Your Favorite Theatrical Experience

[SaviniFan]

What was the most memorable experience you had in theaters. Anything counts....and incident, the film itself, audience participation or disruption...it doesn't matter what ya post. Just pick something you won't forget.

With me it would have to be getting into the theater and seeing my first rated "R" film. I remember my friend and I were about 12 years old and we got the idea of walking to our local theater and seeing if they would let us in to see Escape from New York. I remember walking up to the ticket booth and I chickened out and asked for tickets to The Muppet Movie instead. To my surprise my friend went up after me and said "One for Escape from New York", and they sold him the ticket no questions asked. Well at that point I asked to exchange the Muppet Movie ticket for an EfNY ticket and they did it no problem.

I sat in the theater enthralled by the John carpenter classic. I'll never forget that.

[Mark Relford]

I remember the audience going fuckin' nutso during the last half of Child's Play. There was even a loud BANG like a gun going off in the back of the theater.

[BloodMan]

Hmmm... Return of the King... it was totally geek night. When it was all over, everyone... EVERYONE stood and clapped for the longest time. It was awesome.

I don't really know that this is my favorite experience, but it was certainly memorable...

I remember seeing some slasher or other (I believe it was a "Don't..." movie) sometime around 1980-82. I'm fairly certain I begged my father to see it, so we wound up at the only theater it was playing, one we never normally went to, and wow was it a stinky dump. Adding to the ambience was a loud mouthed hispanic woman shouting to someone else across the room, "PAPI!!" and basically carrying on a conversation by yelling in Spanglish throughout the movie. Oh, and I can't forget the large furry thing that walked by my legs. Apparently the theater had rats, so I kept my legs up after that. To avoid a huge fight and punching people out and getting bitten by rats, my father and I left the movie before it ended.

Watching Crash in the theater.
I had to drive an hour across town to even find a theather playing it.
Theater was about 2/3 of the way full.

By the end credits, my girlfriend and I were one of the few left in the theater.

[soxfan666]

when i went to see Hollow Man, i started a clap after kevin bacon was killed. I hated the movie and clapped just to be an asshole but the entire theatre joined in. It was my first time starting a clap.

I was a very young kid and my mom took me to see A Nightmare on Elm Street, because well, my family didn't get the whole censorship thing. I was so excited, and it was one of the first truly great horror movies I ever saw. Also, there was a big thunder storm that night and the lights, although not the movie, were flickering, all which added heavily to the experience. It was so scary. When we got home, our lights were knocked out, and we were then both too scared to go into the house, so we went for doughnuts instead. It was an awesome night.

I had another good experience with Psycho 2, as everyone in my family, even grandparents, all went out to see it. It was the big family night, and they all loved the movie. And no one but no one thought maybe just maybe I was too young to see it.

[maybrick]

I was 8 or 9 and a large bunch of kids went to go see PORKY'S 2. Because of the reputation the first PORKY'S produced when it played theaters, the people working the that night refused to let any of us in, even with much older siblings in attendence. Usually it was enough back then for someone of age to buy our tickets for us, but not this time. So the group split up. Some of us went home, and the rest went to whatever else what playing that night. I forget what was playing in the third cinema, but me and my best friend decided on THE ENTITY. It was pretty ironic that whatever the theater people tried to keep us from seeing we got and then some. Ban us from from the harmless sex comedy but the one about the raping ghost is safe... Smooth move, guys...

Originally Posted by maybrick

Some of us went home, and the rest went to whatever else what playing that night. I forget what was playing in the third cinema, but me and my best friend decided on THE ENTITY. It was pretty ironic that whatever the theater people tried to keep us from seeing we got and then some. Ban us from from the harmless sex comedy but the one about the raping ghost is safe... Smooth move, guys...

From a harmless sex comedy to a movie that just this year made me sleep with my lights on. Yep, that is ironic. I am glad I didn't see that one when I was 8. I may have needed therapy for years and years.

[Wayne Manor]

Sex with my girlfriend in the palatial, now-closed Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara. Top row balcony. "Cold Mountain". No one cared.

[bigdaddyhorse]

I'd have to say the Blair Witch Project. Even though I hated what I saw, I had this freaky girl with me and she gave me head for the first half of the movie.
Then I tried watching the movie, but fell asleep for most of the second half, mostly from boredom (probably a little from being "spent" ).

A close runner up is Evil Dead 2 when it came out. I hadn't been introduced to the first movie yet and was tripping balls on some really good mushrooms, so I had no idea what to expect. If the movie hadn't been so funny I probably would've shit myself. I just kept going from being scared shitless to crying laughing. Dude was having a real bad trip I kept thinking, but then I was him in many scenes.

Sneaking into The Terminator and other R rated movies was always a blast too. There was some zombie or cannibal flick playing that said NO ONE UNDER 17 ADMITTED - PERIOD! that me and some friends saw when we were 15-16. I'm still not sure what flick it was. I remeber lots of guts being eaten, then the dude at the end saw the girl he was with sitting on a bench but when he sat down she was a zombie/cannibal and bit him. The End.

[SaviniFan]

Some nice stories here....keep 'em coming.

[wago70]

1981 was the year for me:
**"Happy Birthday to Me" - my first R rated film - seen on a balmy spring eve in '81 with the mom. She really liked the film and told everyone about it.
**"The Howling plus Kill and Kill Again" - another fun time and my 2nd R-rated film!
**"Final Exam plus Prom Night" - my 12th Birthday! The brother and friend spent most of the time playing video games which left me alone to enjoy. Final played to only 3 people (!) and Prom Night played to a packed house (a year after its original release). The line to get into Final Exam's next showing was waiting outside and it snaked down the hall and out the front door of the mall. I should have waited until then to see it, but being 12, the folks didn't let us stay out late. On the way home, we passed by a drive-in and the very end of Final Exam was playing! *good times*
**"Halloween 2" - Packed house on Halloween night '81 - Many screams and lots of applauding when Jamie Lee shot Micheal in the eyes. Some people in costumes, too.
**"Hell Night" - seen on a Sunday night the one week it played and the audience was all college age (except for me). Lots and lots of jump screams and the part where the carpet from the floor rises will always stick out to me because so many people were shouting at the screen. For such a love it or hate it film, this is the only film I ever saw where the audience was so into it and FUN! Lots of whistling at Suki Goodwin, too.
**"Friday the 13th Part 2" - this was in the winter of '81 and this played with the first film. The ending...two rows jumped...standing up jumped...ours included. A major jump scream and then laughs of relief. We were actually scared! When we all left the theater, EVERYONE was talking about that one. The line to get in was down the hall (this was our first multi-plex).

Originally Posted by bigdaddyhorse

There was some zombie or cannibal flick playing that said NO ONE UNDER 17 ADMITTED - PERIOD! that me and some friends saw when we were 15-16. I'm still not sure what flick it was. I remeber lots of guts being eaten, then the dude at the end saw the girl he was with sitting on a bench but when he sat down she was a zombie/cannibal and bit him. The End.

That sounds like Bruno Mattei's Hell of the Living Dead aka Night of the Zombies!

I'm not very old, so I really don't have any nostalgic stories about seeing classic movies in the theater... but overall I'd say the best movies I have ever seen in a theater are Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, and the revival of Grease when it was rereleased several years back. I also remember seeing Drop Dead Fred at the drive-in when I was three or four on a double feature with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze.

I have to say, though, that NONE of my theater experiences have been particularly memorable. Today's audiences seem to be less interactive than they used to be. The energy that seems to have been apparent back then is now totally lost. For example, nobody ever really screams out loud during horror films anymore (once in a while a gasp can be heard, that's about it), but that could be because the movies aren't scary.

But yeah, I haven't seen many great movies in a theater. I wish I had been born earlier so I could have experienced seeing many of my favorite movies in the theater.

The first few minutes of Star Wars, Episode I when the music starts up and the letters begin scrolling up the screen... fucking fantastic.

And then the movie starts in earnest and I realize it's a total turd...