The Blackout Experiments sounds like it could be a fictional horror film, but it’s not: Rich Fox’s new documentary takes you inside Blackout, an extreme, adults-only haunted house experience that boasts locations in New York and Los Angeles. As you can see in the official trailer, it’s more of a trauma house than a haunted house, and it’s definitely not for the faint of heart.

Unlike the fun and spooky diversions offered by typical haunted house attractions, Blackout is more of an “experience.” To participate, prospective guests have to fill out an application, which includes a questionnaire and, more questionably, a release form. The Blackout building is covered in tarp to ensure pitch-black darkness, and once on the inside, guests are subjected to acts bordering on torture. In some cases, those acts could actually be classified as torture — like waterboarding.

The Blackout Experiments follows a handful of people who have become fans of the extreme haunted house and its nerve-rattling thrills, which include uncomfortably intimate confrontations, physical aggression and being forced to remove their clothing. But hey, that might be your kind of thing. It’s certainly attracted a sizable enough fan base to warrant a documentary, with the subjects explaining what attracts them to the experience and why they feel it’s so rewarding.

Mostly, it seems like a chance to feel like you’re living in a horror film — or living out a real-life horrific situation without the danger of dying. There’s obviously a cathartic appeal to it.

The Blackout Experiments debuted earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, and arrives in theaters on July 22.

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