Your job as a filmmaker is to create the illusion of reality, a place where a filmgoer can lose themselves in and forgot about their real life troubles. As easy as that sounds, creating a believable and immersive experience isn’t that simple.

Each and every year I dream for that impactful horror film, the one that makes me “feel” something. While I don’t necessarily believe in the notion of being “scared”, I do very much think that some films can be physically effective.

So, with the above title, I’m not asking if you remember a time when people lost their shit in theaters, but more-so if you recall the last time you had that experience. There’s literally nothing better than watching hundreds of people around you stand up, and scream and yell in terror right before your eyes.

We’ve all grown up to stories about how effective William Friedkin’s The Exorcist was back in 1973, but what has rocked the boat since then? Personally, one of the best experience I had was in viewing a “sneak peak” of DreamWorks’ The Ring back in 2002. I will never forget the audience reaction to Samara coming out of the television screen – you’d have thought she was literally in the theater. And while there was quite the reaction to Paranormal Activity in 2007, it wasn’t even close to what I witnessed back in 2002.

So I ask for you guys to tell me about your crazy theater experience. What movies had such an impact on patrons that they lost their shit?