Shoutout to watching The Room at a midnight showing in Austin that totally split my friend group

So I got a group of 6 together to see The Room at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin back in March. Half of them had never seen it before and thought it was just a boring terrible movie. The other half (including me) were tossing plastic spoons and yelling lines at the screen. The people who hated it said we were ruining the experience by making jokes and being loud. But isn't the whole point of bad movies that you're supposed to laugh at them together? Now I can't figure out if I should warn new people what to expect or just let them go in blind. Has anyone else had a bad movie night where half the crowd didn't get the vibe?

3 comments

3 Comments

ray_miller8420d ago

...and that's why I don't do group movie nights anymore unless everyone's on the same page. Had almost the same thing happen with a friend's birthday party showing of Troll 2 at our local theater. I brought spoons and was ready for a good time, but three people walked out halfway through saying it was just bad filmmaking, not funny bad. They got mad at the rest of us for laughing at the corn syrup blood and the goblin puppets. Now I just tell people straight up before we go, "This is going to be a loud, messy experience where we make fun of the movie the whole time." If they're not into that, they can sit three rows back and pretend they don't know us. Friends shouldn't have to fake enjoying something just to make other people comfortable.

martinez.kim19d ago

Do you think those people actually enjoyed the movie more by sitting there in silence? @ray_miller84 I totally get what you're saying, and I've had the same problem before. There's something about bad movies that just makes me want to share the ridiculousness with everyone. If someone wants to sit quietly and soak in the cringe, that's fine, but they can't get mad at the rest of us for having a good time. The whole point of watching a trainwreck like Troll 2 is to laugh at it together, not treat it like a serious art film. It's like going to a comedy show and getting upset that people are laughing.

amy97419d ago

Hold up though, I think there's something to be said for just watching a movie straight even if it's bad. Some of us actually enjoy the genuine cringe and awkwardness of something like Troll 2 without turning it into a comedy show. I get wanting to have fun with friends but sometimes the best parts come from just letting the bad movie breathe on its own.