Dori S.
Yelp
The Lake Theatre - Where the Horror Movie is the Audience
Yesterday I went to the Lake Theatre for the first time in many, many years to see a horror movie. Unfortunately, due to loud, unruly teens and an overly tolerant theatre policy...my experience there turned out to the be real horror story.
It could not have begun more innocently. I departed the bustling city to return to the sweet village of my youth and enjoy a movie with my mother. We bought our very reasonably priced tickets in advance and purchased delicious and reasonably priced nibblies. Everyone who worked at the theatre was professional and friendly. Smiling faces everywhere. The stage was set for a pleasant evening.
After we sat down in the darkened theatre, there was foreshadowing of the events to come. Four noisy teenagers in the row directly behind us talked rambunctiously through the previews. Should we have left then? Should we have predicted the evil that was to come? NO! It was just the previews...or so we naively believed.
As the movie began and the credits slowly unfurled, we continued to hear pockets of conversations throughout the theatre. This menacing threat to movie enjoyment lay hidden throughout the dark corners and recesses of the theatre...loud, rude, oblivious teenagers.
A couple minutes into the film, like a killer slowly stalking its doomed prey in the woods, 5 teens entered the theatre and walked down the aisle while laughing and talking ABOVE a normal conversational level. I could feel the fear rising in my chest. The bloody murder of my evening was just around the next darkened corner.
Then, without warning, two teens sat down to our right, continued their conversation and began texting. I missed a couple lines of dialogue and their phones sliced cold, eerie beams of light through the darkness, cruelly disemboweling any chance of being swept into the world of the movie.
The final death blow was 10 minutes into the film, when three more loud, young kids approached from the left, dragging with them one adorable boy of about 7 years old. I had no idea that kids under 18 could bring a 7-year old into an R-rated horror film. As they unapologetically stepped on my feet, blocked my view of the screen and continued their conversation, I searched the theatre for a hero, someone to save us all from this merciless massacre. Perhaps Super Usher?! All I saw was more several groups of people, of various ages, entering the theatre late in search of seats.
Outnumbered and surrounded, there was only one way we could prevent our movie experience from being cruelly slaughtered...leave and live to view this movie another day!
The theater manager was an absolute sweetheart and refunded my money immediately. I explained to her what happened, to which she pleadingly and politely stated, "I know, it's horrible, but they're teenagers. What can we do?" Welllllll....it might help to at least show one clip that asks moviegoers to be polite and not talk during the movie or use their phones, also put this messages on posters outside and near the theatre entrances and perhaps enforce said policy. But I also understand the difficulty of silencing such a large portion of the audience and the hellish nightmare of dealing with parents who dropped off their kids in the "safety" of the theatre only to find they were booted for being noisy.
I give the Lake Theatre one star due to great prices, a friendly staff and my personal bias for my hometown. But the whole point is to enjoy a movie, which cannot be done here. Since I like my horror on the screen, not in the audience, I will not be returning.
Thank you Lake Theatre for 20+ years of awesomeness. I will miss you!
