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| "Johnny Betts is a rude 'abnoxious' jerk who needs to be 'punced' in the face."- A grammatically-challenged non-fan |
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MOVIE HORROR STORIESby Johnny Betts All right, I'll admit, going to see Bruce Willis' "Striking Distance" at midnight probably wasn't the best idea in the world. And all you Memphis folks know that choosing Cinema Showcase 12 as the theater to attend was not the best decision either. But hey, I think it was the only cinema with midnight showings at the time, so what was I supposed to do? "Striking Distance" really packed the house that night. I think there were about 5 people in the audience. So everybody noticed when three black dudes sauntered into the theater about 20 minutes after the movie had started. "Why bother?" I thought to myself, but those were words I certainly was not going to utter out loud. "I bet they're gang members," my friend Brian whispered to me. "Why do you say that?" I asked, my curiosity piqued. "Did you see the way they walked in?" Brian, resident expert of gang activity, asked. He continued, "One of the guys, most likely the gang leader, was walking in front, and the other two guys were walking behind him. They're probably his bodyguards. That's the way gangs work." I was 18 at the time and had just recently graduated from high school. Seeing how I didn't grow up around any gangs and wasn't familiar with gang tradition, I had no way of knowing if Brian's assumptions were legitimate, but *something* did seem strange. The one guy sat in a row by himself, and the other two guys sat in the row directly behind him. Maybe Brian wasn't just making stuff up. About 5 minutes later a black girl with a bit of an attitude stormed into the theater and marched straight to "the leader." They argued about something for a couple of minutes, and it was a distraction, but not too many people felt the nerve to tell them to shut up. All I could really hear from the argument is that she demanded that the guy give her the car keys. He refused, and, much to my surprise, she started WHALING on the guy. She was just standing there repeatedly punching him in the head. I sat there shocked, thinking to myself, "Holy crap. They ARE in a gang and GUNS WILL BE PULLED AT ANY MINUTE!" Dude finally got tired of his head being used as a punching bag, so he stood up, grabbed the girl by the throat, carried her all the way to the exit of the theater, slammed her against the door, and exited. Meanwhile, I was cowering in my seat and had my hand in my pocket resting comfortably on my pocketknife "just in case." I think Brian was curled up in a fetal position sucking his thumb. A couple of minutes went by before the two other guys showed any reaction. They finally got up from their seats, slowly walked toward the exit, and one of them shook his head saying, "Here we go again." They never returned. Brian and I discussed the prospect of going outside to see if everything was all right, but before we could make our move, somebody else went outside to presumably check up on the situation. I think his wife was telling him he needed to do something, but he didn't seem too eager to get involved. My theory is he just stepped outside the door for a couple of minutes and then came back as quickly as possible. After the movie was over, I said a quick prayer on the way to my car. I didn't want those guys to be hanging around to "get rid of the witnesses." Thankfully, they were nowhere in sight. I was definitely glad to make it to the safety of my home that night. I don't know what became of those suspected gang members or the girl. I like to think that they turned their lives around, got college degrees, and are now positive contributors to society. Mostly, I'm just thankful that I made it through that incident alive because man, I'd sure hate for my last minutes on earth to be spent at a midnight showing of "Striking Distance." Talk about an anticlimactic plot twist. Original? Sure, but ultimately unsatisfying. Moral of the Story: Avoid midnight movies in less-than-desirable areas of town. Send your stories to me and let the whole world know just how dangerous going to the movies can be. |
HOME PAGE  Yes Man Transporter 3 Four Christmases Twilight Quantum of Solace Ghouls Eagle Eye Righteous Kill Tropic Thunder  Weekend Results: 1. Watchmen($55,214,334) 2. Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail($8,532,412) 3. Taken($7,334,814) 4. Slumdog Millionaire($6,808,383) 5. Paul Blart: Mall Cop($4,146,316) |
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Copyright © 2004 The Movie Mark. All Rights Reserved. No reproduction of these reviews or any of the original material on this site is allowed without prior permission from Johnny Betts. Comply or suffer the consequences of Johnny's size 11 biker boot. Wanna be a Movie Mark? Send Johnny Betts an email (johnny_betts@hotmail.com) to be added to the list or complete: The Movie Mark Questionnaire.
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