The Curse of AMC Hamilton 24's Theater #24
I have a confession to make: movie theaters make me a little nervous. Chalk it up to a cocktail of anxiety and watching the news too much. I am never 100% comfortable while watching a movie in a theater, and haven’t been for quite a few years. Usually though, I am able to relax a few minutes into the film I’m watching and enjoy the experience.
There is one theater, however, that is absolutely cursed. This is a movie theater that I may have sat in before 2019, but it was Oscar season of this past year that made it very clear: Hamilton’s AMC 24’s last theater has problems. Big ones. It’s a tiny theater at the very end of the hallway, one that must always play indie movies or older releases, because it doesn’t have a big capacity at all. I wouldn’t have remembered the theater number normally, except that Tom and I had two weird movie-going experiences within weeks of each other.
The first was when we excitedly attended a showing of the not-yet-Oscar-winning Parasite. I was so pumped to see this movie, and was looking forward to it all week. Tom and I walked into the theater with plenty of time, and sat down to...nothing. Dead silence. Blank screen. Where was Maria Menounos? When was I going to be told by the M&Ms not to call or text during the movie? It became more unsettling as the theater filled up with more confused patrons. Everyone sat there patiently for TWENTY FIVE MINUTES waiting for something--anything! Eventually, someone must have left the theater and tracked down the right employee because out of nowhere began...the movie. Not a preview or an AMC A-List commercial to be found. It was a little jarring to have this happen, but we shrugged it off and ended up having a stand out movie experience.
Not long after, maybe two weeks or so, the two of us took another trip down 295 and strolled all the way back to theater 24 to see Jojo Rabbit. There was a weird air around us, with a few groups of people milling about outside of the door. Tom opened the theater door, we took a few steps inside...and the smell hit us. Someone had to have puked in the previous showing. It literally smelled like the chunkiest, freshest throw up in the universe.
After we immediately spun on our heels and walked back out, we stood a few feet away and watched as couple after couple tried their luck in the theater, and promptly hurried back out. Multiple employees attempted to find the source of the offending smell, with no luck. Someone changed the garbage can outside of the theater, which was the human equivalent of the shrug emoji.
Eventually, we were allowed in the theater and we filed in, surrounded by a cloud of air freshener. The air freshener could not cover up what we quickly realized was not puke, but poop. Someone definitely pooped in the theater. How could I mistake puke and poop? The odor was seriously impressive. Most of us were determined to watch this Academy Award nominee, but we did have a couple that stood in the aisle for a few moments, shook their heads, and walked out. Amateurs.
Listen, the poop smell was pretty bad for awhile. Eventually it either went away, or we just acclimated to it, and the movie was so so good. I left the theater thankful that we didn’t allow the offending scent to ruin our time. I think the only regret I have is that we never found out where the smell came from. Did we sit in a theater with a secret pile of poop for two hours? We will never know.
Right now, we can’t go to the movie theater. I can’t say that I’m heartbroken over it, even though a good movie theater experience makes for a special, memorable night. What I will say is that when we can return to Hamilton AMC 24, I kind of want to see that our ticket says Theater 24. Who knows what that cursed room will bring us next?