iStockphoto/Getty Images/iStockphoto
An animal rights organization is defending its decision to air a documentary on animal exploitation after billing it as a horror movie for early Halloween revellers.
The Kitchener Ontario Animal Liberation Alliance (KOALA) readily concedes it tricked nearly 200 people into turning up for last Thursday's free screening of a film which it advertised as "possibly the scariest movie ever created."
Instead of a slasher flick or Halloween-themed special, however, it screened "Earthlings," a 2005 American documentary depicting the treatment of animals in areas ranging from pet stores to the fashion industry.
KOALA member Malcom Klimowicz says the graphic footage in the movie is frightening by any measure, adding that what he calls the true horror of the film comes from the fact that it depicts real events.
But half of the 140 people who were allowed into the theatre for a screening objected to the tactic, walking out within the first half hour.
Many of them denounced the group for false advertising and criticized them for not providing the good time suggested in promotional material.