It was, without question, one of the greatest movie going experiences I've ever had.
To start with, the theatre itself is in the auditorium of an old school in Midtown Detroit. The school isn't really in use anymore, at least not as a full time school. It's worth noting here that I love Detroit. All those bad things you've heard? None of them came from me. This is, without question, my city. And if there's something interesting going on, I'm in. Though, I will admit that I skipped out of the chicken races last summer, and I'm still bummed about it, but that's a story for some other time.
It goes without saying that, thanks to the internet, I knew what The Room was. I'd seen clips and read reviews. My friends and I knew it would be bad. Needless to say, we decided drinking was going to be a good idea. We brought small bottles and flasks in an effort to be discrete. This effort was all for naught, however, as we watched many people bringing in fifths and six packs.
The Room itself was as awful as anticipated, but the real fun in a movie like this comes from the crowd you see it with. It's a movie meant to be watched with many people yelling at the screen. There's no way it would be an enjoyable experience sitting in your living room watching it. It's too awful for that. You need an audience of people yelling 'Who the hell are you?' at the people randomly making out on the couch. You need the people cheering on the pan across the Golden Gate Bridge. You need people throwing plastic spoons at the screen. Without that, you're just watching a bad movie.
Plan 9 From Outer Space is a bad movie. Death Bed: The Bed That Eats is a bad movie. The Room is a terrible movie that belongs in the discussion of Worst Movie Ever with the likes of Plan 9 and Death Bed. In the right setting though, The Room is a hell of a lot of fun.
