip to come
Shocker: A loud noise followed by this chilling image punctuated the horror preview
Vigilant: A YouTube users complaint spurred the website to remove the clip