HAVE YOU EVER ATTENDED A THEATRICAL SCREENING OF A FILM WITH A GIMMICK BESIDES 3-D?

Maybe it was Smell-O-Vision, you received an electric tingle through your chair, you were able to vote for an ending as the movie played, you had thirty seconds of thinking time to guess the killer, or maybe the seats vibrated when there was an earthquake happening in the film. Who here is fortunate enough (or just plain old enough) to have experienced that Golden Age of cinema when gimmicks (not just 3-D) were all the rage as movies competed with television for audiences? Also, has anyone been at a theatrical screening where barf bags were handed out to audience members?

I just saw Grease for the first time in a sing-a long version.

am too young to have been a part of William Castle’s screenings (tho they could have or should have done similar tricks for John Goodman’s Castle inspired film Matinee or a fun horror flick like Popcorn)

I saw Haxan with a live heavy metal band accompaniment.

I’m not certain if William Castle ever thought of this one, but one idea I’ve just had is a film with people trapped inside a blazing inferno, where the heating system would be turned up inside the cinema to make the audience swelter.

Many years ago now, back when “Titanic” was at cinemas in Australia, one of the theatres at the Crown Casino movie complex had its sprinklers go off by mistake, drenching the audience. Amazingly, it seems as if the audience thought it was part of the show. Mr Castle would have been proud.

I saw Metropolis outdoors with live accompaniment from a trip-hop band whose name I don’t recall. Other than that, I don’t think so.

“To make a real war movie would be to occasionally fire at the audience from behind the screen during a battle scene. But word-of-mouth from casualties wouldn’t help the film to sell tickets.” —Sam Fuller

Not quite the 50es, but I saw “Earthquake” during its original run in ‘74.
The great lady who ran the theatre in our small town had sprung for the full Sensurround touring package (the subs, amps and generator) so there was a whole lot o’ shaking going on during certain sequences.

(She had to stop this when “Rollercoaster” came out in Sensurround, because by then she had added two smaller theatres below the main one….)

When I saw “The Fog” during its first run in 1980, I was given a “certificate of survival” after the film.

Claus, I was hoping someone here would’ve seen (and felt!) “Earthquake” during its original run, with “Sensurround” included. Not only that, you got Marjoe Gortner as Jody and Victoria Principal with the afro and THAT t-shirt! Of course, you’d take Victoria Principal anyway you could get her in those days.

A “certificate of survival” for sitting through “The Fog”? They should hand those out after “Twilight” screenings!

I saw ROLLERCOASTER with the Sensurround, such as it was.

Film Forum in NYC, many years ago, did a series called GIMMICK O RAMA, which featured screenings of THE TINGLER with the Percepto wired seats. Great fun.

And no one mentions Odorama? I still have one of the cards for POLYESTER somewhere…

Roscoe, now you’re showing your age!

Still, you are most fortunate to have experienced these films at the theatre, with added gimmicks, an extinct brand of cinema to be sure.

I’ve read about Odorama, the little cards you scratch and inhale at certain points in the film. Those cards must be collector items!

One gimmick I don’t think anyone has tried is an erotic film where a sensuous woman sits in your laps and you get to grope her goodies…but I think that would be too costly, and trying it on with the lady nearest you might be too dangerous.

I’ve never seen a 3-D movie, and to be honest the idea doesn’t appeal to me, unless it’s an authentic revival of some movie from the 1950s-1970s period. Also, the glasses would HAVE to be the old model with one red lens, one blue lens. Nothing else shall do!

I went to see Trouble Man at the Alamo Drafthouse where you got a free 40 oz malt liquor with your ticket.

Well, if we can include 3-D, then I suffered through one of the films from the “first revival” of the format in the 70es.
A masterpiece called “Comin’ at Ya!”…the title alone should suggest this wasn’t exactly Ozu.

The one moment that stays with me, to the best of my memory:
A man is slammed against a wire fence and impaled with a hollow metal pipe. The man remains upright, the camera dollies in until we sit looking at the very end of the pipe right at our noses. After a beat or two, blood starts dripping out….

That’s entertainment.

Ok, you made me dig it out. Translation below:

“Tågen” means “The Fog.”

SURVIVAL CERTIFICATE.

“It is hereby certified that Claus L. Harding has survived the evil spirits, the inhuman terrors and the devilish shocks, the chilling jolts and the horrors which all lurk in The Fog, and that the abovementioned has has emerged from the cinema with his mind and senses thoroughly shaken – but still in his possession.”

A lot of purple prose for a pretty poor film.

Man, the TROUBLE MAN soundtrack KILLS!

…I miss the Alamo…

lol weird! The Fog isn’t that scary…

There’s a showing of Zombie next month in ATL where a scene from the movie will be recreated in the lobby… I guess that counts as a gimmick! I’ll let you know how it is if I go.