Ghosts and hauntings have long been a popular choice for film and television. The recent film, 1408, based on a short story by Stephen King, and starring John Cusack, is bound to be a winner for those who like to be thoroughly scared. But those going to watch the film might just get more than they bargained for …
Supernatural writer Mike Enslin takes life to a different level when he, as part of his research on all things ghostly, books into room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel. The room is said to be haunted – as the film trailer warns: “no one lasts more than an hour.” The good news for Enslin is the reputed 56 deaths in the room – guaranteed copy for his next book, that and the $800 whisky, offered by the Manager to fortify him during his stay. It didn’t help.
Although a little thin on depth, the film is awash with drama and special effects. The blood pouring down the walls is a particularly nice touch, as is the spine-tingling walk Enslin makes along a ledge 13 floors above the street – looking for a window into the next room, only of course there isn’t one. Two of the most chilling moments are when he finally makes it back to 1408 only to find the room plan has changed, there are no other rooms, only his. In desperation he turns back to the window, to find it has been bricked up. And of course the door is locked. A radio alarm clock reminds him of the time; he survives the hour, only to have it start all over again.
You might be excused in thinking that all this activity is enough for one night out. But the staff of the Odeon Cinema in Worcester didn’t think so. “We often run promotional events,” says Steve Annetts of Marketing. “It seemed a good opportunity to tie in this event with the film.”
The event in question was a psychic evening, timed to start just before midnight, straight after the viewing of the film. The cinema itself has a long history, being built on the site of an older Silver Cinema, which itself replaced the Empire Music Hall, located in the same building. And well before that, the land was a burial ground for victims of the 1637 plague. As for the current Odeon, constructed in 1939 but not completed and opened until 1950, and a classic example of art deco architecture, there have been reports of an atmosphere, cold spots and things falling off walls. Clearly anything could happen.
Ghosts in cinemas, it seems, are surprisingly common. Some suggest emotions, evoked by the laughter and tears on-screen, are stored in the bricks and mortar. Another idea is that memories of ‘good old days’ long since gone, remain as energy in the building or its successors. After all, many hauntings are reputed to be by former staff and customers, no doubt dismayed to find their favourite venue replaced by a supermarket. And then there’s the theory that ghosts are telepathic images, with sensitive people picking up on past vibrations and former lives.
Of course, there’s always the personal touch. Martin Tapsell tells of Peter of Hull, a former cinema enthusiast, whose interest gave him the role of projectionist and technician at the Hull Film Theatre. Just a year after his death, a new projectionist, Jamie, was working one afternoon, during a matinee showing of A Passage to India. He saw the shadow of a man, turned to see who it was, and the voice said: “Tell Margaret I’m alright.” Now Jamie had never met Peter, but he knew who he was and was quick to relay his experience to the duty manager, who passed it on to Margaret, Peter’s widow. He didn’t have to go far. Margaret had been there, watching the film, that very afternoon.
Although A Passage to India isn’t a ghost film, there is a long history of ghostly presences on screen, from the genuinely chilling such as The Uninvited (1944), The Haunting (1999) and The Others (2001) to the more light-hearted and humorous such as Ghost (1990) and Blithe Spirit (1945). But whether on film or in life, it seems that ghosts will go to any means to make their presence known. In 1974, as highlighted by Martin Tapsell, the Manchester Evening News reported on the problems conversion work had brought to Accrington’s Classic Cinema.
A blue light, curtains closing of their own accord and icy hands on a workman’s shoulders were just some of the signs. According to a medium, the cause of the trouble was an irate workman, killed on site when the cinema was being constructed in the 1930s. But cinema management wasn’t shy in dealing with the problem. They employed the services of a priest and had the cinema quietly exorcised, a choice strangely reminiscent of that in The Exorcist, the 1973 award-winning horror film.
Nor are hauntings limited to the old and atmospheric. Built in 1999, one multiplex cinema in Kent, has been the scene of strange incidents in Screen No. 6, from the time the cinema was built. Several people have seen the same man sitting in the one particular seat during films, and before the cinema opens. Later research showed that Screen 6 was built on the site of a house where a man was murdered many years ago.
But what about Worcester’s psychic evening? Clairvoyant Medium, Jayne Frost and her colleagues picked up quite a few nuances. Working with spirits is like “opening a door to the past,” she says. She was aware that the energy inside the building was different, when she visited the cinema a few days before the event. And on the evening itself, “it was very intense, there was a lot of spirit activity. When I came down from the stage, it felt cold and draughty, like spirits were walking past. And not because someone had left a door open.”
In particular, there were references to the music hall days, with a couple who’d come to see a performance, the woman dressed in green. There was also an odd jobs man, and another in his 50s, whose job it was to pull the curtains.
So what did the cinema staff think? Steve Annetts, who arranged the event says: “I really enjoyed it. The evening was a great success, we had almost a full house and it turned out really well.”
Well, yes, if you’re in the cinema business, a full house is what you’re aiming for. But you’d better be sure that all of the ‘customers’ have actually paid for their seat …
Note: For more detailed information on cinema hauntings and some of the experiences described above, visit Ben Dowell’s web pages: mawgrim.sathosting.net/ghosts/legends.htm. Ben has worked in cinemas since he was 19 and has been a projectionist for much of this time.
