In a scene straight out of ’50s schlock horror director Willam Castle‘s playbook, paramedics were called to a Toronto film screening of the cannibal horror film Raw, after multiple audience members fainted.

“An ambulance had to be called to the scene as the film became too much for a couple patrons,” Ryan Werner, who is handling the film’s marketing, said in a statement.

Raw was written and directed by Julia Ducournau, and tells of a vegetarian woman becoming a cannibal after being forced to eat raw rabbit liver during a veterinarian school initiation.

Via The Guardian:

This relatively innocent tasting quickly develops into a lust for man-flesh as the lead protagonist, Justine, turns from a naive freshman into blood-thirsty cannibal.

“Often so realistic that they are hard to look at, scenes that viewers of a sensitive nature may find disturbing see lacerated extremities, bite marks and gaping wounds perfectly walk the line between the visceral fun of practical effects and overt attention-grabbing,” Variety wrote of the film.

Critics are describing the movie as a “huge, satisfying surprise” and “a cross between Suspiria and Ginger Snaps,” but also warn viewers may need to “reach for the barf bag.”

Hmmm. Sounds like a marketing ploy to me, however it’s gotta be better than that warmed-over Blair Witch retread we’ve got this weekend.

Raw is a French language film. Its initial release date was 14 May, at the Cannes film festival. The movie currently has a 100% “fresh” rating on review website Rotten Tomatoes., although there is no American release date yet .