‘Oh my God’: Cinema move has Aussies raging

Aussies have been left horrified after booking tickets to see a family-friendly film and being greeted with something very different.

Parents have been left horrified after taking their children to see a kids’ movie — only for their little ones to be left traumatised by a nightmarish trailer.

Concerned Sydney dad David Campbell said he took his children aged 9, 11 and 14 to see Sonic the Hedgehog 3 at the Edmondson Park Event Cinema in south west Sydney — and there were much younger children, some as young as four years old, in attendance.

The film — based on a franchise historically marketed to children — has been given a PG rating action, some violence, rude humour, thematic elements and mild language.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is in cinemas now. Picture: Supplied

However, Mr Campbell’s youngest child was left shaken up before the film even started due to a trailer that played immediately before the blue hedgehog made it to the screen.

The trailer was for a film called Monster Summer, starring Mel Gibson, which is also rated PG but has a confronting trailer with elements of horror.

It starts off showing a group of children who are having fun on a summer holiday, but quickly turns dark.

It shows them sneaking into the backyard of an “old man” (Mel Gibson).

“I’ve heard stories about him,” one of the boys says. “Some people think he was a spy or a bank robber. I bet their bodies are buried somewhere on this property.”

Gibson’s character comes out and scares the kids who run off screaming.

The trailer then shows the kids going swimming in a lake, when a deep and loud monster sound rings out and one of the boys sinks to the bottom of the lake.

A monster sound can be heard before one of the kids appears to drown.

A child can be seen sinking into the lake.

A news report is then shown saying the boy “almost drowned”. The boy in question, Ben, then appears with sunken eyes for the remainder of the trailer and is said to have undergone some sort of radical change after the traumatic event.

“It’s like he’s a zombie out of the ‘Night of the Living Dead’,” one of the children says.

They bump into Gibson’s character again who jokes he will dig them all a “mass grave”.

The trailer then shows a frightening montage of scenes, including a young girl’s hand turning wrinkly as it brushes over one of the boy’s backs, lightbulbs mysteriously exploding, a typewriter typing by itself, a boy on a bike being chased by a car, kids screaming and several mentions of monsters.

A boy can be seen screaming about a monster.

Mr Campbell said there were children screaming and crying in the cinema when the trailer played.

“I just remember my wife and I locking eyes over the kids between us and mouthing ‘WTF’ as the preview played,” he said.

“The whole thing was nuts because you are sitting in a dark theatre with your kids waiting for a wholesome film about the importance of team work and friendship and the next thing you know there are kids watching through their fingers and hugging their parents.”

He said the Monster Summer preview was “basically staged as a horror film with kids being snatched underwater by some unknown entity”.

“There are parents taking kids as young four or five to watch Sonic so I don’t understand what would possess someone to think a preview like that is appropriate for that young an age group,” he said.

The film stars Mel Gibson.

“Sonic and Monster Summer are both rated PG but they are absolutely not on the same level if that preview was anything to go by,” he said.

“Every other parent I’ve spoken to who has taken their children to see Sonic during the holidays has started their conversation with ‘Oh my God, did you get that preview too’ so someone, somewhere, has gotten it very wrong.

“Arrive to see a fuzzy blue hedgehog and Jim Carrey doing Jim Carrey things. Leave with terrified children and nightmares instead.”

News.com.au has heard from parents at several other Events and Hoyts cinemas being confronted by the same trailer immediately before Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

A spokeswoman for Events told news.com.au all movies and trailers are independently assessed and rated under the Classifications Act.

“As both Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Monster Summer are classified PG (Parental Guidance, can have content that a child may find confusing or upsetting), the Monster Summer trailer can be shown to cinemagoers before Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” she said.

“Coming to Event Cinemas should be a positive and memorable experience for all guests, and in light of this customer feedback, we are currently reviewing our trailer schedule for Monster Summer.”

News.com.au has reached out to Hoyts for comment.

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Originally published as ‘Oh my God’: Cinema move has Aussies raging