Horror movie terrifies Italian kids, angers politicians

ROME, ITALY - Feb 09 2010 11:27

Low-budget horror movie Paranormal Activity, a box office hit in Italy, kicked up a storm among politicians and associations on Monday because it is terrifying teenagers and children across the country.

Italy's emergency response service reported dozens of calls, especially from southern Naples, where "several panic attacks lasting more than half an hour took place on Saturday," an employee told the ANSA news agency.

"The most serious case is that of a 14-year-old girl who was brought to the hospital in a state of paralysis," he said.

"For the past two weeks a trailer has been shown obsessively on TV and is terrifying thousands of children. The movie is called Paranormal Activity," Italian Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said last Thursday.

"It's a terrible thing. I took notice because my seven-year-old son told me 'Daddy, I'm scared'," ANSA reported him saying during a visit to Istanbul.

Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the Italian fascist dictator and head of a parliamentary committee on children, said "Paranormal Activity" had "highly distressing content" and was causing "panic attacks and psychological problems among youths."

"I don't think we can ban Paranormal Activity now, but surely we need to study how to warn parents of the risks their children are incurring," Mussolini said.

The movie, which cost just $15 000 dollars to make, opened in Italian cinemas at the weekend, grossing more than €3,65 million, more per cinema than Hollywood blockbuster Avatar -- the costliest movie of all time.

In the flick, Katie and Micah, haunted by paranormal phenomena, decide to tape their ordeal, in the style of 1999 hit The Blair Witch Project.

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Codacons, a consumer advocacy group, said in a statement it was "considering legal action to protect underage viewers of Paranormal Activity."

The Italian parents' association noted that admission to the movie is restricted in the US, Britain, Germany and The Netherlands and asked for an age limit of 18 in Italy. -- AFP

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