A HORRIFIED father told his children to “cover their eyes” when a cinema screened gory adverts ahead of its kids’ club showing of Toy Story 4.

The shocked dad had settled in to watch the child-friendly Pixar favourite with his two boys, aged seven and eight, at Curzon cinema, in Queen Street, Colchester.

But trailers for horror film Doctor Sleep – the follow up to Stephen King classic The Shining – and the latest entry in the Terminator franchise were screened ahead of the feature.

The outraged father, who asked to remain anonymous, said the screening was “full” of families, including children as young as four.

“There was a lot of shock and no-one knew what to do,” he said.

“Some parents ran out to alert the cinema, but there was little or no reaction to this.

“My boys were asking why there was blood everywhere and ‘What does Red rum mean?’

“They also asked ‘Why is that man a robot with skin peeling off his face?’

“You only have to watch the trailers to see how scary they can be for a child.

“I believe the reaction was little to non-existent, if they are not checking their films there should be a quick way to turn off the screen while the problem is being fixed.”

The screening was scheduled on Saturday as part of Curzon’s Kids’ Club, where youngsters can enjoy juice cartons alongside their favourite cartoon classics.

While the father from Colchester has been offered a refund and an apology, he says he will be wary about cinema trailers in the future.

He added: “The screening was full of families, some much younger than mine.

“I told my children to cover their faces with their coats and hands, I saw other parents using their hands to cover their children’s eyes and others left the cinema.

“Free tickets do not compensate for what the children might experience now or later down the line.

“To get a refund I had to jump through all the hoops of customer service, yet to get tickets you need to be registered with them.

“If they were sorry they should contact everyone and not wait for people to complain.

“The blame was put onto head office as apparently the trailers are pre loaded and not checked.”

The Gazette contacted Curzon for comment, but did not receive a response at the time of going to press.