Did you ever sneak into movie theaters back in the day? Do you remember what you saw?

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OddSignificance9742@reddit

We snuck into the drive in theater by getting in the trunk of someone’s car.

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Sad_Pumpkin7728@reddit

Snuck into see Eddie Murphy Raw. We bought tickets to Batteries Not Included and then snuck over to the other theater because we weren’t old enough to get into an R-rated movie yet.

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JeffFerguson@reddit

Chuck Norris and Lou Gosset Jr. in an Indiana Jones knockoff

Firewalker?

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Kanya_Mkavry@reddit

I'm sure that's the one he saw. Great memory.

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BosPatriot71@reddit

12 years old. Risky Business. I learned a lot.

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Majestic_Click_8524@reddit

Age 12: Snuck into CB4 with a ticket to Homeward Bound.

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Christmantra2000@reddit

I saw Die Hard and then snuck into My Stepmother Is An Alien.

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Green-Cry-6985@reddit

I did, to see the last half of Used Cars.

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adelec123@reddit

Oh yeah for sure. Can't remember for the life of me what I watched. I just knew I got an extra free movie.

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No, because my brother and a half dozen friends worked in various theaters for about 10 years. So I saw free movies constantly for a decade. As a group we’d also run movies in the theater after it closed at night, because my buds who worked there knew how to run the projector.

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goonie_lover@reddit

Lived near a drive in theater. There was a deep drainage ditch that ran under a fence. I could just walk right in from the cornfield. Saw tons

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mmakire@reddit

We had a $1 theater that ran all double features. Folks would drop us off at 11 and theater hop until about 7 then get picked up. I think the entrance fee was the loss leader and the money they made on the snack bar and the well appointed arcade must have been more than enough to make up for the theater hopping because I don't remember anybody ever getting in trouble for it. I saw soooooo many movies there. The double feature that I really remember was Real Genius & Weird Science.

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Zealousideal_Draw_94@reddit

Sneak into No,

Stay for a 2nd watch, yes.

I may have left one theater and gone into another theater a few times.

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Cobra-Lalalalalalala@reddit

We would often duck into another movie after paying for the first. But on one particular (hot) day in summer of ‘93, we carefully plotted our attack by looking in the paper for showtimes and saw Jurassic Park, Last Action Hero, Coneheads and Robin Hood: Men in Tights all back to back. Best $3 I ever spent.

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Iko87iko@reddit

No, but we robbed beer trucks out the side doors when they backed into the loading dock. Does that count?

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Correct-Condition-99@reddit

This was the way to get into an R rated movie when i was 14..

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Knight_thrasher@reddit

Paid for Problem Child 2, snuck into Terminator 2

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soonerwolf@reddit

Star Wars when I was seven. Would sit through the credits, then go to the bathroom for ten minutes and return to the theater. Saw it three times before I had to bike home for dinner. Not bad for a 50 cent matinee ticket.

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chabs1965@reddit

I had 3 friends that we all l hung out together. I spent the 2nd half of my senior year as an 18-year old. So I'd take the lead, sign em out, etc.

One time we went to see Rocky 3. We discovered we could just linger and see it again. We saw it 4 times on a Thursday. Cried every time Mickey died.

We also saw My Tutor where I learned what a bj was.. lol

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OneManLost@reddit

Yeah, my buddy and I snuck in to see Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. My friend was really enjoying the movie while I was left to make up my own dialog, because we snuck into the Spanish showing of the movie and I don't speak Spanish but he does. Still had fun.

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sane-asylum@reddit

Yeah, 15 year old me saw Crocodile Dundee like 4 times cause I liked that booty

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bishpa@reddit

Every Which Way But Loose

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toblies@reddit

I remember when it failed me.

I was trying to sneak into an r rated movie. Probably some action flick, i dont remember, but I was not old enough, so I bought ticket for A Passage to India. My buddy and I got my popcorn and stuff and went into my target movie. Well, for some unknown reason, there was an usher who actually gave a shit, and as he's crusing around he asks to see our tickets, and made us go to the right theater. We tried 2 or 3 times to sneak in, but he came through and sent us back each time.

I don't even remember what we were trying to see, nor do I remember exactly who it was with, but that's how mid-teens me wound up seeing A Pasaage to India. Dammit.

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Zaphod1620@reddit

I snuck into Die Hard at 13 by myself when I was bored one day. It was so goddamn glorious, I was pissed I didn't watch it with someone so we could go "HOLY SHIT" together at the movie.

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bishpa@reddit

History of the World Part 1

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Objective_Clue_3091@reddit

Snuck into Life of Brian about 10 times at the Pearlridge mall in Aiea, HI when I was 13.

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ThoughtPhysical7457@reddit

The movie you are thinking of is Firewalker, my favorite movie as a kid.

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BuccoFever412@reddit

Had my boy from Predator as the bad guy, Sonny Landham

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moneyman74@reddit

In my area no one really cared if you 'sampled' the other movies after yours was done

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Familiar-Hunt-3792@reddit

Snuck in at 14 to see "The Crow"

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sterling3274@reddit

Watched Tron, then snuck in to ET right as the opening credits were rolling. It was a sold out show so we had to sit in the aisle, but that was the best day of my childhood. I felt like the luckiest person in the world.

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SausageSmuggler21@reddit

My friend and I snuck into movies several times a week a few summers when we were pre-driving teenagers. We thought we were so clever at the time, but I assume the 16-17 year old ushers just didn't give a shit.

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imcrowning@reddit

Yes. We started watching one movie then realized it sucked so we went over to see Black Rain with Michael Douglas. 10 minutes in and I feel the cold dead hand of a security gaurd on my should. They made us refund our first ticket then buy the other movie ticket. We missed the first 10 minutes of the movie.

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Sorry-Government920@reddit

When I was a pretty teen my sister cleaned the movie theater at the mall so she had keys and would let us in the back door

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Cake_Donut1301@reddit

Predator.

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kjc127@reddit

I was an usher at a large mall where everyone from my high school went on weekends. Let’s just say $4.50 got you into a lot of movies on a Saturday afternoon / night.

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klk999@reddit

my friends and I would by a ticket to see something like James Bond, go to the bathroom then go see any of the many R rated movies playing at the time. I did this from 12 or 13 to 17. I saw dozens of R rated movies like that.

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Ok_Peanut_6919@reddit

Silence of the Lamb - Osan Air Force Base South Korea.

My friend and I were in line to get in. I had to go to the bathroom so I walked into the building to find the head. When I came out my friend was waiting for me. I asked where we get the tickets and he told me we needed to pay to get in the building, as there was only one theater. Since I was already in there, I just went with him into the theater and watched the movie. Didn’t mean to sneak in, but saw it without paying.

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Mammoth_Sell5185@reddit

Only one lamb? Was it the prequel?

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D4nM4rL4r@reddit

We went to the local, older, small 3 screen theater to watch Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. This was supposed to be the final movie to play at the theater before they closed for the night. As we were making our way towards the exit of the building is when we walked by an open door to another auditorium with another movie playing opening trailers. Curious we walked in and noticed it only had 4 people inside sitting closer to the screen. We stood at the back till the movie started only to find a movie playing that we didn't have any clue what it was but it sure did look interesting. So we slid into seats at the back and watched this masterpiece of a sci-fi flick. When it finished is when the other people watching it stood up and saw us . Their eyes went wide and jaws hit the floor. It was the employees and they had given themselves (and us) a private screening of The Fifth Element. We ran out of there getting yelled at the whole way.

That was a great night

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Naive_Product_5916@reddit

I remember people sneaking into the cinema because the exit door was right there and it led to the outside and when they snuck in all the daylight came in.

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lylemcd@reddit

Star Wars over and over and over again

We'd watch it mutiple times in one day. Get in the theater, watch, then sneak into a different showing.

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Bob_12_Pack@reddit

When I was 10, there was a movie theater within walking distance from my house that on the weekends, you could buy a ticket for a matinee and could stay all day and watch the other movies. Many years later I was thinking about that and realized that I was taking my mom's word for it that the other movies would be free, it was more likely that she found a way to get me and my little brother out of her hair for several hours.

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Living_Ebb5200@reddit

Paid to see Escape to Witch Mountain, watched The Longest Yard with Mr Burt Reynolds. My sisters made me. Good times.

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JurisUrsus@reddit

I snuck into Point Break. It was an excellent decision.

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Rearrangemetilimsane@reddit

Forest Gump and Dazed and Confused are the 2 I remember. Had a friend manage the local theater. She let our friend group in for midnight screenings.

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Fine_Document_9161@reddit

At 14, I snuck in to Stand By Me, which was inexplicably rated R. I felt cheated.

A few weeks ago, it was back in the theaters and I took my 12 year old. Now I understand.

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Ok_Silver_3170@reddit

Too Many R-rated movies to remember, but the most times me and my friends over stayed our purchased ticket and watched the next showing was 1977, "Star Wars"!

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HighSeasArchivist@reddit

Not fully snuck in, but did plenty of "double freetures" where we'd pay for one and then time it to get into one or two more movies.

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Ok-Concert-6475@reddit

Ditto. Pay for 1 movie, but see 2.

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wirerogue@reddit

blazing saddles.

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Familiar-Court-4217@reddit

I bought a ticket for another movie and went to see Friday the 13th the final chapter.

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Rsoller@reddit

We snuck into the drive in by having people in the trunk!!!!

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airwalker08@reddit

I used to work at a movie theater, so no sneaking required. That was a fun job.

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hells_cowbells@reddit

I don't know if this counts a sneaking in, but in high school there was a guy in our gaming group who worked in the older, cheap two screen theater. He would often let us in a side door and let us in. We even watched a few times from the projection booth.

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the-dutch-fist@reddit

Fairly often we’d buy tickets to a matinee and then sneak in to one or two other movies. Make a whole night of it. I only remember Beetlejuice and a Freddy sequel specifically, but we did this at least a dozen times without eve getting caught

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rochvegas5@reddit

I snuck into Lethal Weapon as a 13 year old

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djunderh2o@reddit

Hudson Hawk. Such an unnecessary R rating.

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apple_pi_chart@reddit

Saturday Night Fever

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was like 12 and a guy we knew opened the exit door to let us in.

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well-it-was-rubbish@reddit

How about "Airplane!"? Did you see that one? 😁

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BoundGreef@reddit

Big Trouble in Little China. I watched it three times in a row. Still a top 5 movie for me all time

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darkofnight916@reddit

Don’t remember what we saw first but I remember my dad taking us from one theater to another to watch Mary Poppins.

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IBroughtMySoapbox@reddit

I didn’t start paying for movie theaters, concerts or amusement parks until I was in my early 20s

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baksdad@reddit

Would pay for one movie, go in the bathroom afterwards and take off my coat and walk into another theater.

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GarionOrb@reddit

I remember doing this twice because the movie we wanted to see was sold out. The first time was for Independence Day, and the second was for Evita.

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whirlydad@reddit

Firewalker was always in the "sale" DVD bins at Walmart.

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Ms_Anne-Thrope@reddit

In the early 90's my new wife and I moved to a new city and knew no one. She worked on weekends so I spent my time in movies theaters. Would buy one ticket and see 2-3 shows, getting stoned in the restroom. Usually matinees so few people and fewer staff. I swear I saw almost every movie from 1991-1993. Good Times...

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Iron_Chic@reddit

First was the Karate Kid. Well, we paid to watch it once, then just milled around inside until the next showing and saw it twice.

Next was Total Recall in Middle School. Opening night, the movie was sold out and there was a LONG line (around the front and side of the theater) for ticket holders to get in. We waited by the exit door, then went in when everyone from the 6:30 showing was coming out. It was easy!

Then one of my Sister's friend's got a job at the theater so we would just tell the person up front we needed to see Jerry and...free movies all day!

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calbearlupe@reddit

My mom took me to see Gremlins and then we snuck in to watch Ghostbusters. One of my favorite childhood memories.

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whirlydad@reddit

My Mom did this when we were little. Or we'd just sit and watch the movie again.

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Impressive-Shame-525@reddit

Red Dawn after we watched The Twilight Zone.

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match_@reddit

Back when “drive-ins” were a thing we would go see whatever and I remember wandering around to where the R rated screen was playing. I have no idea what the movie was but I distinctly recall seeing 30 foot tall boobies one Saturday night. Left a bit of an impression on younger me.

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whirlydad@reddit

Platoon. Got caught by security too! I managed to get away with a lie about being there with my "older brother" and pointing at some random guy.

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Majestic-Selection22@reddit

Empire Strikes Back. Paid for one then hid in the bathroom and snuck back in for the second and third time that day. I owe George Lucas a few bucks.

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justino@reddit

I spent a day watching Beverly Hills Cop. It was great.

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99titan@reddit

When I was in the service, the movie theater in Jacksonville, NC had all day matinees on Saturday and Sunday. We would stay for all three movies by hiding in the bathroom stalls. As a kid, I had a friend let me in to “Trading Places” by letting me in the emergency exit.

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timlygrae@reddit

I didn't have to. By the time I was old enough to want to go to movies by myself I was delivering newspapers to the local theater and they gave me movie passes like they were handing out Halloween candy.

This was a multi-plex. 20 screens, all the latest movies, an arcade, a bar... they had it all. So I'd get a pass for some matinee and tell my friends. They'd go around back and I'd let them in.

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AtomicHurricaneBob@reddit

Star Wars (1977). We lived on Randolph AFB in San Antonio, TX. The theater was going through a renovation and the mezzanine was closed for repairs. We all scraped up enough money for one kid to buy a ticket. They ran around to the side door, let us in, and we snuck up into the mezzanine for the entire day. I think i watched the movie 4 or 5 times that day.

One of the best days of my life.

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vorpalpillow@reddit

the theater in the taj mahal?

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BTTN8TR511@reddit

We told our parents we were going to see a 007 movie. Got dropped off, sat in the 007 movie for a couple of minutes, and then snuck down the hall to see Porky’s.

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SirLeoritch@reddit

Ditto but can’t recall what tickets we originally bought

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RitaRaccoon@reddit

We also snuck into Porky’s. My friend’s older sister worked in the theater and let us in the side door.

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snakepliskinLA@reddit

We did this at our local drive in movie theater back when we were in high school. When it changed from per-car pricing to per-person pricing we would jump the fence.

My brother and his girlfriend would drive the family wagon in loaded with lawn chairs, and about 8 of us would jump the fence. A friend got caught one night and got thrown out. He had to wait outside the drive in until after we came out the movies, because he didn’t have a ride home.

God times. I don’t remember any of the movies.

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ChappedAss@reddit

Me and a buddy bought tickets to see some film I can't remember, but after showing the guy our tickets we went into the "wrong" theatre room and watched The adventures of Ford Fairlane. Giggled our asses off.

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sorieno@reddit

I worked at the local theatre so I would usually sneak girls in and watch with them. I saw Pretty Woman 17 times in the three weeks it was showing at our little theatre!

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Grunge4U@reddit

Drive in. Money was hard to come by

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One-Sheepherder2799@reddit

Rambo: First Blood part 2!

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six28eightyfive@reddit

my parents dropped me off to see Disney's "The Black Hole" and I instead snuck into "ALIEN" & honestly it scared the shit out of me (I was 12)

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SeldomSeen31@reddit

The last one I can remember for sure was paying to see Pulp Fiction and then sneaking in to The Professional to make it a 2 for 1 double feature. No regrets.

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eboy71@reddit

I forget what movie we were actually at the theatre to see, but about half way through my friend and I left our movie and snuck in to watch Hot Dog (1984), hoping to see some boobs. We maybe stayed for about 10 minutes and mission accomplished.

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theghostofcslewis@reddit

Sometimes we would just stay in the theatre and watch the movie again. Crazy.

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Briaaanz@reddit

I did it a few times.

The only one that really stuck out in my head was the 3rd matrix movie. I actually wanted to pay, but there was no one working the ticket counter. Movie was starting, so i gave up waiting after about ten minutes and just went in and watched the movie.

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Blackstrider@reddit

Back of the van for the drive-in. Many, many times.

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silentsinner-@reddit

All the time. The one that sticks out was Mr. Bean. There were exactly 2 other people in the theater so we weren't exactly inconspicuous. I spent the first half of the movie thinking we would be thrown out at any minute.

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Lopsided_Tomatillo27@reddit

Only did it once. My buddy and I were 12 and bought tickets for Return to Oz, but snuck in to Lifeforce. No regrets.

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jomara200@reddit

Constantly. My older sister led me into crime. I believe I saw Grease at least 50 times that summer.

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BurtRogain@reddit

Uh yeah, and we saw practically everything. We’ve pay for the first showing of a movie and bring a clipping of other showtimes to coordinate our day. The most we saw in one day was five. Walked in when the theater opened, left when they closed.

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PositiveMethPR@reddit

Went to see the unrated (\~NC17) horror film 'Pieces', purchased a different movie ticket, slid into a group heading in. I was 12yo, Loverboy's 'Working for the Weekend' and Spandau Ballet's 'True' were playing before the previews started.

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CommunicationNew3745@reddit

No, but I do remember when I started going to the Saturday afternoon matinee when I was 5 - my mom would drop me off, watch I as got my ticket & went in. Just as the movie was ending, she'd come in to check on me, and I always want to stay and watch it again; usually about 3 times total - for which we were never charged.

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ghjm@reddit

I didn't ever sneak in, but I often went in for the discounted matinee and then watched another movie, or even two more if the timing worked out.

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Bahlore@reddit

My step dad during the summer holidays would purchase one ticket, then time the movies to where we go into one theater, then after it was over, walk into the next one and so on, we'd spend all day watching movies for the price of one ticket.

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Glass-Nectarine-3282@reddit

Yeah, the double-feature was just a regular thing. I honestly think the movie theater didn't really care either, because we would inevitably buy more popcorn or something.

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lowfreq33@reddit

They pretty much didn’t. They make very little off the tickets, which is why the concessions are so expensive. The only time it really mattered was if it was a sold out show. I do remember having to show my ticket if I went out to the lobby and back in if there was a new round of movies starting, but in between it didn’t matter. Now they don’t even check tickets at all.

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

beat me to it. allegedly went to one or two more.

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ElderberryMaster4694@reddit

Of course. Even better was when I worked at a theater and a group of kids would buy one ticket, go up and drop the stub of the balcony and the next one would pick it up. We’d wait until the third or so and go collect the ticket, essentially standing the others. This was in the mid nineties so no cellphones for them to coordinate. Served em right

(We were in high school as well for context)

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ParticularBed6338@reddit

Firewalker is the movie you’re thinking of. I just watched it again last year.

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renegade7717@reddit

no but a couple of my buddies and I went to the movies w 3 girls we liked despite being told we cudnt. Middle school. Next thing I know one of the girls dads hunted us down in the theater. Guy had a sixth sense. Cuz no phones etc back then. Same dad in high school caught me w his daughter in a tent. I didn’t learn 😂😂😂

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veedublin@reddit

10

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HappyFatLabs@reddit

I think I was in 10th grade, and we walked to the mall. We were all set to see Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom, but it was $4.25 instead of the usual $2.50 for matinees (movies before 6 PM). I was the first in line, so I begrudgingly paid the increased ticket price (specific to the Indie film, ironically), but my friends all bought tickets for Sixteen Candles instead (which was NOT a movie a gaggle of boys was going to see on the regular), with every intention of sneaking into Doom after paying less. Except they were checking tickets for Doom, so they all had to go see Molly Ringwald instead, while I went to see Indiana Jones because I PAID to see Indiana Jones! By myself. Doom actually let out first, and NO ONE was watching the entrance to the 16 Candles showing, so I snuck in and watched the last 20 mins or so, having absolutely no clue as to what was happening.

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NebraskaCornSucker@reddit (OP)

That’s the name! Thanks. I was having a senior moment. Haha