Peppa Pig (Credit: Channel 5)
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Peppa Pig fans in tears as horror trailers are shown at cinema before film

Children were terrified by frightening films

Children were left terrified and in floods of tears after horror film trailers were shown before a cinema screening of Peppa Pig.

Families waiting to watch the film at the Empire cinema in Ipswich were left shocked after a trailer for psychological horror Ma and frightening superhero flick Brightburn were shown.

Peppa Pig (Credit: Channel 5)
Peppa Pig fans were left terrified before the Children’s film began (Credit: Channel 5)

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The trailer for Ma features a man being hit by a car, dead bodies and swearing and sexual violence, while the Brightburn trailer features blood and violence as well as a child in a scary mask.

Parents removed their children from the film until the trailers were over, but were said to be furious that their children had been caused so much distress.

Peppa Pig (Credit: Channel 5)
Pre-school age children were watching Peppa Pig (Credit: Channel 5)

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One parent who took her two-year-old daughter and 10-month-old son to the screening, said her daughter had been upset since the screening.

She said: “Normally I would expect her to be singing and dancing when watching something like Peppa Pig, but she was just really subdued.

“I tried to cover her eyes during the trailers and told her they were silly films for mummies and daddies, but there were lots of kids crying and she was very confused and started crying too.”

She added: “You go to the cinema and you expect it to be a safe family day out, you don’t expect her to be exposed to anything which could do harm.”

A scary scene from the Ma trailer (Credit: YouTube)

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Empire Cinemas apologised for “any distress caused” and said it is investigating how the trailers came to be shown before a children’s film

A spokesperson for Empire told ITV: “We are investigating how an inappropriate trailer was played before a screening of Peppa Pig at our Ipswich Cinema for which we apologise.

“As soon as the staff on site were made aware of the situation, the programme was stopped and trailers were taken off-screen immediately.”

Have you had a frightening cinema experience? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor