a collective groan, a sigh

Film The AV Club reveal their worst movie going experiences. I saw The Phantom Menace on the morning it opened in a tiny screen at the multiplex on Edge Lane (I think it was still called the MGM) with a print that looked like someone had driven a van over it and a rubbish audience of talkers and eaters. That's nothing in comparison to this:

Just as the film started, a small boy, maybe 7 or 8 years old, burst into tears somewhere down front. He continued wailing hysterically through the opening crawl. Anticipation for Phantom Menace was high at the time—oh, little did we know—and it was a completely full house, so keyed-up people almost immediately started yelling “Shut that kid up!” and “Get him the fuck out of here, you asshole!” So the boy’s father started shouting back, “We paid to be here too!” and “YOU shut up, goddammit!”

Around the same time, I saw The Blair Witch Project in a packed audience at the Odeon on London Road. I loved the film and still do, but I could tell that most of the audience in that screening simply couldn't understand the aesthetic and were becoming increasingly hostile. Ultimately, as the film reached its climax there was a collective groan, a sigh and people were already leaving even before the on-screen camera crashed to the ground.