IMDb posted:

When the film premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, the first screening erupted into a riot. Director Alejandro Jodorowsky had to leave the theatre by sneaking outside to a waiting limousine. When the crowd outside the theatre recognized him, the car was pelted with rocks. The following week, the film opened to sell-out crowds in Mexico City, but fights broke out in the audiences and the film was banned by the Mexican government. Jodorowsky himself was nearly deported and the scandal provided a lot of fodder for the Mexican newspapers.