Grisly things have been happening in and around Australian films in the last 10 days. First, a man accused of beheading his neighbour, successfully applied for work on Ivan Sen’s film Mystery Road, and then the new horror film Redd Inc had to be halted while an audience member was resuscitated.

Jonathan Andrew Stenberg is now in custody but when he auditioned for a bit part in Mystery Road he was on the run, it is now alleged.

“He had stopped in Winton (in central Queensland) and bizarrely decided to audition for the film,” said producer David Jowsey. “He was friendly and helpful, even offering to do security on the film. We contacted him to follow up and he emailed back with his real name and mobile number. Some days later he was arrested in Darwin.”

His audition sheet listed his address as “back of truck (swag)” and his background as “8 years Aust Army, 1 year Iraq, 1 year Afghan, 4 years carpenter/builder, qualified first aid instructor, qualified weapons instructor”.

He has been extradited to Sydney and it is understood that he will be in court tomorrow.

Mystery Road is about a detective who returns to his small outback home town to investigate the murder of a teenage girl. Arclight is handling sales.

Meanwhile, the Dungog Film Festival screening of director Daniel Krige’s horror film Redd Inc, which will be playing at the Puchon Fantastic Film Festival later this month, had to be halted while paramedics attended to an audience member who lost consciousness.

No information is available on what affected him or whether he had a medical condition, but the film does contain some very gruesome scenes including a beheading.

Redd Inc is about a sadistic boss who chains six workers to their desks and etches warnings into their flesh when they don’t deliver.

It seems regional Australia is simply not ready for the most terrifying regional manager in movie history,” said producer Jonathon Green. “Twenty long minutes passed before the man was deemed OK and the audience was allowed to enjoy the conclusion of the movie. We were later told that someone else had also fainted in the foyer. We wanted a reaction but never expected this!”

Green claims that his film is the first to use Internet-generated footage and stills. Using crowd-sourcing techniques, the creative team invited people to fake their own death and send in photographic proof, and also provide artworks to decorate the office in which the film is set.