Refund demand as ‘rip off ’ film show like a ‘sleepover in Scout hall’

Customers have demanded refunds from organisers after an “immersive cinema experience” was branded a washout.

The screening of Home Alone, at Glasgow’s SWG3 Studio Warehouse, has been described as “like a sleepover in a Scout Hall”, with ticket holders claiming the film started over an hour late, while the “free popcorn all night” advertised by organisers Alternative Cinema Sessions was a handful of small bags thrown into the crowd.

Immersive cinema experiences have become popular in recent years, with live action versions of the films taking place alongside outdoor screenings – often with entire “worlds” based around the film constructed on site and actors wearing costumes interacting with the viewers.

But people who attended the showing, last Friday – where tickets cost between £16.96 and £22.65 per person according to the listing on ticket sales site Eventbrite – found that the “immersive experience” was limited to a few people squirting water guns. The film was restarted three times due to a faulty DVD. SWG3 said it would refund tickets sold through its ticketing partner Ticketweb, but tickets bought elsewhere would have to be dealt with by the organiser.

A separate screening in Liverpool by Alternative Cinema Sessions – of Saving Private Ryan – was cancelled after rights holder Paramount Pictures issued the venue with a cease and desist notice in November. Facebook pages with details of the showings and all future events run by James Daly of Alternative Cinema Sessions firm Masq Events, have all been removed from the site.

Adele Mcvay, who attended the screening in Glasgow, said: “On the night, kept waiting in the rain, movie started one hour late, ‘free popcorn all night’ was advertised but there was only 14g bags chucked at the audience at the start. The seating was hard uncomfortable benches.

“The immersive experience was cringing at five or so people running about daft squirting water guns and waving their arms in the air. Overall the whole thing felt like a sleepover in a Scout Hall.”

Another attendee, who asked not be named, said: “I paid £22 for Home Alone and it was complete rubbish – nothing like the multi sensory experience that was promised.”

A spokeswoman for SWG3 said: “The event did not deliver and we have asked the organisers to offer a full refund to anyone who attended.”

A spokeswoman for Western Approaches in Liverpool said it had told the firm that it could not host the event unless it was “appropriately licensed”. James Daly has not responsed to requests for comment.