By far one of the strangest, most unnerving documentaries you will watch this year is Tickled, which on paper seems pretty harmless and actually amusing, as a journalist stumbles across a "competitive tickling video" online and then decides to find out what this odd "sport" is all about. As codirectors David Farrier and Dylan Reeve soon learned, these videos -- and the mysterious company funding them -- were no laughing matter.

In fact, the whole thing was not only way creepier, but also dangerous, as the folks funding these tickling videos -- which were actually fetish videos that lured young men in with gifts and money and then slowly hijacked their lives -- began stalking and threatening the filmmakers at every turn. Now, as the film officially hits limited theaters, those same creepy folks are stalking screenings, showing up to a recent one in Los Angeles and publicly threatening codirector Dylan Reeve.

Heres a little taste of what went down, courtesy of Magnolia Pictures, who posted video of Reeve being confronted by the man we presume is the head of this entire tickling operation, David DAmato. Seeing as DAmato himself showed up -- and understand you rarely ever see this guy because hes got a ton of henchmen working under him -- this very public confrontation is a pretty big deal.

Slashfilm followed up with codirector Farrier, who revealed DAmatos words were troubling, going to far as to threaten Reeves family.

“I don’t feel happy about the situation,” Farrier told me, with a calmness I certainly wouldn’t possess if I were in his shoes. “I don’t feel completely at ease with it, because these threats have just sort of increased. [D’Amato] told Dylan last night that Dylan will be in prison and the he should think about his family. Dylan’s got young kids. It’s not nice stuff to hear, and you’re hearing it from someone who has a lot of money.”

Farrier added...

“We stand by the film. We think it’s an important story to be told. This has been going on for over 20 years now. It just seems like this film — the more people that see it, the more chance that people are going to think twice before they do a tickling competition, or get into anything on the internet that they aren’t absolutely confident about. And also hopefully that this is stopped. If it’s out in front of enough people, then it’s our thought that surely an authority will step in and something will be done to stop this.”

For those interested in watching Tickled -- and we highly recommend it -- here is the current release schedule, with more info on the films official site.

6/24/2016

CA, Berkeley: California 3
CA, Irvine: University Town Center 6 Cinemas
CA, San Francisco: Embarcadero Center Cinema 5
IL, Chicago: Music Box
MA, Cambridge: Kendall Square Cinema 9
ON, Toronto: Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
QC, Montreal: Cinema du Parc

7/1/2016
CA, San Diego: Ken Cinema
CO, Denver: Mayan Theatre
DC, Washington: Atlantic Plumbing Cinema
FL, Miami: O Cinema Wynwood
GA, Atlanta: Midtown Art Cinemas 8
KS, Overland Park: Glenwood Arts
MD, Baltimore: Charles Theatre
MI, Grand Rapids: Celebration Cinema Woodland
MN, Minneapolis: Lagoon Cinema
OR, Portland: Hollywood Theatre
OR, Portland: Living Room 6
PA, Philadelphia: Ritz at the Bourse
RI, Providence: Cable Car Cinema
WA, Seattle: Guild 45th Theatre

7/3/2016
CA, Santa Barbara: Riviera

7/5/2016
NM, Albuquerque: Guild

7/7/2016
ON, Waterloo: Princess Cinema

7/8/2016
AZ, Tucson: The Loft Cinema
BC, Vancouver: Best of Hot Docs at VanCity
CA, Monterey: Osio Cinemas
IA, Iowa City: FilmScene
LA, New Orleans: Marigny Opera House
MO, Kansas City: Tivoli @ Manor Square
MO, University City: Tivoli Theatre
NC, Winston-Salem: Aperture Cinema
NY, Ithaca: Cinemapolis 5
TX, Austin: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
TX, Austin: Arbor Cinemas at Great Hills 8

7/10/2016
BC, Vancouver: Best of Hot Docs at VanCity

7/13/2016
ME, Portland: Space Gallery

7/15/2016
AB, Calgary: Globe Theatre
BC, Vancouver: VanCity Theatre
IN, Bloomington: Ryder Cinema
MA, Salem: CinemaSalem 3
NC, Asheville: Grail Moviehouse
NC, Charlotte: Ballantyne Village 5
NM, Santa Fe: CCA Cinematheque
OH, Cleveland: Capitol Theatre 3
OH, Columbus: Wexner Center for the Arts
TN, Ooltewah: Chattanooga Film Fest Cine-Rama
UT, Salt Lake City: Broadway Centre Cinemas

7/19/2016
NM, Albuquerque: Guild

7/22/2016
NY, Pelham: Pelham Picture House
TN, Knoxville: Downtown West Cinema 8

7/29/2016
FL, Tallahassee: Tallahassee Film Society / All Saints Cinema

8/7/2016
VA, Winchester: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema 8-Winchester