The horror-thriller genre, as of late, is having a moment. The category of films has produced standouts such as Get Out, A Quiet Place and Hereditary. Moviegoers, however, can't handle the sight of The Nun's advertisement on YouTube.
Directed by Corin Hardy, The Nun is the fifth installment in The Conjuring Universe. The film boasts the tagline: "Before The Conjuring, Before Annabelle, the Darkest Chapter was Born." According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), the horror flick follows "a priest with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate the death of a young nun in Romania and confront a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun."
The film's respective trailer debuted in June, but a six-second preview of it had shown before other videos loaded. In the brief clip, the nun in question belts out a horrific scream after the volume lowered. The frightening clip has drawn concern from many. One Twitter user, in particular, took to Twitter to caution unsuspecting viewers of the advertisement.
"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," the Twitter user shared. "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."
The commenter's tweet accumulated more than 130,000 favorites. It attracted over 150,000 retweets as well. Representatives for YouTube did not immediately return Newsweek's request for comment, but the company did respond to the concerned Twitter user's tweet.
"Appreciate you bringing this to our attention," the company tweeted Monday. "This ad violates our shocking content policy and it's no longer running as an ad."
YouTube's policy on "Violent and Shocking Content in Ads" elaborates on what is allowed. The policy states: "We value diversity and respect for others, and we strive to avoid offending or shocking users with ads, websites, or apps that are inappropriate for our ad network." It goes on to reiterate "gruesome imagery" and "promotions that are likely to shock or scare" are prohibited from its website.
Vera Farmiga starred in The Conjuring, and her younger sister Taissa Farmiga leads The Nun. The American Horror Story star discussed what it was like to follow in her big sister's footsteps.
"When I first heard about the project, I was like, 'Oh, that's Vera's world,'" Farmiga, 23, told Entertainment Weekly at Comic-Con in July. "And I was like, 'OK. Despite that, I'll do my audition.' I love the script. I love the character."
The younger Farmiga sibling elaborated on the advice her older sister gave her on The Nun, adding: "When she was filming The Conjuring 2, she did so much research into demonology and all the demonic forces. That's something I luckily did not have to do. I got to research the pure and the holier. I had to research what it takes to be a nun...She [Vera] said, 'Be wary about bringing the work back into the walls of your home."
The Nun hits theaters September 7.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Dory Jackson is a New York-based entertainment journalist from Maryland. She graduated from Randolph-Macon College—in May 2016—with a focus in Communication ... Read more
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