my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film-Yak   » Haunted or Hoax? (Page 2)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Author Topic: Haunted or Hoax? Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 02-05-2003 07:58 PM                        Bernard, I read through the entire long post but there were no ghost stories in it! I feel cheated! Just one guy swinging from a rope is not enough. He has to come back and grab somebody at least once. Gracia, you may not realise it, but you are in deep trouble. Confronting a black ghost directly is not a wise thing to do! He may not have reacted much and simply left, but be advised, these are wicked and he will be back. Probably soon. I do not want to upset you. But now that I have told you, you may have at least a - slight - chance. BTW, my last theater was haunted by an apparition called "The Theater Manager". I wished he was a hoax, but unfortunately, he was real. [ 02-06-2003, 10:45 AM: Message edited by: Michael Schaffer ]  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 02-05-2003 11:08 PM                     Josh said: quote: "What is a ghost? A tradgedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? A moment of pain perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time; Like a blurred Photograph; Like an insect trapped in Amber. A ghost, Thats what I am." That film still gives me the chills ...and I'm gonna haunt Josh's booth, since I helped him build the damned thing. No need to worry, Josh. I will be a friendly ghost.  |  IP: Logged Gracia L. Babbidge Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 709 From: Bowdoin, Maine Registered: Aug 2000 posted 02-06-2003 03:06 AM                        Jon - oh yeah, I do remember wha the mall used to look like! When I was just a wee lass, I went shopping with my grandmother just about every Saturday, and our shopping almost always seemed to bring us to the malls of that city (& it's neighbor). They eventually did put a club / bar type of place out back. On top of that, a restaurant / bar opened right next to the theater. You can always here the bass booming from next door on Karaoke night, nights with DJ's, nights with bands, and even just the jukebox, all throughout the lobby, in the restrooms, and the office! What can be even worse than that it that they have a banquet room out back... When that gets rented out, we tend to have to go over there and insist on them turning the sound down, as that room is much closer to the auditoriums (especially 7-10), and their music is so loud that it interferes with our presentation! But, yeah, we see the five-oh drive through the lot, often. Leo - I find it fascinating to visit places where interesting energies are at work. Generally though, I find graveyards to be rather peaceful. I live relatively close to Fort Williams, which certainly has some places with intense energies at work. I'm also not too far from Ferry Beach, which has some beautifully peaceful energy going on. I get the impression that the cause for that is the convent that overlooks the beach! hehe ...and a few of my friends & myself have been there for Sabbats, doing Pagan things! Michael - I know that I was acting boldly in confronting the black ghost, and I'm not very worried. I've done a protective ritual involving salt around every entrance to the booth. And salt is one of the best things to ground negative spiritual energy. I've also considered doing something with frankincense. I've had several different experience with ghosts, and from them I've learned is that they tend not to try to rattle you if you show them that you are quite unafraid of them and their presence. My parents' house is haunted, primarily by my grandfather. I've felt another spirit in the house, that I think is more connected to the land, as it feels much older than the house, but I can't place who they might have been. And of the different appartments I've lived in, two did not feel haunted in any way; one didn't exactly feel haunted, but I had some weird experiences there; then the two places I've lived in Portland (including my current residence) are certainly haunted. Whenever I go to the basement to do my laundry, I cheerfully announce it as I'm walking down the stairs with my laundry basket. I feel as though there are two or three spirits in this building, and none of them seem spiteful or menacing, they're just hanging around.  |  IP: Logged Josh Jones Redhat Posts: 1207 From: Plano, TX Registered: Apr 2000 posted 02-06-2003 07:22 AM                        "...and I'm gonna haunt Josh's booth, since I helped him build the damned thing." Great, thats just what I need. Shame on all you guys, I had a bad dream laast night! Josh  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 02-06-2003 10:45 AM                        What do you mean, you dreamt of Paul  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 02-06-2003 10:45 AM                     John But Sam is still running the show.  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 02-06-2003 01:15 PM                     Michael, he probably dreamed of seeing his Brenkert threading itself...and hearing the door on one of his Peerless's opening and closing by itself... Now, that would scare the hell out of me, too. But that would be cool after I got used to it... That would definately be a "fully automated" booth  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 02-06-2003 01:25 PM                        Bill Gabel wrote: quote: But Sam is still running the show (Digital Cinema at the ETC). Now, THAT's really scary!  |  IP: Logged Josh Jones Redhat Posts: 1207 From: Plano, TX Registered: Apr 2000 posted 02-07-2003 12:44 AM                        Actually, I had a dream about our theater being haunted, But I went to work tonight, was alone for a period, and nothing happened. Screwy, aint he? Josh  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 02-07-2003 01:27 AM                     Josh, guess which picture of yours popped up when I tuned in? It was the picture of you standing alongside your Peerless.... In this edit, I thought I would say that I know your theatre is not haunted. It gave me no indications it was during the times I was in there. Now, when you walk into a big old barn about the size of the Fargo and it seems like you walked into a spider web or had an erie feeling like I did in the old UA Theatre in Oakland, Ca, the Lido Theatre in Mount Vernon, and the El Cine Mexacano Theatre in Burlington, you'll know....and you will be right. It is probably haunted. Then, it's time you hold onto your butt and hope company arrives very soon. If you want to really get some chills running up your spine about haunted ships, remember the story I told you about the USS Oriskany (CVA-34) when the F-8 plowed into the fantail? Then, make a search on the USS Forrestal CVA-59) when she had her big fire. I have heard reports the USS Coral Sea (CVA-43) was haunted, but I have not experienced anything abnormal when I sailed with her in 1964. [ 02-07-2003, 04:32 AM: Message edited by: Paul G. Thompson ]  |  IP: Logged Mathew Molloy Master Film Handler Posts: 357 From: The Santa Cruz Mountains Registered: Nov 2000 posted 02-07-2003 04:15 AM                     I've pretty much had three kinda-eerie experiences. In Seattle at the Harvard Exit Theatre (built at the turn of the century as the Women's Century Club) which is on some historic register of haunted places. The hallway leading to the manager's office also had doors leading to various rooms. What was weird is that when leaving at the end of the night, walking down the hall there were times it felt like walking through 'sheets' of cold air. Even now the hair on the back of my neck is on end and chills are going down my back. My first haunted theatre experience is the Rose Theatre in Port Townsend, built in 1907. The janitor and I would sometimes smell cigar smoke in the middle left side of the theatre - again it was like walking through a 'sheet' of the scent and only in the middle of the night. Lastly, the creepiest theatre I've ever worked is the NuWilshire in Santa Monica. Sadly, years ago a manager was shot to death there. That, added to the stories the recent projectionist told of hearing children laughing in what is one of the creepiest hallways upstairs at three in the morning (causing him to 'drop everything and get the hell out of there') just makes it so creepy. Late at night, closing up or even arriving in the morning, it just feels like your definately not alone. I made it a point to talk to the ghosts - sometimes trying the trick of telling them they're dead - just to make me feel better. I never liked being there alone at night. Funny, though, most people are really freaked out by the backstage area but of all the places in the theatre to be alone, I'd rather be back there.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-07-2003 07:26 AM                        The Williamsburg Theatre (pics in the gallery; now called the Kimball Theatre) definitely had a ghost. He would do things like open and close doors, unscrew lightbulbs at random (I spent quite a bit of time climbing ladders to change bulbs, only to find them unscrewed, but otherwise working), and casting weird shadows on the walls. Nothing scary or bad ever happened, though. I'm not ordinarily a believer in "paranormal" events, but I can't think of a better explanation for some of the weird things that happened there when I was alone in the theatre late at night. There's a book called "Ghosts of Williamsburg" or something like that that tells the story: apparently, the site where the theatre now exists was once occupied by a family's house during the Civil War. There were two brothers in the family, one of which went to fight for the North and the other of which went to fight for the South. One of them died in the war and supposedly is the ghost who returns to the site of the house to look for his brother. Quirky stuff like this is one of the reasons why I enjoy working at older theatres. I've never heard of a ghost haunting a 30-screen gigaplex.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 02-07-2003 12:55 PM                     Mathew wrote quote: Sadly, years ago a manager was shot to death there. It was during a robbery and a cashier was killed also. That was when the theatre was operated by Mann Theatres in the 80's.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-07-2003 04:21 PM                     Three of the theaters I used to service were reported to be haunted. Two of them by ex-managers who died in the theaters. One manager had a stroke in his office, late one night. The assistant manager, whose name was Andy, came in to open up one day. He walked into the office and the GM was sitting at his desk, repeating, "Andy!... Andy!... Andy!... Andy!...", over and over again. The E.M.T. who came to the theater said that the poor guy had a stroke and when he felt that he was "going under", so to speak, he called out for the first person he could think of. The speech centers of his brain must have got stuck in an endless loop of some sort when the rest of him went brain dead. The guy must have been sitting there all night, stuck in an endless loop! Needless to say, Andy, the assistant was so rattled that he couldn't come to work for about a week! The second manager to die got caught up in some kind of domestic quarrel with some neighborhood kids. I was told that a couple-three guys met him at the back door of the theater late one night, beat the tar out of him, stuffed him into the trunk of his own car, drove it out into the woods and left him for dead. Of course, he DID die. Both of these theaters are reported to be haunted... projectors misbehaving in strange ways, etc. I have had several calls for repairs for unexplained reasons. None of which proved to be true when I got there. I would be called to these theaters for having a "projector down" but when I would get there, nothing would be wrong. At first I blamed it on incompetent operators. It wasn't until I was told about the "hauntings" that I imagined the ghosts of the managers were the cause. I was told about the hauntings by an impartial third party. Frankly, I don't believe in ghosts... not to say that I don't believe there COULD be ghosts. I've never seen anything that I couldn't explain in another way. However... IF there ARE such things as ghosts, I would have to say I have actually seen them in a third theater in Matthews, NC. ..... I was working late in this theater... approx. 4 or 5 in the morning. The night cleaners were done with their work and had gone home. I know this because the building has two alarm zones. The upstairs zone covers the manager's office and the projection booth. The downstairs zone covers the lobby/concession area, the hallways to the theaters and the building perimeter doors. There are no detectors inside the auditoriums themselves but in order to get into a theater you would have to go through the lobby or open a perimeter door, which IS alarmed. I had just finished making major repairs to a projector. The projector was down for two days because I had to replace the sound drum and its bearings. It took a day for me to get to the location and diagnose the problem and another day to overnight the parts. When I finished the work, I started the projector to test it. I threaded up the print that was on the platter and ran it. (If a projector can last a two hour movie with no problems, no doubt it was running well enough to be released for service again.) I went off down the booth hall to attend to a "personal matter". (The booth had its own rest room.) As I walked away from the projector, I looked over my shoulder to see THREE PEOPLE walk down the aisle of the theater and sit in the front row of seats! At first, I thought the night cleaners were coming in to see the movie but when I looked at the alarm control panel, the downstairs zone was ARMED! There was NO FUCKING WAY people could be in that theater! I ran back to the port window to see who the hell was there but they saw me and darted back up the aisle and (appearently) out into the lobby before I could see who they were. Again! They COULDN'T have penetrated the lobby without setting off the motion detectors! I bolted down the stairs, barely having enough time to disarm the system before intercepting the people who SHOULD have been in the lobby. I'm a big guy but I can move fast when I need to! I KNOW it only took 10 seconds for me to get down there! Even IF somebody could have sneaked past the alarm system there was NO WAY they could have escaped the building without me catching them! There was NOBODY there! Nobody in the theater! Nobody in the hallway! I spent the next 1/2 hour searching the building but EVERYTHING was locked up the way it should be. Including the restrooms and janitors closets. Nobody! I went back upstairs and rearmed the system in hopes of catching whomever it was... in case they hid somewhere I didn't look. Nobody set off the alarm. When the GM came in later that morning I told him that the projector was all fixed. He was happy with that. When I told him that I saw people in the theater where there should have been nobody, he didn't seem upset. He just gave me that look of "Yeah, so what?" and kept right on doing his morning paperwork. He never said, "Oh? You must have met our ghosts." He just had the most "matter-of-fact" look about him. I never spoke another word to him about it. So... If there IS such a thing as ghosts, I saw them that day!  |  IP: Logged Chris Byrne Expert Film Handler Posts: 102 From: Kirwan, Australia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 02-09-2003 04:46 AM                     Randy, They are some freaky tales. I think if the GM was repeating my name, I would have never came back for fear of reprisal. The night after I made the post, I stayed back to finish off some work before going on annual leave. I had about 15 minutes left, when out of nowhere the rack exhaust started making a ghastly whirring sound and sent a chill straight through me. Needless to say I cut for it right then and come back in the morning. I would never doubt a ghost story, however I believe that when tired you are more open to apparitions or spirits. Maybe it's a hallucination or maybe it's opening yourself up to the other side. I was about 15 minutes  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.