What Are Your Most Memorable Audience Reaction Memories?

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Gorilla At Large	What Are Your Most Memorable Audience Reaction Memories?	Lead	[-]
(07/01/09 3:36 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	My kids love watching the old 1950's Sci-Fi and Horror movies with me, but are not scared by them and probably don't react to them the same way audiences much older than them did in the 1950's. I grew up during the monster boom watching them on TV, so I never experienced them first run with an audience. My dad would tell me stories of seeing "House of Wax" first run and how the audience he saw it with would scream in terror when Vincent Price's burned face was revealed. Does anyone have any memories of seeing these movie as a kid first run (or even re-released in the theater years later made in the 1950's) and what scene that audience responded most to (applause, screams, groans of embarrassment)……?
Lieutenant Faris	CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN--- 1957	#1	[-]
(07/01/09 6:53 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	A Thursday night in July 1957. With great bravado my friend Mickey L. and I purchased our tickets (45 cents) and entered the theater in our small hometown in NC to see THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN. We seated ourselves on the front row. We were both nine years old and knew nothing about the film except for the thrilling teaser trailers that had been playing for a week on television---and they were enough to convince us that we had to see it. The picture started and all went well until Peter Cushing hears the breaking glass from inside the lab, opens the door and is confronted by Christopher Lee preparing to rip the bandages from his head and expose his face. It was too much for Mickey. With a yell he vacated his seat and fled headlong in panic up the aisle and straight into the ample mid-section of a man entering the theater with four children. This rotund gentleman was loaded down with several bags of popcorn and snow-cones. The result of the collision was blizzard of popcorn and a sleet storm of orange or cherry flavored ice which descended upon those seated in the rows of seats nearest the catastrophe. Ignoring the devastation he had wroght, Mickey did not end his terrified flight until he reached the safety of the street. I don't think that Mickey has ever seen all of THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN....and he and I have laughed about that night for almost fifty-two years.
ryanbrennan		#2	[-]
(07/01/09 9:28 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Memory #1: HOUSE OF WAX is re-released in 3-D in the early 1970s. Near the end of the film Paul Picerni tries breaking into the backroom where Vincent Price holds Phyllis Kirk captive. Suddenly, a man stands up in front of me. I lean to the side in order to see around him but he moves off down his aisle. From the corner of my eye, in my peripherla vision, I see this man run down the aisle towards the screen. Somehow he leaps into the picture and becomes Charles Bronson struggling with our hero. The audience lests out a huge collective, "WHOA!" at this 3-D trickery. Memory #2: First day, first screening of STAR WARS in a packed theater. As an enormous space ship seems to pass endlessly over our heads and into the film the audience lets out a huge collective "WHOA!" Memory #3: The first film starring The Beatles, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, is released. It is impossible to hear the dialogue due to the uninterrupted screaming of the young girls in the audience. Memory #4: A sneak preview of THE BATTLE OF NERETVA is in progress. The film will go on to win or be nominated as Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. Unfortunately, the original 175 min. version has been cut to 102 min. for American release grinding the story into hash. After another in a series of seemingly interminable scenes of the heroic partisans atttempting to escape slaughter an audience member yells out, "Just kill 'em!" The entire audience laughs hardily, some applauding.
TServo4		#3	[-]
(07/02/09 3:23 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Lots of great memories, but one of the best took place last year when I directed a spook show for the Capitol Theatre, Rome, NY. We had a magician live on stage bring Frankenstein (who was played by CHFB's PhantomXCI), who promptly ran amok into the audience, grabbed a screaming girl and ran out the door with her. Spooked some little kids, and Jay was nice enough to come back in and show them that Frankenstein was just a guy in a mask. After the spook show we ran THE TINGLER in Percepto... seeing peoples' popcorn boxes go flying into the air brought a smile to my face. In October, we'll be doing it all over again with HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL in Emerge-o! J. Theakston The Central Theater, Passaic, NJ
Buzz Dixon		#4	[-]
(07/02/09 5:50 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Okay, these aren't movies in the traditional sense, but both HONEY, I SHRUNK THE AUDIENCE and A BUG'S LIFE 3-D interactive experiences at Disneyland/California Adventure produced great audience reactions when the dog sniffed the audience in the former and when the little bugs left the theater in the latter.
Doc Dynamo		#5	[-]
(07/02/09 6:30 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I saw Alien the first week it was out in a Chicago theater. When the title character makes his, er entrance, a woman ran out of the theater, yelling: "I can't take this sh**
PhantomXCI		#6	[-]
(07/02/09 8:58 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	TServo4 wrote: Lots of great memories, but one of the best took place last year when I directed a spook show for the Capitol Theatre, Rome, NY. We had a magician live on stage bring Frankenstein (who was played by CHFB's PhantomXCI), who promptly ran amok into the audience, grabbed a screaming girl and ran out the door with her. Spooked some little kids, and Jay was nice enough to come back in and show them that Frankenstein was just a guy in a mask. Jack, you're so sweet. I had a lot of fun, in spite of the handicaps of playing the Frankenstein Monster in a full over-the-head latex mask, carrying a dead-weight up the aisle in a dark theatre, being chased by a gaggle of curious children. I share a lot of memories with others in this post: my first viewing of STAR WARS, Charles Bronson running down the aisle in HOUSE OF WAX. But probably the most memorable thing I recall in a movie theatre occured when I saw Frank Langella's DRACULA on opening night in a Washington DC theatre. After the film, the audience rose to their feet and applauded. The film got the kind of reception one would only expect from a Broadway musical. People really liked this movie, and had the courtesy to clap. I've never seen that happen before or since.
TServo4		#7	[-]
(07/02/09 9:27 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Jay, I wouldn't have traded that show in for anything. We'll have to do it again this year! J. Theakston The Central Theater, Passaic, NJ
Edkkakumon		#8	[-]
(07/02/09 11:03 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I saw Godzilla 2000 in the theatre, the first time I've seen a G film in one. During the battle, Godzilla hits Orga with his atomic breath and causes a large blast. The audience cheered, thinking Godzilla had won. Shortly after, Godzilla truely beats his enemy, but cheers were held off until they were sure Orga was dead. Quote of the month: " To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer," anonymous
Dr Acula		#9	[-]
(07/03/09 8:30 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Seeing the first Robocop months after it's first run, in a dive theatre with mid-70's decor in the mid 80's, and being the only people in a 300 seat theatre... probably a very different experience than most people had. Seeing Pink Flamingos with a genuine midnight audience of cult fans, many wearing costumes that looked like a sketch comedy show's idea of what a bunch of film weirdos would look like. "I am an excitable person who only understands life lyrically, musically, in whom feelings are much stronger as reason. I am so thirsty for the marvelous that only the marvelous has power over me. Anything I cannot transform into something marvelous, I let go. Reality doesn't impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another. No more walls." - Anaïs Nin
Friend of Daniel		#10	[-]
(07/04/09 10:25 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Seeing Larry Cohen's monster baby epic IT'S ALIVE in a theater with a bunch of fellow preteens. The entire audience erupted into screams as soon as Bernard Herrmann's 'Eeeeerrr-REEEEEEEAR!' synthesiser score began. Even the music was scary! We were so primed by those unforgettable TV ads the screaming fired up again each time the baby appeared or it was even hinted the baby might apppear. After the movie ended we were gathered in the lobby comparing how hoarse ever one was from all that screaming. Still the best time I ever had at a movie.
PeteFitzgerald		#11	[-]
(07/04/09 10:52 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Unfortunately not from the 1950s, but... Seeing ALIENS in first-run in 1986, when Ripley goes searching for Newt, and the camera cuts to a master shot revealing that Ripley is standing in the middle of the aliens' egg chamber, the packed audience I was with gave out a pronounced collective gasp. "I say ALL you scientists are CRACKPOTS! Nothing is going to happen..." My current damage at DVD Aficionado See some of my artwork at My ComicSpace page "Limerick of the Day" blog (I post there as "Backthrow")
Buzz Dixon		#12	[-]
(07/04/09 12:00 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	PeteFitzgerald wrote: Unfortunately not from the 1950s, but... Seeing ALIENS in first-run in 1986, when Ripley goes searching for Newt, and the camera cuts to a master shot revealing that Ripley is standing in the middle of the aliens' egg chamber, the packed audience I was with gave out a pronounced collective gasp. When I saw ALIENS the crowd went nuts when the hanger door opened and Ripley stepped out in her power suit saying, "Leave her alone, you #%$&!"
Monsterpal		#13	[-]
(07/04/09 12:31 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	The audience went wild during the last fifteen or twenty minutes of FIEND WITHOUT A FACE when I saw it in 1958.
paleoguy		#14	[-]
(07/04/09 1:12 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Lisa and I had a fabulous night planned, very appropriate for the special date, being as it was on the most recent Friday the 13th last March. The New Parkway Theater in Minneapolis was running a 3D Film Festival , from March 3 to March 19, and we were looking forward to a dazzling double-feature. As we purchased our tickets, and were handed the cardboard 3D glasses, I felt a nice little thrill as if we'd stepped back into the 1950s. Parking had been a bit of a problem and the first feature, Gorilla at Large, had already started as we made our way into the old dark theater. Suddenly, a giant three-dimensional ape swung at us, clinging to a jungle vine magically suspended somewhere above and beyond the screen. Doesn't get much cooler than that. The movie was good corny fun. The gorilla suit looked great, practically bristling right in our faces (and Anne Bancroft's legs were a special effect in and of themselves). During the intermission, while they changed reels, Lisa noticed a boy about nine years old who seemed to be having a particularly good time. "This movie is so cool!" he told her, so excited that he was shaking. When the lights dimmed for the second feature, House of Wax, the audience actually broke into applause when Vincent Price's name loomed at us from the dramatic opening credits. I confess to becoming a bit emotional, thinking quietly of Vincent and wondering what he'd think about still having such affectionate fans almost a decade into the 21st Century. Will movie crowds be cheering the names of Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise on the screen fifty years from now? That evening will always be a special memory at the movies for me. I love these old films. There's something wonderful about looking back at a time when movie stars were bigger than life, before excessive gore replaced story and performance, when a guy in a gorilla suit was supposed to be scary. Somehow I really like that. What makes me feel even better is that excited nine-year-old. I could tell the kid was having the time of his life, and that this would probably always be a special memory for him, too. At least, I sincerely hope it will be. Suddenly, at least for the moment, I don't feel like weeping for the future. Martin
Buzz Dixon		#15	[-]
(07/04/09 6:13 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Monsterpal wrote: The audience went wild during the last fifteen or twenty minutes of FIEND WITHOUT A FACE when I saw it in 1958. Definitely one of the better climaxes of a 1950s sci-fi film.
m78		#16	[-]
(07/04/09 7:56 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Watching "Night of the Living Dead" at college, with everyone laughing and making catcalls, and joking about some of the ridiculous dialogue. Then all of a sudden someone standing up in the middle of it all, and sarcastically proclaiming, "SHUT UP EVERYONE, THIS IS SERIOUS!!!", and receiving loud laughter and more shouts from the audience. Memorable moment that epitomizes the silliness and fun of horror/zombie films, especially of the low budget variety.
bipolarber		#17	[-]
(07/05/09 9:54 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Star Wars: The entire theatre breaking into applause, and cheering, as the MF leaps to hyperspace. (This happened repeatedly) Alien: The show before us had sold out, so some buddies and I were waiting in the lobby, just hanging out, when the doors burst open and several kids came stumbling out in a cold sweat... a couple of the ushers (remember ushers?) helped them up and pointed them to the bathrooms where they could splash a little water on their faces... Dark City: The credits begin to roll, and I hear a stoned voice from the back of the theatre: "What the (beep) was that all about, Man?!" The Matrix: a collective gasp and shudder of disbelief as Neo wakes up in the power plant. "[The audiance] will populate the darkness with more horrors than all the horror writers in Hollywood could think of. If you make the screen dark enough, the mind's eye will read anything into it you want! We're great ones for the dark patches." -VAL LEWTON
ryanbrennan		#18	[-]
(07/05/09 10:11 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	During the original run of JAWS, when it had been out only a few days, I attended a screening in which the patron sitting behind me kept talking to the screen throughout the movie -- "Don't lean over the edge of the boat!" and other like warnings spoken to the screen. THE FURY inexplicably evoked loud gales of laughter from one viewer whenever anyone in the movie started to bleed. During TORA!TORA!TORA! the small boy behind me kept making loud, joyful sounds each time a plane, building or ship exploded. I finally had to turn around and tell him to be quiet. I saw DON'T LOOK NOW at the USA Film Festival. As the film progressed and the audience became more engrossed they became quieter and quieter until you felt they were holding their breath. In general release it was a different story. Not fifteen minutes into the film, attended by me and my date and two other couples, I started hearing dejected sighs. They came from the male of the couple a few roles behind us. Finally he said, "Nothing's happening," and they left.
Jeffrey Allen Rydell		#19	[-]
(07/05/09 11:07 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	ryanbrennan wrote: THE FURY inexplicably evoked loud gales of laughter from one viewer whenever anyone in the movie started to bleed. That was De Palma. Probably. - Jeff
Buzz Dixon		#20	[-]
(07/05/09 11:50 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	ryanbrennan wrote: During TORA!TORA!TORA! the small boy behind me kept making loud, joyful sounds each time a plane, building or ship exploded. I finally had to turn around and tell him to be quiet. When 20th Century Fox released all five PotAPES movies as a "Go Ape For A Day marathon" a reviewer for one of the science fiction fanzines of the time rep[orted the audience yelled "Kill him! Kill him!" whenever an ape got shot in the first two movies, "Kill him! Kill him!" whenever a human got shot in the next two movies, and "Kill him! Kill him!" whenever anybody got shot in the last one.

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