Kuala Lumpur, April 13. (AP): The Government censors have warned pregnant women and people with heart problems to avoid watching a new Malaysian horror movie, providing publicity that is helping it break local box office records, its producer said on Thursday.

``Don't Look Back,'' which chronicles a man's probe into his fiancee's mysterious death, is set to become the highest-grossing local film ever, said producer David Teo.

The movie has already earned an estimated 3.3 million ringgit ($9,50,000; euro7,00,000) in the week following its April 5 release, said Teo, chief executive of Malaysia's Metrowealth Movies Production.

``This is a big accomplishment for the Malaysian movie industry, which is usually overshadowed in our own country by Hollywood films,'' Teo told The Associated Press.

A review by the Malay Mail newspaper called it ``the scariest local movie ever made.'' The Malay-language movie also gained notoriety because a stuntman fell to his death in an accident during shooting.

The movie features scenes including exorcisms and shrieking apparitions flying through the air.

``Don't Look Back'' received some unexpected publicity after the Government-run National Censorship Board insisted the movie's posters and advertisements include a warning: ``Not suitable for pregnant women and those with ailing hearts.''

Children below 14 years old must be accompanied by adult guardians, Teo said, adding that surveys indicate teenagers comprise about 40 percent of the movie's 4,00,000 viewers so far.

The earnings so far have more than doubled the movie's 1.6 million ringgit ($4,60,000; euro3,40,000) production and marketing budget.

Teo said, he hopes it will scare up similar takings when it shows in neighbouring Singapore next month and Thailand in June.

The previous first-week record for a Malaysian movie is reportedly held by ``Cicak-Man,'' a superhero flick that made 2 million ringgit ($5,80,000; euro4,40,000) in seven days last December. Most Malaysian blockbusters take their entire theatrical run to harvest that much. ``Cicak'' is the Malay word for gecko or lizard.

``Don't Look Back,'' currently showing on more than 50 screens nationwide, is expected to eventually earn at least 7 million ringgit ($2 million; euro1.5 million), Teo said.

That would enable it to beat ``Lagi-Lagi Senario,'' a 2001 comedy that collected 6.3 million ringgit, as the top-grossing domestic production in Malaysian history.

Hollywood movies accounted for 60 percent of the 235 million ringgit ($68 million; euro52 million) that Malaysians spent on cinema tickets in 2006, according to Malaysian government data.

The 28 Malaysian movies shown last year had total receipts of 29.6 million ringgit ($8.57 million; euro6.9 million), or 12 percent of overall receipts.

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