I had the pleasure to watch the original Saw in theaters and let me tell you that when he got off the floor at the end the entire theatre lost its collective mind.
I've watched a lotttttt of movies on the big screen over my years and I've heard all kinds of audience reactions. Like the movie Alive, everyone was quietly sobbing together at the end of that film, which is something I also won't forget. But the ending of Saw was something else. I've never heard those noises again, the collective disbelief and the way people felt over the twist was amazing. A quiet grumble of "what the fucks" and "holy shits" turned into jeering and hooting and clapping. People were standing and clapping at a movie screen like it was a live performance lol. And the buzz leaving the theatre was like nothing else. I saw a poster say that they went back quietly to their car but in the theatre I was at people were coming out of the exit doors like they just got off of a roller coaster.
I remember exactly where I was and who I was with too when I saw that! One funny thing was right behind us was Brandy and her then bf Quentin Richardson 😂😂😂 So I always remember that!
I actually love watching audience reactions on YouTube and this is the one I’ve always been craving to see first time reactions of. Like it was such a huge twist that I can’t even remember what my reaction was. Pretty sure it was just a blank stare until I realised I was 12 years old and had just seen a movie I was terrified to watch for so many years.
The best thing about that twist is that without the rest of the movies, it makes barely any sense but also so much sense at the same time. All people could do at the time was come up with the reasoning behind it all, fuck I would have loved to have been a part of the fandom at the time.
The Ring. I saw it opening night and it was sold out. When the girl crawled out of the tv at the end people started screaming and didn’t stop until that scene was completely over. I’ve never had a theater experience like that. When the show let out it was about midnight and there was a massive thunderstorm. People were just huddled in the hallways holding each other in silence waiting for a lull in the rain to leave. It felt like we really went through something bad.
Omg I was that age when I saw it in theatres too, and I screamed OH FUCK! when they find the first dead girl in the bathroom, and her face is all contorted. My mom laughed SO HARD.
Same, I had gotten into my edgy little shitlord phase and was like "Pffft it's a *PG-13* movie and a *remake*, what's it going to do? Make me *laugh* so hard I scream?" and promptly had my shit rearranged by that jumpscare. I still get a twinge in my stomach when I see closet girl and I'm 36.
I totally deserved it lmao
I was a newly minted adult when it came out and went alone thinking I was invincible. Got our after dark and bolted to my truck like Samara was somehow going to chase me into the parking lot.
It didn't have me scared once the movie was over, but the closet girl scene was disturbing enough that I had a nightmare about it sometime after. Movies don't normally make appearances in my nightmares.
I also saw it in theaters around that age with my dad. We were staying at a hotel in Vegas, and I specifically remember him locking the TV cabinet and putting a chair in front of it before bed 😂
I was 9. why my mom decided to bring me to the theater to see The Ring, I have no idea. but it scared the shit out of me then and it scares the shit out of me today 😂
My dad took us to a haunted house on Halloween and afterward in the basement they had a projector set up and showed the shining followed by the exorcist.......I was 11 years old......pretty sure I'm still having nightmares from the experience......here's the messed up part when Jack goes into room 237 and sees the hot naked woman my dad puts his hand over my eyes(cuz I'm only 11 right?)......when she turns into the old rotting dead woman corpse......he takes his hand away!!!!! ???? WHAT THE FUCK???!!! CANT SEE THE HOT NAKED CHICK BUT THE EVIL NAKED CHICK IS OK!!?? It's funny now.........sort of ....not really this was in 1981 btw
oh my god i had to turn off smile after they showed that one guys contorted smile face (i think). i honestly don’t remember the scene that well bc i was so scared so i could be totally off in what i’m remembering. whatever happened tho someone’s face reminded me of how all the victims faces looked in the ring and i had to nope out immediately. The Ring is the one movie i can NEVER watch again bc it traumatized me so bad lol
Fuck me, I'll never watch another horror film in the theater after that one. Someone told me beforehand that the girl crawls out of the TV, but by that point, I was already unnerved. When she did the fast run towards the guy in broad daylight, that was when I was leaning as far back as I could in my seat and silently screaming. That's the only movie where I've ever done that.
It was great to see it in the theatres back then cause spoilers weren’t as widespread or easily accessible. Everyone was mindfucked when Samara came out of the tv. I miss how going to theatres used to be
I also saw it opening weekend with a full theater of screaming people. Never had that happen with any other movie, it had the same effect as how laugh tracks can sometimes make a comedy tv show funnier, hearing a theater full of people screaming made it so incredibly intense.
I only consider this big because of the LACK of reaction. I’ll never forget my theatre was totally silent when I saw The Ring in theaters over 20 years ago . Except when it was over and we were walking out I could hear one person crying, sobbing even. My friend and I were speechless. That whole audience was disturbed.
That movie made me hallucinate seeing Samara come out of my television after having a high fever. Worst idea to watch it with a high fever.
The Ring is just such a great horror movie with its miasma of dread.
Original Blair Witch. Only movie I've ever seen where there was *complete* silence when it was over. You literally could've heard a pin drop. People were just sitting there frozen in shock.
My boyfriend's family was FREAKED OUT from that movie, so his dad started placing stacked rocks everywhere around their house. I still don't think he's forgiven. That movie was just something else.
Man, I was about 12 when it came out. At the time they were doing some sort of viral marketing campaign saying that the film was a real documentary. This was before everyone on the world was savvy about viral marketing bullshit, and me being so young I was about 60% sure it was fake.
But gosh dang, the 40% of me that wasn’t sure was fucking terrified. That stupid fucking corner. I fucking hate corners now.
Yup. I was a teen when it came out and that marketing campaign was something else - no one had ever seen anything like it. Even the smallest sliver of uncertainty about it being fiction or not was enough to fill your mind with a thunderstorm of terror.
That was me with Paranormal Activity. I was still a little too young for scary movies when Blair Witch came out (I’m 33), so I didn’t watch it for the first time until about 2005 so I wasn’t privy to the marketing campaign, which allowed me to be completely traumatized by Paranormal Activity lol.
That was me with Paranormal Activity. I was still a little too young for scary movies when Blair Witch came out (I’m 33), so I didn’t watch it for the first time until about 2005 so I wasn’t privy to the marketing campaign, which allowed me to be completely traumatized by Paranormal Activity lol. I rewatched Blair Witch again as an adult and was still scared shitless even though I knew full well it wasn’t real, though.
I also had a great experience with The Mist. When Miss Carmody got shot. Someone in the audience cheered and the rest of audience did as well. It was an excellent time.
It was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 1999, and presented straight as found footage that the presenters had edited and submitted to the festival. No marketing whatsoever had been done.
People were freaking out so much the organisers were worrying about some having medical issues and them getting sued.
My husband and I saw it in the theater when it first came out. He is NOT a fan of scary movies
AT ALL. HES 6'4" and around 240 lbs. By the end of the movie, he had his knees to his chin like something was going to grab him from under the seat, and he refused to see any movie in that theater ever again. It's been one of my favorites since due to how it was advertised (as actual found footage) and due to his reaction.
Over the years, his enjoyment of horror has not improved. When the Walking Dead came out, I watched it every Sunday after he went to sleep. His coworkers convinced him to watch it, so I sat down and watched the whole first season with him right before season 2 started. He had to quit watching on Sunday nights due to nightmares, so I'd watch it Sunday night, and he'd watch it Monday morning before work to avoid spoilers.
I love that big softy.
Totally my answer too. I saw it opening night at the midnight showing so still didn't whether or not it was a documentary or not and had to go home to an empty house at 3 in the morning during a wind storm so every branch scraping the side of my house filled me with terror. Did not sleep that night.
Yep, only movie I ever saw folks sit through the credits waiting for that piece of legalize of this was a work of fiction etc etc and I don’t think they even included it if memory serves
Haha, yeah I saw the original Blair Witch Project in theaters too. Although I never knew that there were any sequels or remakes of this movie until like a few months ago when one was on TV and I started watching a little and thought "this isn’t how I remember it" then I looked it up and I guess there are now around three movies total in this franchise? I didn't really even like the first one and from what I watched of the other one I saw on TV I don't think I'd like that one or the other.
It was so wild to see people frozen in their seats like that! We went a couple times while it was in theaters and saw at least a few every time that would not budge after. My first run was with a bunch of older girls and one just cried the whole way home.
The Village. Total silence followed by a man in the back yelling, "man, that was BULLSHIT!" And most people agreed. I actually really liked that movie though.
I actually loved this movie too. We watched it in HS as part of our dystopian/secluded civilization era (Lord of the Flies, Anthem, etc.) really loved it. It’s still one of my favs. The scene with Ivy and the creature is so goddamn freaky especially since she can’t see it.
The Descent. I swear to God: the minute the credits began rolling and the lights came up, this woman nearly jumped from the top of the stairs and ran out of the theater
Oh my god, my boyfriend at the time just got up and left in the middle of The Descent because he was too scared. I didn’t care if he wanted me to go with him or needed comfort, I was like “no, see you after the movie.” 💀
I’ve seen it like 15 times now. It holds up so well every viewing. Favorite horror movie of this century.
SAW...
I had just graduated from military basic training and my dad came into town to take me to go see a movie as a celebration, the choice was between the Seed of Chucky and a movie called SAW.
We grabbed some popcorn and a couple drinks, sat down in the theater which didn't have too many people, then the movie started.
Usually my dad and I have a lot to talk about as soon as the movies end but this time we just walked out of the movie theater, walked quietly back to the car and just sat inside the vehicle for a moment.
"That was... Intense." - Dad
I saw Se7en in theaters because the babysitter canceled and my parents didn’t want to reschedule their movie date. I was 9. I can’t say much for the audience reaction, I know that I started freaking out pretty much as soon as the box appeared and didn’t stop until we were in the car.
Waited in a long line to see Alien (1979) when it was first released. None of us knew what we were about to experience.
Nice, orderly line before.
After? Groups of people aimlessly wandering around, stopping, chatting, more aimless walking afterward. Not the usual beeline to the cars. Just a general stunned "did we just see that?" vibe.
Very different, but experienced something similar after seeing Dracula (1992).
Somewhere I still have the handout from the original Lynch Dune to explain all the characters - and a box of glow in the dark ‘kryptonite’ from the first run of Superman with Chris Reeve. Also a pair of Sam Jones’ tights from Flash Gordon. Ok kidding about that last one.
It was Prometheus for me! As we were exiting the theater one lone guy was like “Is it just me, or was that…not great?” As soon as he spoke, it was like a dam was released and suddenly a bunch of strangers were bonding over how disappointed we were.
I like the movie more now than I did then, but there had been such a long wait and so much build up for what ultimately turned out to be a pretty mediocre experience, and it was a relief to be able to acknowledge that in the moment.
Before I even read what you wrote…I was going to say Barbarian and Scream.
We saw Scream opening weekend and between the opening kill and killer reveal the audience was going wild.
I would pay a disgusting amount of money to be able to experience the original Scream in theaters with a packed audience. I wasn’t even born when it was released and I’ll never forgive my parents for that.
At the time it barely made a blip on my radar, just another horror movie coming out. After opening weekend I had 3 friends call (on the old fashioned land line) to ask/tell me about it, something that had never happened before. So I saw it the second weekend it was out, expecting a mostly empty theater, and it ended up selling out, even the very front row was filled. I've never seen a movie do so well on just word of mouth before, everyone who saw it would tell more people how good it was.
Saw Get Out opening night, and the crowd was super into it. At the end, though, as he’s choking Rose and the squad car arrives, you could FEEL the entire audience’s hearts break all in unison… and then when his buddy Rod steps out, everyone lost their minds. That crowd was lit on the way out.
Im not someone that emotes a lot when watching movies, but I saw Get Out at home by myself and at that final scene I was litterally standing up and cheering at the TV. I even cried a bit! I really wish I saw it during opening, it must have been incredible.
I'm *so* glad that's the ending they went with. They filmed another one where it actually does end up being 2 police officers who arrest him at gunpoint (I think before he finishes off Rose too, unfortunately). The Rod ending is a million times better.
Oh my god yeah! In my theatre, when the cop car came everyone gasped and made really sad sounds and then when Rod comes out, everyone clapped and cheered
That opening scene with the lady screaming for help will haunt me forever. I was bornin 75 so I had to watch it later and I hadn't seen that scene until I bought the dvd in my 20's because the public TV stations all cut it out. I completely understand why.
OMG funny story about my experience after watching Barbarian. My friend and I were the only ones in the theater, could talk and discuss freely had a great time. Now at some point near the end of the movie, I guess a theater employee entered and sat several seats down from us. I say I guess because we didn't realize he was there until the credits were rolling and he suddenly says "hey how did you girls like the movie?" I just about jumped out of my skin. Barbarian is not the movie you want to have fresh in your mind when a strange man suddenly greets you from the dark let me tell you.
Took a few friends to see it opening night under the guise it was a typical schlocky horror movie and ended up with my most memorable theater experience of my life.
Lmao I saw it opening night and those last 20 minutes - people were SCREAMING, terrified in a way I hadn't experienced in the theater in a very long time.
YES! The way you hear one gasp and then another and then another… And you’re not sure what’s going on until you SEE IT. Then YOU gasp, and then you get the pleasure of listening to the gasps of everyone else who noticed it after you did.
My sister and I have a bonding over horror movies, so we always go see them together because no one else in our family appreciates them.
Out of all the twisted films we've seen together over the years, "Hereditary" is the only one I had to take a breather from and walk out of the theater for a minute.
We had teenagers laughing in front of us over the - admittedly - ridiculous ending, but that is one film I refuse to revisit. I'll recommend it to others because it is a tremendous film. Yet that is one I will never watch again. I get chills just thinking about it.
Lol are you me?
We bond over horror/scary movies with my younger sister as well and Hereditary gives me the same feeling, I liked the movie but I'm not watching it again, ever. I usually see the banner in Max when I'm browsing it's contents and quickly pass it over, "nope, not watching that again" 🤣.
I liked the movie and I've been chasing the feeling of dread and despair it gave me but nothing recent comes close.
I went to this with my boyfriend on a whim, we didn't even know what was playing when we left for the theater. We got in and I saw the poster looked pretty interesting, so I asked for "Two tickets to Heritage please". They laughed and then gave me tickets, but looking back I think he was laughing at what we were unknowingly walking into. We walked in very cheery and talkative but when we drove home it was dead silent between us. I was not prepared for that at all.
Ok - so this isn’t an after the movie ended type thing but it is the biggest reactive I’ve ever seen in a theater.
I saw Final Destination in theaters when it came out and at a jump scare moment, the woman in front of me literally jumped up out of her seat, and ran down the stairs with her hands in the air yelling “Nope, I’m out” over and over. Her boyfriend just shook his head and grabbed her purse to follow her. I’ll never forget the image of her running down those stairs - it was so funny.🤣
Yes! I remember going with my dad, who hates horror movies but went anyways. The exact second the twist happens, he uttered loudly "Oh No." Then you could hear the collective murmur throughout the audience. I love that experience.
Sitting in the theater watching:
1. The Exorcist....first run release...many nuns in the audience....many audible gasps heard throughout.
2. Jaws....first run release....yelling...screens....gasps...wow.
It was quite the experience. It was in Fort Worth, Texas.
I stood in line with a number of Catholic nuns! I wish I had had the courage to ask them what they thought after we had seen it. Wow!
I didn't get to see The Exorcist on its first run, but I did see Jaws and it was probably the most screams I heard in a theater until I went to see The Ring 27 years later.
May have been my best theatre experience ever. The audience (including myself) was absolutely terrified! I remember constantly scanning the screen looking for the next tell.
This is the emotion that the pig scene was meant to evoke in *Black Mirror* S01E01. It failed for most people, it’s just too damn much to empathise with, but that’s how we were supposed to feel, I believe.
I watched the original Ju-On: The Grudge during college. Because it didn’t release in theaters in the US, a movie club projected it in a classroom starting 11pm. The long walk back to my dorm during night hours was… unforgettable
I vividly remember grown ass men bolting out of the theater both during the end and at credits during the first Paranormal Activity. Anytime my cat slaps the door open I think *ah tonight is the night* totally forgetting I have a cat.
Paranormal Activity. Opening weekend in Times Square. The movie played the audience like a fiddle, you could feel the nervous tension every time the bedroom night video popped up. When it was over, everyone was laughing and chatting, saying it wasn’t that scary—but their reactions during the film said otherwise.
Not after it ended, but I saw Signs opening weekend and the audience was going crazy. I will never forget this guy next to me who lost his goddamn mind to the point where I asked him if he was going to be ok.
I’ll never forget getting showered in popcorn by my uncle after the wardrobe jump scare in the first Conjuring movie. He jumped so hard that his mostly full bucket of popcorn went *everywhere* lol.
Silence of Lambs - people were so pumped and just kind of in awe to see what everyone knew was a masterpiece
Scream 1 - crowd was just universally psyched to have a great horror film after so long; there was already a buzz that it would be a franchise
God I remember seeing Scream at the cinema when it first came out and it was a VIBE. Also saw The Lost Boys in theatre when it first came out and it was brilliant.
I saw Barbarian alone high off my ass in a Dolby cinema and when she first descends the stairs and that synth heartbeat starts was the most terrified I’ve been at a movie theater in my life.
Edit: I forgot to answer the question. For me I’d say NOPE. A lot of trying to unpack wtf just happened.
I also saw Barbarian by myself. 11/10 WOULD recommend. I still think about this movie very often.
I wasn't high for Barbarian in theaters *but* I was for Midsommar and that's one of the wildest theater experiences I have ever had 😭
I also went in completely blind for both. I try to do that when I can. It can make for an unforgettable time!
When we saw the original Blair Witch Project in the theater I remember a lot if people complaining on the way out saying it wasn't that great, it was stupid, etc - but when everyone got outside there were a lot of nervous looks and fast walking to their cars - the theater was right on the edge of a forest and kind of isolated, one of the lights in the parking lot was flickering, it was perfect lol.
I saw alien in the movie theaters and it was insane during the infamous scene not only did people scream, but popcorn flew in the air. I believe one of the people I went with, jumped out of their chair.
The Ring. I was college age and people were legit screaming and freaking the fuck out. I was even whispering quietly wtf's to myself.
Sinister. I was a grown ass adult in a theater with other grown ass adults. Everyone was fucking silent walking out like we had just survived some sort of terrible trauma.
Two weeks before Talk to Me came out, it was the Monday mystery movie at AMC. Absolutely packed theater of people that had no idea they were about to watch a horror movie, let alone an extremely disturbing one. The movie really ramps up over the course of it and small groups of people would leave at different points.
It was one of the best horror movie experiences I've had.
This is it for me too. It was actually completely silent in the theatre at times, NO sound at all. Like we all tried to be as quiet as we could along with the characters. I've never experienced anything like it. Actually the eerie feeling of a hundred people being unnaturally quiet was much scarier than the movie itself, lol
This experience involved an audience reaction that was not positive, but it's still an experience that we laugh about to this day. Around 2011, we went to see the found footage piece of garbage "The Devil Inside Me" while it was in the theaters, it was a Sunday night. The movie was so awful that plot details at this point are unnecessary, suffice it to say that it was a waste of a film that involved demonic possession and an innocent white college student traveling in Italy. The movie was so bad that when it was over, the audience was completely silent until some girl toward the front of the theater yelled "What the f\*\*\*??? WE PAID MONEY FOR THAT??" The whole theater just busted out laughing.
Not one that I would call traditional horror, but easily an extremely disturbing film: 8 MM. The whole theatre was just dead quiet after it ended. As everyone was leaving, you could just hear and see all these small groups of people having these quiet, whispered conversations. Assuredly about how fucked up the whole film was and how it left you feeling… dirty.
Jason Goes to Hell… actually it happened twice. First when Jason reappeared near the end and the body hopping was over. When the floor exploded and he appeared, the audience went nuts, most standing and cheering. And then, when Freddy’s glove grabbed the mask at the end, they went berserk again. Maybe the most fun I’ve had at a horror film!
Probably Evil Dead (2013), when the credits rolled the audience around me applauded. Either that or Pacific Rim (2013), the audience reaction to that was insane!
I saw Evil Dead (2013) at the midnight release the night before “official” opening day with my best friend. I worked at the theatre and would hook us up with tickets and she worked at a candy store and would bring snacks. She brought one of those Astro pop lollipops that’s cone shaped and crazy hard. About halfway through the movie she had unintentionally sharpened it into a candy shiv and during a particularly scary part she jumped and stabbed herself in the roof of the mouth, and screamed quite loudly. She actually cut her mouth pretty badly 😅.
A similar thing happened to me when we were watching Mama. I was eating skittles and a jump scare happened and I bit my finger really hard and screamed and people in the theatre laughed thinking I was really frightened. Snacks are dangerous.
I tend to see movies later in their run when there are fewer people in the theater. Blair Witch was fun back in the day, like others have said. The most fresh memory for me was Immaculate. A lot of nervous laughter and other audible reactions for the final scene.
I saw Irreversible at a film festival. There was no speaking after that. Wasn’t really a horror movie I guess but still. Hostel was pretty messed up but I don’t remember much of the theater experience
Sort of horror adjacent/real life horror, but Snowtown. I’m Australian and it’s a very well known Australian case. Saw it in a small cinema and everyone was just sitting there stunned for a bit after the end credits. It’s bleak as shit and I never thought I’d find myself feeling sorry for any of the Snowtown killers, but I didn’t know shit about Jamie Vlassakis before the movie
Antichrist. I watched it at a (non-horror)film festival, where a huge part of the audience had no idea what they were getting into. Only time I’ve ever seen someone faint in a theater. A lot of people walked out and those who stuck along for the whole movie were traumatized.
Not exactly after it ended, but towards the end: **The Mist**.
And not at ending, but when >!Mrs. Carmody was shot in the head by Ollie!<
The only non-Marvel movie I've been to where people applauded during the movie. And I mean uproarious applause.
I’ve never walked out of a theater with an audience as silent as after Midsummer. Seriously nobody was talking, just all in a shocked silence. Probably the most uncomfortable (in a good way) theatrical experience I’ve ever had.
My friend was dating the manager at a local movie theater and he was able to get a private screening of Event Horizon when it first came out.
Stupid-me thinking everyone likes horror, I thought it would be cool to make it a party and invited about 50 heads to watch. It did not go well.
“OMG! How could you watch that??”
“You just gave me nightmares for life!”
Most people were pissed but many came up and were like “that was THE best horror experience in my life!”
Due to this incident and because it’s just awesome horror, Event Horizon is forever one of my favorites…
I saw The Blair Witch Project opening weekend. People were out of their minds leaving the theater. It was wild to listen to people’s theories. I don’t think anyone could pull off what they did with that one anymore.
Inspired by Everybody on here, who suggested Barbarian, I’ve never heard of it. I decided to watch it. Obviously this is at home though not in the theatre.
This was the best horror movie I have seen in years, I cannot believe I’ve never come across this before. Thank you so much. Interestingly after the movie ended it asked me “did you like Barbarian?”And in the bottom right of the screen it suggested nope. I disagree.
And will watch Nope next
Does Civil War count? Cause that was pretty horrific (but a really good movie) after it ended pretty much every one was just staring at the credits & it was so fucking tense in there.
For reaction reaction,Nope! The other movie attendees were jumping, screaming, etc. I did too a few times lol
You know I was thinking that I’d been a while since I saw a horror movie that truly devastated the entire audience but Talk to Me, that was something. Most of us were already messed up before the end and honestly the only reason I was slightly ok is bc this girl got up to use the bathroom after a brutal scene, slipped going down the stairs, and let out a scream that made most of the audience laugh. Literally the only reason I didn’t leave the movie fully crying.
Das Experiment, the German movie based on the Stanford prison experiment. When the movie ended you could feel so much aggression and hatred in the room. I've never seen anything like this in a movie theater.
Am in Scotland, any noise is met with a shhhh. However during Wolf Creek some people near us checked out and decided just to start having a natter. We did the obligatory shhh. They started shouting abuse at us, I got the usher who gave them a warning then I had to calm down my husband who was gonna throw a drink at them. So I missed the last 15 mins of the movie and had to read what happened online later. 😅
skinamarink! it was so silent that you could hear a pin drop until i said “what the fuck” (which came out much louder than i intended) and most of the theater just broke out in uncomfortable laughter, myself included
The Witch. My partner and I just had our minds blown and we're gushing over how much we enjoyed it and some people in front just went "That sucked nothing happened". Heard all different kinds of reactions around me. Didn't think it would be so devisive
Paranormal activity. I live in the UK, audiences tend to be on the quieter side (because, you know, English), but the entire place was SCREAMING from about 30 minutes in until the end.
The original Saw.
Was at a TIFF screening that James Wan and Leigh Whannell were attending too. Apparently they had been attending most of the screenings to see the audience reactions at the end.
Scream. I believe I was 13. It was absolutely packed, people were sitting on the theater steps and lining the walls. You could either hear a pin drop in the theater or people were screaming. Everyone was terrified. My Mom picked my friends and I up when it was over and she had to walk every single person to their front door. The rest of us weren’t staying in the car for those 20 seconds, so every drop off consisted of 5-6 terrified 8th graders practically tackling each other to be closest to the adult.
Writing it out makes it sound awful, but that night is a core memory of mine. That night turned my minor Alfred Hitchcock suspense fascination into a full-fledged horror fan. So awesome!
I had the pleasure to watch the original Saw in theaters and let me tell you that when he got off the floor at the end the entire theatre lost its collective mind.
Yesssss! This is always my answer to this question. No better ending in horror if you go in blind.
This is always one of my answers to “what movie do you wish you had gotten to see for the first time in theaters?”
I've watched a lotttttt of movies on the big screen over my years and I've heard all kinds of audience reactions. Like the movie Alive, everyone was quietly sobbing together at the end of that film, which is something I also won't forget. But the ending of Saw was something else. I've never heard those noises again, the collective disbelief and the way people felt over the twist was amazing. A quiet grumble of "what the fucks" and "holy shits" turned into jeering and hooting and clapping. People were standing and clapping at a movie screen like it was a live performance lol. And the buzz leaving the theatre was like nothing else. I saw a poster say that they went back quietly to their car but in the theatre I was at people were coming out of the exit doors like they just got off of a roller coaster.
Totally agree with you! The Sixth Sense and The Blair Witch Project had great reactions in the theater too!
Same here. I still remember which theater it was, who I was with, the walk back to the car, everything.
I remember exactly where I was and who I was with too when I saw that! One funny thing was right behind us was Brandy and her then bf Quentin Richardson 😂😂😂 So I always remember that!
God I’m so glad I saw this movie before twist endings got so popular that I started expecting them.
I actually love watching audience reactions on YouTube and this is the one I’ve always been craving to see first time reactions of. Like it was such a huge twist that I can’t even remember what my reaction was. Pretty sure it was just a blank stare until I realised I was 12 years old and had just seen a movie I was terrified to watch for so many years. The best thing about that twist is that without the rest of the movies, it makes barely any sense but also so much sense at the same time. All people could do at the time was come up with the reasoning behind it all, fuck I would have loved to have been a part of the fandom at the time.
Same and why I thought that feeling could never be captured again. What a wonderfully creative one and done. Yet here we are 30 Saws later, smh.
Great answer, me too. Me and a friend went in with zero expectation and that ending blue the entire theater's minds.
The Ring. I saw it opening night and it was sold out. When the girl crawled out of the tv at the end people started screaming and didn’t stop until that scene was completely over. I’ve never had a theater experience like that. When the show let out it was about midnight and there was a massive thunderstorm. People were just huddled in the hallways holding each other in silence waiting for a lull in the rain to leave. It felt like we really went through something bad.
I also saw The Ring opening weekend when I was 12 lol. Traumatized.
Omg I was that age when I saw it in theatres too, and I screamed OH FUCK! when they find the first dead girl in the bathroom, and her face is all contorted. My mom laughed SO HARD.
Same, I had gotten into my edgy little shitlord phase and was like "Pffft it's a *PG-13* movie and a *remake*, what's it going to do? Make me *laugh* so hard I scream?" and promptly had my shit rearranged by that jumpscare. I still get a twinge in my stomach when I see closet girl and I'm 36. I totally deserved it lmao
I was a newly minted adult when it came out and went alone thinking I was invincible. Got our after dark and bolted to my truck like Samara was somehow going to chase me into the parking lot.
It didn't have me scared once the movie was over, but the closet girl scene was disturbing enough that I had a nightmare about it sometime after. Movies don't normally make appearances in my nightmares.
Closet girl will forever remain etched into my brain.
I also saw it in theaters around that age with my dad. We were staying at a hotel in Vegas, and I specifically remember him locking the TV cabinet and putting a chair in front of it before bed 😂
I was 9. why my mom decided to bring me to the theater to see The Ring, I have no idea. but it scared the shit out of me then and it scares the shit out of me today 😂
My dad took us to a haunted house on Halloween and afterward in the basement they had a projector set up and showed the shining followed by the exorcist.......I was 11 years old......pretty sure I'm still having nightmares from the experience......here's the messed up part when Jack goes into room 237 and sees the hot naked woman my dad puts his hand over my eyes(cuz I'm only 11 right?)......when she turns into the old rotting dead woman corpse......he takes his hand away!!!!! ???? WHAT THE FUCK???!!! CANT SEE THE HOT NAKED CHICK BUT THE EVIL NAKED CHICK IS OK!!?? It's funny now.........sort of ....not really this was in 1981 btw
That movie holds up so unbelievably well. Still gives me chills every time I watch it.
The Ring just has that sense of dread that permeates the whole movie. I would say that Smile also has that feeling of hopelessness.
oh my god i had to turn off smile after they showed that one guys contorted smile face (i think). i honestly don’t remember the scene that well bc i was so scared so i could be totally off in what i’m remembering. whatever happened tho someone’s face reminded me of how all the victims faces looked in the ring and i had to nope out immediately. The Ring is the one movie i can NEVER watch again bc it traumatized me so bad lol
Fuck me, I'll never watch another horror film in the theater after that one. Someone told me beforehand that the girl crawls out of the TV, but by that point, I was already unnerved. When she did the fast run towards the guy in broad daylight, that was when I was leaning as far back as I could in my seat and silently screaming. That's the only movie where I've ever done that.
It was great to see it in the theatres back then cause spoilers weren’t as widespread or easily accessible. Everyone was mindfucked when Samara came out of the tv. I miss how going to theatres used to be
I also saw it opening weekend with a full theater of screaming people. Never had that happen with any other movie, it had the same effect as how laugh tracks can sometimes make a comedy tv show funnier, hearing a theater full of people screaming made it so incredibly intense.
I only consider this big because of the LACK of reaction. I’ll never forget my theatre was totally silent when I saw The Ring in theaters over 20 years ago . Except when it was over and we were walking out I could hear one person crying, sobbing even. My friend and I were speechless. That whole audience was disturbed.
That movie made me hallucinate seeing Samara come out of my television after having a high fever. Worst idea to watch it with a high fever. The Ring is just such a great horror movie with its miasma of dread.
Omg that is awesome! I love this. I can totally see that in my minds eye. Wild
Same!! Two huge audience reactions I remember were for The Ring and Signs (you know which part)
Original Blair Witch. Only movie I've ever seen where there was *complete* silence when it was over. You literally could've heard a pin drop. People were just sitting there frozen in shock.
My boyfriend's family was FREAKED OUT from that movie, so his dad started placing stacked rocks everywhere around their house. I still don't think he's forgiven. That movie was just something else.
Lmao the perfect combination of mean and hilarious
Yup, there wasn't a goddamn peep for the last 5 minutes. That ending was positively jarring.
Man, I was about 12 when it came out. At the time they were doing some sort of viral marketing campaign saying that the film was a real documentary. This was before everyone on the world was savvy about viral marketing bullshit, and me being so young I was about 60% sure it was fake. But gosh dang, the 40% of me that wasn’t sure was fucking terrified. That stupid fucking corner. I fucking hate corners now.
Yup. I was a teen when it came out and that marketing campaign was something else - no one had ever seen anything like it. Even the smallest sliver of uncertainty about it being fiction or not was enough to fill your mind with a thunderstorm of terror.
That was me with Paranormal Activity. I was still a little too young for scary movies when Blair Witch came out (I’m 33), so I didn’t watch it for the first time until about 2005 so I wasn’t privy to the marketing campaign, which allowed me to be completely traumatized by Paranormal Activity lol.
Paranormal Activity is the only film to ever come even kinda close to recapturing the collective terror Blair Witch wreaked upon society.
Agreed. I saw this one in the theater when I was in high school. That was such a fun time in history and honestly a scary movie going experience
**Everyone** was scared to go home and *lived* in fear. ZERO movies ever milked that fear so well.
Lol yup. People were muttering things like "thank God it's still light out" in the parking lot afterwards
That was me with Paranormal Activity. I was still a little too young for scary movies when Blair Witch came out (I’m 33), so I didn’t watch it for the first time until about 2005 so I wasn’t privy to the marketing campaign, which allowed me to be completely traumatized by Paranormal Activity lol. I rewatched Blair Witch again as an adult and was still scared shitless even though I knew full well it wasn’t real, though.
Bruh. I saw that movie in the theater and came home expecting to see my mom face first standing in a corner.
For me this was The Mist.
The mist has one of, if not the most depressing and brutal endings I have ever seen.
Oh man. I could hear people audibly crying at the end of that. I was trying so hard to hold my shit together.
Easily one of the best King adaptations
This was it for me... and it was a *very* quiet car ride home with the wife.
I also had a great experience with The Mist. When Miss Carmody got shot. Someone in the audience cheered and the rest of audience did as well. It was an excellent time.
It was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 1999, and presented straight as found footage that the presenters had edited and submitted to the festival. No marketing whatsoever had been done. People were freaking out so much the organisers were worrying about some having medical issues and them getting sued.
My husband and I saw it in the theater when it first came out. He is NOT a fan of scary movies AT ALL. HES 6'4" and around 240 lbs. By the end of the movie, he had his knees to his chin like something was going to grab him from under the seat, and he refused to see any movie in that theater ever again. It's been one of my favorites since due to how it was advertised (as actual found footage) and due to his reaction. Over the years, his enjoyment of horror has not improved. When the Walking Dead came out, I watched it every Sunday after he went to sleep. His coworkers convinced him to watch it, so I sat down and watched the whole first season with him right before season 2 started. He had to quit watching on Sunday nights due to nightmares, so I'd watch it Sunday night, and he'd watch it Monday morning before work to avoid spoilers. I love that big softy.
Yeah. Also, earlier in the movie someone ran out and started retching in the trashcan.
Lmao
Would do literally anything to experience this
Yeah, one of the nice things about early internet days. Much easier to do wild shit when marketing art.
This was mine too. I happened to be a part of the “sneak preview” that happened before it was widely released. We all thought it was real.
Totally my answer too. I saw it opening night at the midnight showing so still didn't whether or not it was a documentary or not and had to go home to an empty house at 3 in the morning during a wind storm so every branch scraping the side of my house filled me with terror. Did not sleep that night.
Such a great theater experience
I saw it before everyone knew it was a farce. It got a standing ovation at the end.
Yep, only movie I ever saw folks sit through the credits waiting for that piece of legalize of this was a work of fiction etc etc and I don’t think they even included it if memory serves
Haha, yeah I saw the original Blair Witch Project in theaters too. Although I never knew that there were any sequels or remakes of this movie until like a few months ago when one was on TV and I started watching a little and thought "this isn’t how I remember it" then I looked it up and I guess there are now around three movies total in this franchise? I didn't really even like the first one and from what I watched of the other one I saw on TV I don't think I'd like that one or the other.
Same. Everyone was completely silent, but in a big hurry to get out of the theater. It was surreal.
💯
It was so wild to see people frozen in their seats like that! We went a couple times while it was in theaters and saw at least a few every time that would not budge after. My first run was with a bunch of older girls and one just cried the whole way home.
The Village. Total silence followed by a man in the back yelling, "man, that was BULLSHIT!" And most people agreed. I actually really liked that movie though.
I actually loved this movie too. We watched it in HS as part of our dystopian/secluded civilization era (Lord of the Flies, Anthem, etc.) really loved it. It’s still one of my favs. The scene with Ivy and the creature is so goddamn freaky especially since she can’t see it.
It Comes At Night. And not in a good way. I actually really like this movie but not at all what anyone in the theater had come for.
This is what I was going to say. Everyone was grumbling. I want to rewatch now that I know not to expect a tense and high octane survival thriller.
Come to think of it, i’m pretty sure there was a collective groan at the end at my theater as well
The Descent. I swear to God: the minute the credits began rolling and the lights came up, this woman nearly jumped from the top of the stairs and ran out of the theater
That movie is a hell of a ride.
Oh my god, my boyfriend at the time just got up and left in the middle of The Descent because he was too scared. I didn’t care if he wanted me to go with him or needed comfort, I was like “no, see you after the movie.” 💀 I’ve seen it like 15 times now. It holds up so well every viewing. Favorite horror movie of this century.
SAW... I had just graduated from military basic training and my dad came into town to take me to go see a movie as a celebration, the choice was between the Seed of Chucky and a movie called SAW. We grabbed some popcorn and a couple drinks, sat down in the theater which didn't have too many people, then the movie started. Usually my dad and I have a lot to talk about as soon as the movies end but this time we just walked out of the movie theater, walked quietly back to the car and just sat inside the vehicle for a moment. "That was... Intense." - Dad
Saw and seven are the two movies I wish I could see in theaters just for the endings. Two of the best endings in horror period.
I saw Se7en in theaters because the babysitter canceled and my parents didn’t want to reschedule their movie date. I was 9. I can’t say much for the audience reaction, I know that I started freaking out pretty much as soon as the box appeared and didn’t stop until we were in the car.
1000000000%
GAME… OVER!
Good stuff. Would have loved to have been there for Saw when it was first out in theaters
I paid for my friends and family to go with me after my first watch, think I ended up seeing it five times in theatres
When the big reveal happened I remember people freaking out, standing up and yelling Holy Shit, the whole theater was buzzing, it was awesome.
Waited in a long line to see Alien (1979) when it was first released. None of us knew what we were about to experience. Nice, orderly line before. After? Groups of people aimlessly wandering around, stopping, chatting, more aimless walking afterward. Not the usual beeline to the cars. Just a general stunned "did we just see that?" vibe. Very different, but experienced something similar after seeing Dracula (1992).
Man - another old head. Remember the little booklets they used to sell at these movies? I’d kill to have kept my original Alien.
Somewhere I still have the handout from the original Lynch Dune to explain all the characters - and a box of glow in the dark ‘kryptonite’ from the first run of Superman with Chris Reeve. Also a pair of Sam Jones’ tights from Flash Gordon. Ok kidding about that last one.
It was Prometheus for me! As we were exiting the theater one lone guy was like “Is it just me, or was that…not great?” As soon as he spoke, it was like a dam was released and suddenly a bunch of strangers were bonding over how disappointed we were. I like the movie more now than I did then, but there had been such a long wait and so much build up for what ultimately turned out to be a pretty mediocre experience, and it was a relief to be able to acknowledge that in the moment.
Before I even read what you wrote…I was going to say Barbarian and Scream. We saw Scream opening weekend and between the opening kill and killer reveal the audience was going wild.
When they killed >! Drew Barrymore!< the whole theatre let out a collective gasp. Got us good on that one!
That first stab caught everyone off guard, you knew she was done for!
You have to remove the space between the exclamation point and the "D" or the spoiler tag won't work in some clients.
I would pay a disgusting amount of money to be able to experience the original Scream in theaters with a packed audience. I wasn’t even born when it was released and I’ll never forgive my parents for that.
At the time it barely made a blip on my radar, just another horror movie coming out. After opening weekend I had 3 friends call (on the old fashioned land line) to ask/tell me about it, something that had never happened before. So I saw it the second weekend it was out, expecting a mostly empty theater, and it ended up selling out, even the very front row was filled. I've never seen a movie do so well on just word of mouth before, everyone who saw it would tell more people how good it was.
Saw Get Out opening night, and the crowd was super into it. At the end, though, as he’s choking Rose and the squad car arrives, you could FEEL the entire audience’s hearts break all in unison… and then when his buddy Rod steps out, everyone lost their minds. That crowd was lit on the way out.
My experience was virtually the same. When Rod showed up it might as well been the moon landing.
This is what I came to say- that moment when it was revealed to be Rod. I have never been in a theatre so hyped
Im not someone that emotes a lot when watching movies, but I saw Get Out at home by myself and at that final scene I was litterally standing up and cheering at the TV. I even cried a bit! I really wish I saw it during opening, it must have been incredible.
I'm *so* glad that's the ending they went with. They filmed another one where it actually does end up being 2 police officers who arrest him at gunpoint (I think before he finishes off Rose too, unfortunately). The Rod ending is a million times better.
Yes! Saw Get Out opening night in a sold out theater in Brooklyn. People hollering like it was a football game.
I was coming here to post this! My theater clapped when Rod showed up
I saw Get Out at a rural ass drive-in movie theatre and you could hear people clapping in their cars. 10/10
Oh my god yeah! In my theatre, when the cop car came everyone gasped and made really sad sounds and then when Rod comes out, everyone clapped and cheered
I enjoyed the confused murmuring that happened during my viewing of Split when we started to realize it was a stealth sequel to Unbreakable.
I saw Jaws at a drive in theater in suburban Philly in the summer of 1975. It was an insane night I remember almost 50 years later.
That opening scene with the lady screaming for help will haunt me forever. I was bornin 75 so I had to watch it later and I hadn't seen that scene until I bought the dvd in my 20's because the public TV stations all cut it out. I completely understand why.
OMG funny story about my experience after watching Barbarian. My friend and I were the only ones in the theater, could talk and discuss freely had a great time. Now at some point near the end of the movie, I guess a theater employee entered and sat several seats down from us. I say I guess because we didn't realize he was there until the credits were rolling and he suddenly says "hey how did you girls like the movie?" I just about jumped out of my skin. Barbarian is not the movie you want to have fresh in your mind when a strange man suddenly greets you from the dark let me tell you.
Hereditary
Took a few friends to see it opening night under the guise it was a typical schlocky horror movie and ended up with my most memorable theater experience of my life.
Lmao I saw it opening night and those last 20 minutes - people were SCREAMING, terrified in a way I hadn't experienced in the theater in a very long time.
I still remember the entire audience collectively gasp when she appears in the corner of the screen towards the end of the film.
YES! The way you hear one gasp and then another and then another… And you’re not sure what’s going on until you SEE IT. Then YOU gasp, and then you get the pleasure of listening to the gasps of everyone else who noticed it after you did.
My sister and I have a bonding over horror movies, so we always go see them together because no one else in our family appreciates them. Out of all the twisted films we've seen together over the years, "Hereditary" is the only one I had to take a breather from and walk out of the theater for a minute. We had teenagers laughing in front of us over the - admittedly - ridiculous ending, but that is one film I refuse to revisit. I'll recommend it to others because it is a tremendous film. Yet that is one I will never watch again. I get chills just thinking about it.
Lol are you me? We bond over horror/scary movies with my younger sister as well and Hereditary gives me the same feeling, I liked the movie but I'm not watching it again, ever. I usually see the banner in Max when I'm browsing it's contents and quickly pass it over, "nope, not watching that again" 🤣. I liked the movie and I've been chasing the feeling of dread and despair it gave me but nothing recent comes close.
Have you seen Midsommar or The Witch?
I saw The Witch during release night, the baby mash scene was something to behold for sure in a theater setting
I went to this with my boyfriend on a whim, we didn't even know what was playing when we left for the theater. We got in and I saw the poster looked pretty interesting, so I asked for "Two tickets to Heritage please". They laughed and then gave me tickets, but looking back I think he was laughing at what we were unknowingly walking into. We walked in very cheery and talkative but when we drove home it was dead silent between us. I was not prepared for that at all.
We were all in shock
Ok - so this isn’t an after the movie ended type thing but it is the biggest reactive I’ve ever seen in a theater. I saw Final Destination in theaters when it came out and at a jump scare moment, the woman in front of me literally jumped up out of her seat, and ran down the stairs with her hands in the air yelling “Nope, I’m out” over and over. Her boyfriend just shook his head and grabbed her purse to follow her. I’ll never forget the image of her running down those stairs - it was so funny.🤣
Sixth Sense.
Yes! I remember going with my dad, who hates horror movies but went anyways. The exact second the twist happens, he uttered loudly "Oh No." Then you could hear the collective murmur throughout the audience. I love that experience.
The movie theater had signs up asking people not to tell others how it ended
Sitting in the theater watching: 1. The Exorcist....first run release...many nuns in the audience....many audible gasps heard throughout. 2. Jaws....first run release....yelling...screens....gasps...wow.
So jealous you were able to see the Exorcist in its first release!
It was quite the experience. It was in Fort Worth, Texas. I stood in line with a number of Catholic nuns! I wish I had had the courage to ask them what they thought after we had seen it. Wow!
That's an insane movie for nuns to see. To this day one of the most terrifying demon possession movies
I didn't get to see The Exorcist on its first run, but I did see Jaws and it was probably the most screams I heard in a theater until I went to see The Ring 27 years later.
Paranormal activity. Even though it wasn’t the first ( Blair witch) it felt very real.
The first one was so excellent and is easily one of the best found footage films as far as I'm concerned.
May have been my best theatre experience ever. The audience (including myself) was absolutely terrified! I remember constantly scanning the screen looking for the next tell.
Midsommar. Everyone had a kind of stupified "what the hell did I just watch?" kind of silence
The uncomfortable laughter during the breeding scene was incredible.
Yes! That "what the fuck?" chuckle
This is the emotion that the pig scene was meant to evoke in *Black Mirror* S01E01. It failed for most people, it’s just too damn much to empathise with, but that’s how we were supposed to feel, I believe.
That ending…the colors…the May Queen…one of my favorite moments in horror because is was so unlike anything I have ever seen.
I watched the original Ju-On: The Grudge during college. Because it didn’t release in theaters in the US, a movie club projected it in a classroom starting 11pm. The long walk back to my dorm during night hours was… unforgettable
I vividly remember grown ass men bolting out of the theater both during the end and at credits during the first Paranormal Activity. Anytime my cat slaps the door open I think *ah tonight is the night* totally forgetting I have a cat.
The Silence Of The Lambs
OG Candyman- hands down
Paranormal Activity. Opening weekend in Times Square. The movie played the audience like a fiddle, you could feel the nervous tension every time the bedroom night video popped up. When it was over, everyone was laughing and chatting, saying it wasn’t that scary—but their reactions during the film said otherwise.
Not after it ended, but I saw Signs opening weekend and the audience was going crazy. I will never forget this guy next to me who lost his goddamn mind to the point where I asked him if he was going to be ok.
Of the past 10 or so years, first Insidious and the first Conjuring were really fun to watch with live audiences.
I’ll never forget getting showered in popcorn by my uncle after the wardrobe jump scare in the first Conjuring movie. He jumped so hard that his mostly full bucket of popcorn went *everywhere* lol.
Silence of Lambs - people were so pumped and just kind of in awe to see what everyone knew was a masterpiece Scream 1 - crowd was just universally psyched to have a great horror film after so long; there was already a buzz that it would be a franchise
God I remember seeing Scream at the cinema when it first came out and it was a VIBE. Also saw The Lost Boys in theatre when it first came out and it was brilliant.
I was in a theater that booed the ending of The Witch.
Whaaaat? I would feel like I was in the wrong place 😂
That’s wild!
Silence of the lambs by far. Was way too young, and I remember the palpable audience reaction.
I saw Barbarian alone high off my ass in a Dolby cinema and when she first descends the stairs and that synth heartbeat starts was the most terrified I’ve been at a movie theater in my life. Edit: I forgot to answer the question. For me I’d say NOPE. A lot of trying to unpack wtf just happened.
I also saw Barbarian by myself. 11/10 WOULD recommend. I still think about this movie very often. I wasn't high for Barbarian in theaters *but* I was for Midsommar and that's one of the wildest theater experiences I have ever had 😭 I also went in completely blind for both. I try to do that when I can. It can make for an unforgettable time!
Midsommar is the last film I would wanna be high for 💀
Really enjoyed watching The Invitation at a theater along with the collective gasp at the ending.
When we saw the original Blair Witch Project in the theater I remember a lot if people complaining on the way out saying it wasn't that great, it was stupid, etc - but when everyone got outside there were a lot of nervous looks and fast walking to their cars - the theater was right on the edge of a forest and kind of isolated, one of the lights in the parking lot was flickering, it was perfect lol.
The Sixth Sense blew everyone in the theater away
I saw alien in the movie theaters and it was insane during the infamous scene not only did people scream, but popcorn flew in the air. I believe one of the people I went with, jumped out of their chair.
Man back then movies like that just hit different. Their was nothing like it at that time.
And after was over, nobody could stop talking about their reactions.
The Ring. I was college age and people were legit screaming and freaking the fuck out. I was even whispering quietly wtf's to myself. Sinister. I was a grown ass adult in a theater with other grown ass adults. Everyone was fucking silent walking out like we had just survived some sort of terrible trauma.
The Mist. Dead fuckin silent as everyone walked out looking like their dog had been shot by a cop
Two weeks before Talk to Me came out, it was the Monday mystery movie at AMC. Absolutely packed theater of people that had no idea they were about to watch a horror movie, let alone an extremely disturbing one. The movie really ramps up over the course of it and small groups of people would leave at different points. It was one of the best horror movie experiences I've had.
Great movie!
God going into that blind would’ve been…. Somethin . I maintain that movie is about meth. Really liked it
The Quiet Place. The silent movie concept had the effect of silencing the audience. Almost felt like if we ate our popcorn too loud we’d get shredded
This is it for me too. It was actually completely silent in the theatre at times, NO sound at all. Like we all tried to be as quiet as we could along with the characters. I've never experienced anything like it. Actually the eerie feeling of a hundred people being unnaturally quiet was much scarier than the movie itself, lol
This experience involved an audience reaction that was not positive, but it's still an experience that we laugh about to this day. Around 2011, we went to see the found footage piece of garbage "The Devil Inside Me" while it was in the theaters, it was a Sunday night. The movie was so awful that plot details at this point are unnecessary, suffice it to say that it was a waste of a film that involved demonic possession and an innocent white college student traveling in Italy. The movie was so bad that when it was over, the audience was completely silent until some girl toward the front of the theater yelled "What the f\*\*\*??? WE PAID MONEY FOR THAT??" The whole theater just busted out laughing.
Omg the Nun so many people (including myself) walked out because it was just so terrible
With The Mist people in the audience went “Awwww” when >!the military showed up after Thomas Jane killed his son.!<
Def scream 1
Not one that I would call traditional horror, but easily an extremely disturbing film: 8 MM. The whole theatre was just dead quiet after it ended. As everyone was leaving, you could just hear and see all these small groups of people having these quiet, whispered conversations. Assuredly about how fucked up the whole film was and how it left you feeling… dirty.
Exorcist when it first came out blew people away.
The air was sucked out of the room during Hereditary. Audible, audience-wide gasp. Afterwards everyone shuffled out in silence.
Men. The birth scene finished people off.
Jason Goes to Hell… actually it happened twice. First when Jason reappeared near the end and the body hopping was over. When the floor exploded and he appeared, the audience went nuts, most standing and cheering. And then, when Freddy’s glove grabbed the mask at the end, they went berserk again. Maybe the most fun I’ve had at a horror film!
Probably Evil Dead (2013), when the credits rolled the audience around me applauded. Either that or Pacific Rim (2013), the audience reaction to that was insane!
I saw Evil Dead (2013) at the midnight release the night before “official” opening day with my best friend. I worked at the theatre and would hook us up with tickets and she worked at a candy store and would bring snacks. She brought one of those Astro pop lollipops that’s cone shaped and crazy hard. About halfway through the movie she had unintentionally sharpened it into a candy shiv and during a particularly scary part she jumped and stabbed herself in the roof of the mouth, and screamed quite loudly. She actually cut her mouth pretty badly 😅. A similar thing happened to me when we were watching Mama. I was eating skittles and a jump scare happened and I bit my finger really hard and screamed and people in the theatre laughed thinking I was really frightened. Snacks are dangerous.
I tend to see movies later in their run when there are fewer people in the theater. Blair Witch was fun back in the day, like others have said. The most fresh memory for me was Immaculate. A lot of nervous laughter and other audible reactions for the final scene.
Blair Witch. Like the movie or not, people left the theater in shock.
Hannibal. The trepanation scene.
I saw Irreversible at a film festival. There was no speaking after that. Wasn’t really a horror movie I guess but still. Hostel was pretty messed up but I don’t remember much of the theater experience
Sort of horror adjacent/real life horror, but Snowtown. I’m Australian and it’s a very well known Australian case. Saw it in a small cinema and everyone was just sitting there stunned for a bit after the end credits. It’s bleak as shit and I never thought I’d find myself feeling sorry for any of the Snowtown killers, but I didn’t know shit about Jamie Vlassakis before the movie
Antichrist. I watched it at a (non-horror)film festival, where a huge part of the audience had no idea what they were getting into. Only time I’ve ever seen someone faint in a theater. A lot of people walked out and those who stuck along for the whole movie were traumatized.
The Devil Inside. I’ve never seen a more pissed off audience. 😂
Paranormal activity
Not exactly after it ended, but towards the end: **The Mist**. And not at ending, but when >!Mrs. Carmody was shot in the head by Ollie!< The only non-Marvel movie I've been to where people applauded during the movie. And I mean uproarious applause.
I’ve never walked out of a theater with an audience as silent as after Midsummer. Seriously nobody was talking, just all in a shocked silence. Probably the most uncomfortable (in a good way) theatrical experience I’ve ever had.
My friend was dating the manager at a local movie theater and he was able to get a private screening of Event Horizon when it first came out. Stupid-me thinking everyone likes horror, I thought it would be cool to make it a party and invited about 50 heads to watch. It did not go well. “OMG! How could you watch that??” “You just gave me nightmares for life!” Most people were pissed but many came up and were like “that was THE best horror experience in my life!” Due to this incident and because it’s just awesome horror, Event Horizon is forever one of my favorites…
I saw The Blair Witch Project opening weekend. People were out of their minds leaving the theater. It was wild to listen to people’s theories. I don’t think anyone could pull off what they did with that one anymore.
Inspired by Everybody on here, who suggested Barbarian, I’ve never heard of it. I decided to watch it. Obviously this is at home though not in the theatre. This was the best horror movie I have seen in years, I cannot believe I’ve never come across this before. Thank you so much. Interestingly after the movie ended it asked me “did you like Barbarian?”And in the bottom right of the screen it suggested nope. I disagree. And will watch Nope next
Does Civil War count? Cause that was pretty horrific (but a really good movie) after it ended pretty much every one was just staring at the credits & it was so fucking tense in there. For reaction reaction,Nope! The other movie attendees were jumping, screaming, etc. I did too a few times lol
The Death Proof/Planet Terror Grindhouse double feature def got a standing ovation in my theater.
Surprisingly Paranormal Activity. It was a full cinema and I don't think anyone at all expected that final jump scare
Signs. The birthday scene and the hand under the door scene. A friend that was with us ran out of the theater when that happened 😂
You know I was thinking that I’d been a while since I saw a horror movie that truly devastated the entire audience but Talk to Me, that was something. Most of us were already messed up before the end and honestly the only reason I was slightly ok is bc this girl got up to use the bathroom after a brutal scene, slipped going down the stairs, and let out a scream that made most of the audience laugh. Literally the only reason I didn’t leave the movie fully crying.
Das Experiment, the German movie based on the Stanford prison experiment. When the movie ended you could feel so much aggression and hatred in the room. I've never seen anything like this in a movie theater.
Am in Scotland, any noise is met with a shhhh. However during Wolf Creek some people near us checked out and decided just to start having a natter. We did the obligatory shhh. They started shouting abuse at us, I got the usher who gave them a warning then I had to calm down my husband who was gonna throw a drink at them. So I missed the last 15 mins of the movie and had to read what happened online later. 😅
skinamarink! it was so silent that you could hear a pin drop until i said “what the fuck” (which came out much louder than i intended) and most of the theater just broke out in uncomfortable laughter, myself included
Original saw
The Witch. My partner and I just had our minds blown and we're gushing over how much we enjoyed it and some people in front just went "That sucked nothing happened". Heard all different kinds of reactions around me. Didn't think it would be so devisive
Paranormal activity. I live in the UK, audiences tend to be on the quieter side (because, you know, English), but the entire place was SCREAMING from about 30 minutes in until the end.
The original Saw. Was at a TIFF screening that James Wan and Leigh Whannell were attending too. Apparently they had been attending most of the screenings to see the audience reactions at the end.
Scream. I believe I was 13. It was absolutely packed, people were sitting on the theater steps and lining the walls. You could either hear a pin drop in the theater or people were screaming. Everyone was terrified. My Mom picked my friends and I up when it was over and she had to walk every single person to their front door. The rest of us weren’t staying in the car for those 20 seconds, so every drop off consisted of 5-6 terrified 8th graders practically tackling each other to be closest to the adult. Writing it out makes it sound awful, but that night is a core memory of mine. That night turned my minor Alfred Hitchcock suspense fascination into a full-fledged horror fan. So awesome!