A man was horrifically doused with acid outside a cinema after a screening of NWA movie Straight Outta Compton.

The 27-year-old was leaving the Cineworld complex in Crawley, West Sussex, in the early hours of Sunday when the sickening attack took place.

Police said the incident took place after the movie which centres on hip hop group NWA had ended.

It was “nasty and unprovoked,” they added.

The victim, from Redhill in Surrey, was rushed to hospital with potential life-changing injuries to his face and head.

He was then taken to the Queen Victoria Hospital in nearby East Grinstead, which specialises in treatment for burns, according to the Standard.

Police are hunting two suspects, who allegedly squared up to the victim and his 29-year-old pal outside the venue.

The suspects are said to be white men in their late 20s or early 30s. One had short dark hair and beard and carried a bag across his shoulder.

The other wore a light-coloured hoody and jeans. Both left in a dark coloured Peugeot.

"This was an isolated but nevertheless nasty and unprovoked assault,” said Detective Sergeant Laura Diamond, of Crawley CID.

“We are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen an altercation either within the cinema or later in the car park outside.”

(Stock image of Crawley CineWorld by Joe Pepler/REX)