Conjuring 2: Real-life dead body mystery sparks hysteria

A man has reportedly suffered a heart attack and died while watching the horror film The Conjuring 2 in India - but it was when his body went missing that people really started to panic.

The 65-year-old man from Andhra Pradesh collapsed at a cinema in Tiruvannamalai, in Tamil Nadu, after complaining of chest pains during the film's terrifying climax, reports the Times of India.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital but pronounced dead soon after. Doctors then ordered that his body be sent to another hospital for post-mortem - but the corpse, together with the person transporting it, has reportedly gone missing. Police are now investigating.

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While there are no doubt rational explanations for both the man's death and the disappearance of his body, the story has "fuelled a wave of supernatural panic on social media that has accompanied the film's release", including reports of mysterious apparitions, says the Daily Telegraph.

Meanwhile, a video uploaded to Facebook, watched almost five million times, claims to show a woman becoming "possessed" while watching the film. News sites such as Today in Manila have reported the story as fact, but the viral video is thought to have been filmed in 2013, long before the release of The Conjuring 2.

Bob Leeper, from website Nerdvana, wonders what has possessed internet users to become obsessed with the film, adding that there has been spike in online searches for "Valak", a demonic nun in the film, with some asking if the character is real.

But it's all good news for the film distributors, who will no doubt be happy to drum up whatever interest in The Conjuring 2 they can as they try to hold their own against daunting rivals at the box office.

The initially hefty ticket sales for the film suffered a dip on its second weekend and the family-friendly crowd-pleaser Finding Dory threatened to monster its rival with a record-breaking opening weekend of $136.2m (£93.3m), making it the most successful launch for an animated film in US box office history.