a very very long time ago when I was a preteen? I don't remember and I don't want to look up the year this film came out to be sure - I and two classmates had a sleepover. as part of that we had tickets to see Coyote Ugly in the local cinema. this was a small town and small cinema, but even so it was a bit weirdly empty on the evening we went - it wasn't empty-empty, but there weren't a lot of people around, and it was a weekend (no sleepovers during school days). we were the only ones there for Coyote Ugly (iirc the cinema had 2 other theatres with other films going), so the three of us had the theatre for ourselves.
when the movie ended, nobody turned up to open the doors again - not the one to the exit, and not the one that led back into the cinema. we thought that was a bit odd but decided to go back out through the cinema rather than try the other door. we enter the big lobby.....and all the lights are off. nobody is around. the ticket booth is empty. nobody is in the kiosk. it is DARK. we think it's weird, but we aren't like, scared? and the doors to the outside are these typical glass doors you can see through, and plenty of light from street lamps etc outside came in, we could see - it wasn't pitch dark. and it's (in hindsight) a small lobby. we were like 11 or something I don't know, it seemed big to us at the time. we just start walking towards the doors - and we're chatting, nothing out of the ordinary really, though we are also kind of like 'where is everybody? did they close already? do you think those doors are locked?' and about halfway towards the doors AN ALARM STARTS BLARING and we FREEZE and look at each other and then SCREAM "RUN!!" and we run to the outside doors, which are not locked, and out, while yelling things like "HURRY!" and "WHAT IS HAPPENING". I genuinely can't remember what happened after this, if we kept running or what, but I'm 100% sure one of their parents picked us up and was likely waiting for us at the agreed pick up point when we came out (this was before everyone had mobile phones). we were definitely freaked out by the alarm suddenly going off and were more scared about being 'caught' because people thought we were thieves, than anything else!
to this day I still don't know if a bored employee was just fucking with us, or if they had genuinely shut down the cinema and forgot we were in there. I'm guessing in the latter case the doors to the outside might have been only locked from the outside (fire safety? they had those push bars in the middle like you see on emergency exits). they might also have been in the process of shutting down the cinema, but I have a hard time believing the alarm would be turned on *before* the public doors were locked. either way, this is a mystery I'll likely never solve.
as for the movie, it was OK I guess? we were a bit 'ehh okay' about it. I haven't seen it since because I've not felt any need to see it again, but I still remember the song from the bar scene, and random other scenes from it, so I guess it must've left an impression anyway. maybe I wouldn't have remembered this much from it if not for the weird experience afterwards!
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when the movie ended, nobody turned up to open the doors again - not the one to the exit, and not the one that led back into the cinema. we thought that was a bit odd but decided to go back out through the cinema rather than try the other door. we enter the big lobby.....and all the lights are off. nobody is around. the ticket booth is empty. nobody is in the kiosk. it is DARK. we think it's weird, but we aren't like, scared? and the doors to the outside are these typical glass doors you can see through, and plenty of light from street lamps etc outside came in, we could see - it wasn't pitch dark. and it's (in hindsight) a small lobby. we were like 11 or something I don't know, it seemed big to us at the time. we just start walking towards the doors - and we're chatting, nothing out of the ordinary really, though we are also kind of like 'where is everybody? did they close already? do you think those doors are locked?' and about halfway towards the doors AN ALARM STARTS BLARING and we FREEZE and look at each other and then SCREAM "RUN!!" and we run to the outside doors, which are not locked, and out, while yelling things like "HURRY!" and "WHAT IS HAPPENING". I genuinely can't remember what happened after this, if we kept running or what, but I'm 100% sure one of their parents picked us up and was likely waiting for us at the agreed pick up point when we came out (this was before everyone had mobile phones). we were definitely freaked out by the alarm suddenly going off and were more scared about being 'caught' because people thought we were thieves, than anything else!
to this day I still don't know if a bored employee was just fucking with us, or if they had genuinely shut down the cinema and forgot we were in there. I'm guessing in the latter case the doors to the outside might have been only locked from the outside (fire safety? they had those push bars in the middle like you see on emergency exits). they might also have been in the process of shutting down the cinema, but I have a hard time believing the alarm would be turned on *before* the public doors were locked. either way, this is a mystery I'll likely never solve.
as for the movie, it was OK I guess? we were a bit 'ehh okay' about it. I haven't seen it since because I've not felt any need to see it again, but I still remember the song from the bar scene, and random other scenes from it, so I guess it must've left an impression anyway. maybe I wouldn't have remembered this much from it if not for the weird experience afterwards!