Ever since Warner Bros. and New Line began its marketing push for The Nun, we’ve experienced unholy terror and watched as a man (Father Burke, to be precise) was buried alive with only Valak for company. *Shudders*
While effective, it seems the marketing team took things a step too far with a gimmicky new jump scare designed to play in front of select YouTube videos. It’s since been removed from the site, after a number of users claimed that the six-second teaser violated YouTube’s policy, which rules out “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.”
The Nun‘s short YouTube promo ticked pretty much every box, after it instructed viewers to lower their volume before Valak, the demonic entity known for haunting 1950s Romania, springs a surprise. But the Powers That Be intervened, and took down the video on Monday evening. You can still experience it up above, though fair warning: don’t watch it with headphones, otherwise you’re likely to jump out of your chair.
Story-wise, we understand The Nun takes place long before New Line’s core Conjuring series – 1952, to be precise, when a Romanian monastery was graced (i.e. terrified) by Valak’s presence. And so begins an old-school horror yarn about a dark, demonic force infecting what ought to be a sanctuary for religion, peace and tranquility.
Said to include “very little CGI,” Corin Hardy and Co. will officially summon The Nun into theaters on September 7th. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re about to delete this YouTube video from our search history so that it may never surprise us again…
