A movie theater that pelts you with fake rain and added smells? Bring it on

Over the past five years, New York City has become a playground for fans of immersive theater. In these often rewarding experiences, viewers step into the world of the play and are asked to participate in strange and unique ways. Audience members watch as Macbeth conspires with Lady Macbeth at Sleep No More, and sip tea with Alice and the Mad Hatter at Then She Fell. But though New York is overstuffed with movie theaters, both first run and repertory, there’s been nothing comparable to the immersive theater experience for film fanatics – until now. On 25 March, the Regal Cinemas at Union Square will open the first 4DX theater on the east coast, one of only two in the US. Having experienced the supremely silly fun of 4DX last year in Los Angeles, I couldn’t be more thrilled.

4DX began in South Korea in 2009, and quickly caught on around the world. But it wasn’t until 2014 that the company finally introduced it in the US, at Los Angeles’ LA Live multiplex. As a kid, I’d ridden Star Tours, the Disneyland simulation ride that moves the theater around to make you feel as though you’re on a spacecraft on the run from Darth Vader. I’d also ridden Universal Studios’ Back to the Future Ride, Steven Spielberg’s attempt to silence George Lucas, who taunted him that he could never match Star Tours’ achievement. (He didn’t, Star Tours was way better). So I sort of knew what to expect when I walked into LA Live to see Ant-Man in 4DX last summer. I’d heard about seats that shake and the blasts of air that fly by your head if one character fires a gun at another. But those are just a few of the bells and whistles that would make legendary horror director William Castle green with envy.

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Castle, the brains behind campy classics such as The Tingler and House on Haunted Hill, was the first to add a level of immersion to the film experience when he came up with gimmicks such as buzzing seats, skeletons that floated over the theater, and nurses stationed in the lobby in case viewers suffered heart attacks. But where Castle’s gags were delightfully cheap, 4DX goes hi-tech, retrofitting an entire movie theater with special seats that can lurch forwards, backwards and side to side. They’re also equipped with other motion devices to make you feel as if you’re riding in a car or flying through the air. When it was raining on Ant-Man onscreen, I could feel droplets hitting my head (don’t worry, you can turn the multiple water functions off). When he was flying through the air during his final confrontation with Yellowjacket, there were lightning flashes, clouds of fog and a crisp, cool night wind blowing through the room as the seat bounced me back and forth. I squealed and giggled at the joy of it all.

I’m an old-school 3D purist. I like flaming arrows shooting off the screen into your chest, hissing snakes that seem as though they’re about to strike that little old lady in the third row or big hands that reach out for help over the heads of the audience. I’ve no interest in the way 3D has been done since Avatar revived the technology in 2009. Cameron’s film seemed to use 3D as a way to broaden out the cinematic space, creating depth in a film which lacked it in almost every other area. The superhero flicks and animated kids films which were later retrofitted with 3D also fell flat for me, as far as the experience went.

3D is supposed to be fun. You’re supposed to scream and throw up your hands as that crow swoops down to strike you on the head, then laugh at the silliness of it, and scream again. It’s trickery, magic, razzle-dazzle, a realization of that classic canard about the audience at the Lumière brothers’ The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station who supposedly jumped out of their seats and ran for the exits, thinking that the approaching locomotive was going to wipe them all out. Essentially, that’s what 4DX does. It turns the moviegoing experience into a ride, a sensory experience, complete with bubbles, fog, mist, wind, lightning, and yes, John Waters fans, smells piped right into your olfactory sensors.

The best part about it for me is that it makes even a somewhat mediocre film such as Ant-Man fun. Whatever you feel about the movie itself, you’re not getting swindled on the experience. I hadn’t planned on seeing Batman v Superman because I still cannot quite wrap my head around the concept of why the two should be enemies. But I’ll be there on 25 March, giggling my ass off and flying through the air with the spandex-suited superheroes. Take that, Sleep No More.