10 Craziest Cinema Demands Made By Hollywood
6. Earthquake's Sensurround Technology is All Too Real
Posters for the 1974 disaster movie Earthquake promised that "you will feel as well as hear realistic effects such as might be experienced in an actual earthquake".
This was thanks to a new innovation known as Sensurround, a low-frequency sound system that increased the bass on sound effects so that they were felt, rather than heard.
Such was the impact of Sensurround's low-frequency rumbles that the historic Graumann's Chinese Theater erected a safety net to protect the ceiling from caving in and killing the audience. Whilst some paint and plaster came loose during the screening, the audience were left unscathed.
The paint and plaster, incidentally, was even less harmful than the original planned gimmick - polystyrene rocks dropping from the ceiling at specific points in the film.
It's now speculated that Graumann's safety net was purely a publicity stunt deployed for the premiere, as it was unlikely to bear the weight of the ornate ceiling. Aside from some chipped paintwork, cracked plaster and a couple of documented nose-bleeds, the only ill-effects of the new technology were cumbersome equipment and expense.
Sensurround was used for four more films before being abandoned as another failed movie gimmick.