The Nun, an upcoming horror movie that takes place in The Conjuring universe, is forever part of the horror zeitgeist after YouTube pulled an ad for the film following multiple complaints.
Intrigued? You can watch it in the video above.
To be fair, it’s a sneaky ad because it disarms viewers into believing nothing out of the ordinary is going to happen. In the video, a volume icon appears, with an off-screen user adjusting it up and down. Then: The Nun appears with an ear-piercing screech.
The ad is reminiscent of older jump scare videos that essentially use a bait and switch tactic. One completely unrelated video will begin to play, followed by a jump scare. If you’ve been on the internet for any amount of time, chances are you’ve run into one or two videos just like the one above.
Apparently, the ad was deemed to have violated YouTube’s “violent and shocking content” policy, which doesn’t allow promotions that are shocking in nature. The ad may have been fine if it was nothing more than a re-cut version of The Nun’s trailer, but its deceptive nature was deemed to have gone overboard.
Based on the trailers we’ve seen for The Nun, the film will likely rely heavily on jump scares exactly like the one above. If you’ve seen The Conjuring 2, then you’ve already encountered the nun in question.
The Nun hits theaters on September 7.
