10 Iconic Movies That Sent People to the Hospital

Home - Animations & Comics - 10 Iconic Movies That Sent People to the Hospital

Share Now:

Posted 3 hours ago by inuno.ai

Going to see a movie in the theaters can be a fantastic experience, whether one watches alone, they’re on a movie date, or they’re just hanging out with their friends. While this era of streaming services has perhaps decreased the number of people leaving their homes to see a feature, movie theaters are not yet obsolete. However, popcorn and folding chairs don’t always guarantee a cozy experience.

A good movie should make an audiencegoer leave the theater feeling something, whether it’s heartbreak from a sad romance movie, joy from a fun comedy, confusion from a bizarre sci-film, an adrenaline rush from action, or terror and dread from a horror flick. Sometimes, it goes beyond emotional experiences, though, with movies occasionally causing physical reactions from viewers. For around a century now, people have left motion picture screenings complaining about vomiting, fainting, having panic attacks, and experiencing other medical emergencies as adverse reactions to what they saw on the big screen.

Terrifier 3 Wasn’t a Jolly Holiday Pick

Art the Clowns Antics Especially Terrified Some Unlucky Guests

Art the Clown smiling wickedly dressed as Santa as he's carrying an axe through a house in Terrifier 3 — Image via Cineverse

Terrifier is definitely not a franchise for the faint of heart. It centers around a killer clown entity called Art the Clown, who brutally massacres various people for fun. The movies are intensely violent, so it would be fair to assume that people would anticipate some of the same elements from the third movie when it came out in September 2024. Terrifier 3 featured the final girl, Sienna Shaw, and her little brother as they tried to rebuild their lives after surviving one of Art’s Halloween massacres. Sienna’s prior defeat of Art lures the siblings into feeling safe in time to celebrate Christmas. But Art naturally donned a Santa Claus suit and changed his Halloween-centered massacre tradition into an all-holiday nightmare.

A split image of Wrinkles in Wrinkles the Clown, Captain Spaulding in House of 1000 Corpses, and Kent in Clown.

15 Clown Horror Movies That Deliver Underrated Scares

Move over It and Terrifier, as these clown-centered horror movies deserve the spotlight with their understated scares from their creepy clown stars.

Terrifier and its first sequel were packed full of some of the most brutal kill scenes in the horror genre. They don’t shy away from leaning into body horror territory, with Art’s sadistic killing spree being entirely uncensored. To emphasize how brutal Art is, Terrifier 2 featured the first movie’s final girl, Victoria Heyes, with severe facial disfigurements from Art’s torture. There was simply no reason to believe Terrifier 3 would be any less horrific, but the ten-minute opening sequence where Art, dressed as Santa, breaks into a home and massacres a family proved too much for some people. The movie crossed a well-defined boundary in the horror genre, as most people simply aren’t okay with movies depicting extreme violence against children, but the opening scene wasn’t even the only sequence in the Terrifier franchise to feature Art murdering children. It was so distressing that two people fainted and fell down the stairs while trying to escape the gore during a screening in Australia, with several others also fainting and vomiting so much that many theaters kept an ambulance on standby.

Terrifier 3

Release Date: October 11, 2024
Runtime: 125 Minutes

The Blair Witch Project Was a Y2K Phenomenon

The Found-Footage Format Had Pros and Cons

The Blair Witch Project follows three college film students heading to a small Maryland town called Burkittsville to create a documentary about a local legend. They investigate the tale of the Blair Witch, connected to a woman named Elly Kedward, who was accused of witchcraft by the children of the original Burkittsville settlement, Blair, and banished into the nearby Black Hills after being sentenced to death by exposure. Her death doesn’t end the mayhem, as several children vanished without a trace from the town over the decades, and a man named Rustin Parr kidnapped and murdered several children in the woods while under the Blair Witch’s influence. The students venture into the woods to investigate whether there’s any truth to the legend, and as they go deeper, they fall victim to it themselves.

The Blair Witch Project is a mockumentary-style horror movie shot from the perspective of the three film students. The movie was just three people in the vast wilderness with only camping sets and hand-held cameras. There weren’t any jumpscares or overt scares, instead relying on its atmosphere to create psychological horror as the trio gets stranded in the middle of the forest with no clue how to get out, dwindling supplies, and nightly occurrences to remind them that they’re not alone in the woods. As the panic sets in for the group, the camera shakes, much like the paranormal activity or Bigfoot sighting videos on the internet. Those elements convinced viewers that the footage was real and the group was truly missing. But, they also came together to make the audience nauseous, as the shaky camera work reportedly caused enough vomiting and fainting incidents that theaters issued motion sickness warnings.

The Blair Witch Project

Release Date: July 30, 1999
Runtime: 81 minutes
Director: Eduardo Sánchez, Daniel Myrick
Writers: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez

Eli Roth’s Hostel is Gruesome

Roth Considers the TIFF Reactions a Compliment

Hostel's Paxton bound and trapped in the torture room. — Image via Lionsgate

Hostel centers around two American best friends, Paxton and Josh, as they embark on a backpacking tour through Europe. The trip is supposed to be a hedonistic paradise, taking the friends through the continent, where they pick up an Icelandic man named Oli on their adventures. While they can’t imagine things could get better than Amsterdam, a stranger on a train manages to lure them to a Slovakian town with the promise of more questionable sexual encounters. When they arrive at the hostel, they’re impressed with the experience, but things quickly turn disturbing as they’re trafficked into a ring of sadistic torture at the hands of wealthy customers.

The inspired-by-real-life movie Hostel is pretty brutal, with several torture scenes throughout, forcing theaters to issue extra warnings for viewers and some to have ambulances on standby. The best-known instance of Hostel causing a medical emergency actually happened during the film’s first screening at the Toronto Film Festival. According to director Eli Roth, one distraught man left in the middle of the screening after experiencing dizziness, and on the way out, he fainted and fell down the theater’s escalator. Roth also claimed that shortly afterward, a woman ran out of the theater with chest pains so intense she suspected a heart attack, summoning paramedics once again. Both individuals were okay, and Roth viewed the emergencies as a blessing for his movie’s screening, as such incidents apparently give a horror movie some of the best exposure imaginable.

Hostel

Release Date: January 6, 2006
Runtime: 94 minutes
Director: Eli Roth
Writers: Eli Roth

The Last House on the Left is a Controversial Wes Craven Creation

The Movie Leaned into the Backlash During Promotion

Mari's father threatening the criminals with a chainsaw in The Last House on the Left — Image via Hallmark Releasing

The Last House on the Left follows a nearly 17-year-old named Mari the night before her birthday as she heads to a rock concert with her best friend, Phyllis. Meanwhile, two sadistic predators escape from prison, and the teenagers unfortunately cross paths with one member of the crime group while trying to score some weed near the theater. The girls make the mistake of following the man to his apartment for the bud, and as soon as they get there, the criminals begin a night of horrific abuse. Shortly after the group murders the kids, they experience car troubles that coincidentally lead them to seek refuge at Mari’s family home, where the universe hits the group with sweet revenge via Mari’s parents.

The 1972 movie acted as the directorial debut for now-legendary director Wes Craven, and he certainly made his mark on the genre with it. Craven is known for toeing the line between being acceptable and problematic, especially when creating villainous characters, and The Last House on the Left is no different, spotlighting some of humanity’s worst scum: sexual predators. They exist in real life, and their crimes do, too, but the movie’s graphic sexual assault scenes were too much for many viewers who walked out and fainted. Much like Roth’s reaction, the medical emergencies served as good press for the film, with the bosses changing the tagline to “To avoid fainting, keep repeating It’s only a movie.”

The Last House on the Left

Release Date: August 30, 1972
Runtime: 84 minutes
Producers: Sean S. Cunningham

Irréversible Earned an Interesting Response

Gaspar Noé’s Film Defines Gratuitous

Alex walking in the red-lit underground tunnel in Irreversible — Image via Mars Distribution

Irréversible is a French movie following a relatively avant-garde narrative style, as nothing within the film takes place in order. When pieced together, it follows a woman named Alex–played by Monica Belluci–as her happy life falls apart after one night of partying with her lover and former boyfriend. She suffers a horrific assault by a pimp while walking along a Parisian underground walkway, and the two men come together to get revenge on her attacker.

1:50

a split image of black swan, funny games, se7en, the french connection, memento, an oldboy

The 40 Best Thriller Suspense Movies of All Time, Ranked

Thrillers have been intriguing audiences since the beginning of cinema history, captivating movie-goers through every step of the genre’s development.

Irréversible’s story playing out in reverse is an interesting film narrative, but for many people, that’s the only thing in the movie worth any praise. The movie goes from being artsy to unsettling shortly after it starts, as Alex’s male partners search for a man called La Tenia, and when they mistake another man for him, they bash his face in with a fire extinguisher. The audience didn’t know who La Tenia was or why the two men wanted him dead, but that scene isn’t horrible compared to newer movies like Terrifier. Irréversible embodies the definition of “gratuitous” a few scenes later, though, when the narrative jumps back to when, for whatever reason, a ten-minute, entirely too realistic, and uncut scene depicts Alex’s stomach-churning sexual assault. It’s reported that around 20 percent of the audience walked out of the Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals during the prolonged mess, with several people puking, fainting, and otherwise requiring medical attention from the on-property professionals, who also agreed that Irréversible was way too much.

Saw III Didn’t Sit Right With Some

Not Everyone Learned From the First Two Movies

Amanda Young taunts Dr. Lynn with the Shotgun Collar trap in Saw III. — Image via Lionsgate

Much like the Terrifier movies, the Saw franchise is notoriously brutal. They center around a man named John Kramer, who, after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, decides to punish those who he feels don’t appreciate life. He puts them through elaborate games with complex traps designed to test their dedication to living in various gruesome ways.

Saw III occurs when John Kramer is on his deathbed, and he’s mentoring his protégé, Amanda Young, to take over the Jigsaw game. So, the movie is notable for breaking Kramer’s rules of having only fair and beatable Jigsaw traps, with Amanda designing traps that kill their victims even if they follow the rules and solve the puzzles. Those traps are particularly brutal, with one disfiguring a detective’s hand with acid before ripping her ribs out of her body, another featuring a judge drowning in liquid pig carcasses, and a collar of shotgun shells blowing off a doctor’s head. As such, it’s unsurprising that several theaters reported multiple instances where ambulances had to be called during screenings, with even a UK ambulance service issuing a public warning, according to the BBC.

Saw III

Release Date: October 27, 2006
Runtime: 107 minutes
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Writers: Leigh Whannell

Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours Gets the Story Right

Even the Real-Life Protagonist Couldn’t Stomach the Film

James Franco's Aron Ralston looking up between the rock walls of a canyon in 127 Hours — Image via Warner Bros.

127 Hours follows Aron Ralston as he heads into the Utah wilderness for a day of hiking and canyoneering at the Canyonlands National Park. When he heads on his journey on April 26, 2003, the day goes well until he starts to descend through a narrow passage in Blue John Canyon, and a massive boulder gets knocked out of its place, falling to Ralston’s location and crushing his arm against a rock wall. With no way out and the canyon’s isolation making his location a mystery, Ralston starts recording a video diary to document his fight for survival and freedom.

Danny Boyle is arguably best known for the iconic post-apocalyptic horror franchise consisting of 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, and the upcoming 28 Years Later. Boyle certainly has a knack for making horrifying and brutal films, and while 127 Hours isn’t technically a horror movie, it certainly qualifies as gruesome and terrifying. When the movie started its first screenings, Movieline started tracking the medical emergencies experienced by audience members, including several faintings and at least two seizures, especially reported during the scene where Ralston must amputate his arm using a dull knife. Even the real-life Aron Ralston suggested that he could barely stomach the film’s realism.

127 Hours

Release Date: November 12, 2010
Runtime: 94 minutes

The Exorcist Was Shocking

One Lady Sued Over Her Distress

The Exorcist centers around a mother-daughter duo, successful actor Chris MacNeil and her twelve-year-old daughter, Regan. Their lives are happy, and their relationship is fantastic until Regan begins communicating with an entity she calls Captain Howdy on an Ouija board, and her behavior changes dramatically. The once sweet child becomes increasingly violent and vulgar, sending her mother into a panic to fix whatever’s hurting her daughter. When Regan gets cleared by medical professionals, however, the fight shifts to a religious one, and she seeks the help of Catholic priests to perform the titular exorcism ritual.

The Exorcist isn’t particularly scary by modern standards, but when it first came out in 1973, it was widely considered the scariest movie ever. It was shocking, with scenes like Regan crawling down the stairs, spinning her head all the way around, projectile vomiting pea soup, and committing a vulgar, vaguely sexual act of self-mutilation with a crucifix, causing several people to faint and puke. The Exorcist also notably featured the terrifying demon Pazuzu’s face overlaid in various scenes as a clever way to unsettle audiences further. One woman was reportedly so distressed by the movie that she passed out and broke her jaw on the seat in front of her, leading her to sue Warner Bros, though the case was apparently settled out of court and remains one of those legends that will never be confirmed.

The Exorcist

Release Date: December 26, 1973
Runtime: 122 minutes
Director: William Friedkin
Writers: William Peter Blatty

The Passion of the Christ Was Marred By Tragedy

Production Was Chaotic and Screenings Were Tragic

A closeup of Jesus' bloodied face leaning against the cross in Passion of the Christ — Image via 20th Century Studios

The Passion of the Christ is one of the most notorious movies directed by Mel Gibson. It notably depicts the final 12 hours of Jesus of Nazareth’s life according to the Bible. The movie starts shortly after the Last Supper as Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane and gets betrayed by his friend, Judas Iscariot, for riches. He gets arrested on behalf of the Roman Empire, suffering hours of interrogations and beatings by soldiers before he’s eventually charged with blasphemy and forced to carry a massive wooden cross to a hill called Golgotha, where Roman soldiers then crucify him. But, in the final scene, he rises from the dead, as the Christian mythos states.

Mel Gibson Reveals Filming Update and Official Title for The Passion of the Christ 2

Mel Gibson didn’t want to rush production on the sequel to the successful The Passion of the Christ.

Movies focused on religion are often controversial, as people can get very upset if they feel their beliefs aren’t respected or depicted how they want. The Passion of the Christ is notoriously upsetting, mainly because of the gratuitous violence featured throughout. While the film follows the Christian story of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, scenes of extended flogging, a crown of thorns being shown inflicting damage, and a man’s hands and feet being nailed to a wooden cross were too much for many viewers. The movie’s production was chaotic as fires and near-death experiences plagued the set, with some even claiming the film was cursed. The effect it had on audience members probably feeds into that theory, as aside from the fainting and vomiting experienced with many other movies, The Passion of the Christ is actually associated with two deaths, as two people reportedly suffered fatal heart attacks during screenings of the film.

The Passion of the Christ

Release Date: February 25, 2004
Runtime: 127 Minutes
Director: Mel Gibson
Writers: Benedict Fitzgerald, Mel Gibson

Freaks Was A Pioneer of Controversy

A Viewer’s Reaction Was Intense Enough For Cuts

Cleopatra's as the human duck in Tod Browning's "Freaks" — Image via Loew’s Inc.

Freaks takes place in a traveling circus, centering around the sideshow performers, unfortunately, referred to as “freaks” because of their various physical disabilities and differences, and a “normal” trapeze artist named Cleopatra. When Cleopatra discovers that one of the ostracized performers, a man with dwarfism named Hans, has a large inheritance, she and her strongman lover, Hercules, conspire for Cleopatra to marry Hans and murder him for the money. But, Cleopatra’s plan is very see-through, leaving the other performers to plot their revenge of turning the pair into new freakish creations.

When it first came out in 1932, Freaks was actually banned in the United Kingdom for over 30 years, with society deeming it too controversial and shocking for the time. While much of the criticism was pure ableism, with people condemning a movie that so boldly depicts real people with disabilities and physical differences. Using real sideshow performers as actors like Johnny Eck, who had sacral agenesis, Harry and Daisy Earles, who had dwarfism, and Schlitzie, who had microcephaly, was itself considered inappropriate. But, the movie also had several scenes that would be too much today, including the revenge scene where the performers turn Cleopatra into a human chicken and castrate Hercules. The latter scene can’t be watched today, though, as during the movie’s test screening, a woman was so disturbed that she reportedly suffered a miscarriage, leading the studio to cut around 30 minutes of footage, which is now lost media.