"When the film ended suddenly and silently I found I was gripping the seat armrests and noticed too that nobody moved. I can't remember a cinema experience where literally nobody moved after a film ended. It was dead quiet for several seconds, I am guessing that many if not most of the audience had actually witnessed the real event on 9/11 on TV, as I had. Visceral cinema a bit too close to the bone, yet sensitive, nonexploitative and direction as tight as it gets."
"There isn't a moment throughout when it isn't twisting one nerve or many, from the depressed middle-aged man (John Randolph) going robotically through life, to the sinister men (Will Geer and Jeff Corey) who offer him a new life (turned into Rock Hudson) that he can't refuse, and can't be allowed to leave. Left me shaken for days, even though I had been warned."
"Monstercat Alien Photograph: TCD/Prod.DB/Alamy Managed to get in to see Alien when it first came out when I was 14. Although it seems quite slow-paced these days, the whole thing, especially the last 20 minutes, had me coiled up like a spring. Remember we didn't really know what the hell it was threatening Ripley at that point which just added to the tension."
Multiple viewers describe intense physical and emotional reactions after screenings, including gripping armrests, complete silence, and prolonged shock. One viewer connected the stunned silence to prior exposure to the real 9/11 events on television. Several films provoked visceral responses: one film's tightly controlled direction left an audience shaken; another narrative twisted nerves via a depressed man and sinister figures offering an inescapable new life. Gravity produced simultaneous claustrophobia and agoraphobia. Alien's slow build and unknown threat generated coiled tension. The Road and Paranormal Activity caused nausea, feelings of assault, and reluctance to rewatch despite acknowledged cinematic quality.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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