Imagine watching a film from the ‘Elm St’ series and suddenly finding one of Freddy Krueger’s razor-sharp taloned glove tapping you on the back. Or how would you feel if, viewing the scene in The Shining where Jack Nicholson finally loses it completely, his character from that very film shimmied into view, dragging his large axe across the floor as he entered your line of vision?
That was one of the fun conceits the good folks from Sky Movies HD managed to bring to the table for an event we attended last Friday at the RSA Vaults in central London – a horror-themed night which culminated with a silent ‘screaming’ of the 2002 US remake of The Ring.
A visual answer to Silent Disco, we were invited to watch the Naomi Watts-starring tale of haunted videos and a well-dwelling child apparition on individual iPads, whilst said kiddie spirit from the film, Samara, paraded around the place in all her pale-faced, scraggly-haired ghostly glory, often stooping over the audience in a effort to make the viewing experience even more unnerving.
Greeted with plastic syringes offering a Bloody Mary hit upon arrival, The Ring vibe extended to the gloomy decor, which was filled with bank of TV’s showing nothing but static, and walls filled with the demented scribbling of artwork similar to those found in the film.
A fun and genuinely spooky night was had, and even if the Wi-Fi shortcomings sometimes slowed proceedings down a little, it was an interesting experiment in a shared (yet intimate) terror.
