Crowds Or No Crowds?

[Mitch Henessey]

Reading other reviews, comments, and listening to podcasts, a packed and energetic theater full of people making the movie more enjoyable is something that pops up every now and then. Does anyone else enjoy watching a movie at a theater with a bigger crowd?

Usually, I try to make it to an early showing, so I can avoid the crowds and the lines. I go back and forth between a big multiplex with 24 screens, and a smaller movie theater with 13 screens, and maybe I'm sliding into that get off my lawn stage, but I always have a more enjoyable experience, when the theater is nearly empty.

I remember reading a review for the original V/H/S, and the guy that wrote it said he had a good time, because his theater was full of screams, and people fidgeting around during the jump scares. Watching a movie with a more excited crowd can be fun sometimes, but you'll always have the group of numskulls, who feel the need to excessively laugh, clap, scream, and loudly overreact to what's happening in the movie.

 

[JoeMallard]

Movies like Star Wars and anything involving Superheroes I tend to like being with an audience that are as big of fans as me, plus I know I'll most likely being seeing them again with a smaller audience.

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

I prefer an empty cinema. When it's full there's too much noise from other people and it takes longer to get out.

 

[Dagger Dias]

It just depends on the scenario and how loud the crowd is. Being part of a bigger crowd has the potential to be really fun, but it comes down to if the other people watching with you are all able to keep the noise down. It ruins the experience if people are making loud obnoxious comments during important scenes of the movie, for instance. Or even if it's smaller things like if the people in front of you keep talking or if someone starts texting on their phone causing a distraction by their screen being lit up when you're trying to watch. If there's few people in the room watching with you then you're more likely to have less distractions thus a potentially better experience. Being alone in the theater or in a room with very few people can be boring to some. One thing is for sure though.... obnoxious crowds ruin a movie whereas polite crowds can make it more fun. If I had to pick then for me it is no crowds. I don't want obnoxious people talking or being loud during the movie. I've had multiple movie experiences ruined by that.