Pro-euthanasia film so horrific it is banned on YouTube released by campaign group

A right-to-die campaign group have released a horrific short film showing the final, painful days of a man suffering from brain cancer in order to gather support for voluntary euthanasia.

The five-minute clip called Stop the Horror uses actors to recreate the excruciating death of 56-year-old Australian man Greg Sims, who died in 2005 from the terminal cancer.

The film was produced by Go Gentle Australia and directed by Justin Kurzel, known for the Assassin's Creed and MacBeth films starring Michael Fassbender.

It is being released as part of a bid to encourage support to allow people to chose when to die as MPs in the Australian state of Victoria prepare to debate a change in the law.

The footage showing the agonising final days of Sims and the affect it has on his family and hospital staff is so horrific it is banned from being uploaded to YouTube, with the filmmakers only able to release a 30-second trailer in order to promote the film.

The full movie even contains a warning that it is inappropriate for viewers under the age of 18 and features a stop button in the corner of the screen so viewers stop it easily at any point it becomes too much to watch.

"Make no mistake — the story of Greg Sims is real," Go Gentle Australia director Paul Price said.

"It is really only for a small proportion of terminally ill people but the pain and suffering that Greg — and his family — endured exists and will continue to exist unless there are other choices at end of life."

Trailer: Warning some viewers may find this footage upsetting

A Go Gentle spokesperson said: "Stop The Horror is a short, five-minute film dealing with unimaginable pain and despair.

"It has been designed to be virtually unwatchable.

"The film confronts viewers with a harrowing retelling of the true events surrounding one man's traumatic death."

According to Go Gentle, more than 75% of Australians back proposals to make make voluntary assisted dying available to patients with incurable terminal conditions.

The film has also been criticised by those who oppose a change in the, describing the footage as "really dishonest".

Margaret Tighe, from Right to Life Australia, told The Age: "The bottom line in all of this is that you shouldn't change the law to give a small percentage of people in the community the right to have their lives ended because you're changing dramatically the laws around homicide."

The full five minute version of Stop the Horror is available to watch here: