Okay one mistake I made , this theater did close in 2005. Not '07. For some reason I got confused , hopefully you guys enjoy! What's the last movie you saw in theaters ??
Its ok we all get confused at some stage. Great explore. I seen this place in another explore. Amazing what is left behind. The last movie I seen in the cinemas was Rambo Last Blood. It was great but also sad, it really hits the realitiy of things. Thanks for sharing with us. Stay safe ❤
Yep, this is how these videos strike me. There was no bigger thrill for 12 year old me than going to the opening night showing of King Kong for my birthday at the Beverly theater.
I mean if digital stuff keeps rising I'm sure movie theaters will completely vanish... which kinda sucks, as much as I like being lazy and staying home nothing beats going to a theater to see a movie.
I was a projectionist in high school at our local theater back in 2001. On the table where you found the movie trailer, that little box with the pulley on it is a build station. When movies would come in from the distributor they would usually be in 3 or 4 canisters and you would have to splice them together. Your goal was to make buttery smooth splices. If you ever watch a film based movie, you will notice a small black oval in the top right corner of the frames right before the splice. That was to help us ensure that the film was turned the right direction. In another part you picked up a black telephone. That was connected to the old-school auto-answer system (box below the phone) that would give out the movie times when people would call in. Our theater was so small that you could only fit 2 minutes of audio on it, so it was a game sometimes to fit it all on there. The rectangular boxes on the concession counter with a well in them were the "butter" warmers. Inside those you would fill it about 1/4 full of water and then put the butter tub inside. It would keep it boiling hot, so when we cleaned those at the end of the night you would pray you weren't scalded to death by the mysterious substances in the butter and water. Lets see... In the projectors, they had removed the xenon arc lamps that produce the light. That bulb was 1 million candle power and was under such immense pressure that they would explode like a bomb if broken. I'm sure that the owner or corporate offices made sure to remove those because of the huge hazard it would be to vandals. I'm sure one of those exploding in your face could kill you easily. The DTS audio discs were only used on one of our screens, but the others just pulled the analog audio directly from the film. The DTS system would sync that audio using a special player and sensors that read the marks on the film with infrared light. That way if you had to stop it for any reason, the audio would still be in sync. Finally, the last thing I can remember were the lenses... You could manually focus those, but they had an auto-focus, auto-pincushion, and auto zoom system that would automatically engage when the sensors detected the marks on the film. It would check itself for every reel that was spliced in. If the film was 4x3 format it would also call the side curtains to close which would frame the movie and prevent light-bleed. If it was 16x9 those curtains would automatically open. Usually when you powered down, the curtains would close and so it leaves the screens looking quite square. The film platters were something we didn't use, so no experience there unfortunately. We used the really old-school reel-on-the-wall type that would absolutely cut your arm off if you got to close during a rewind. It was a dangerous job... the film was like a fast moving knife and was known to cut pretty deeply. 6' spinning reels, exploding bulbs, extremely hot surfaces... I'm not sure how I didn't die at 18 years old up there. Hope this gave you all a bit of context for the stuff you saw :)
Nice! Ahoy there fellow projectionist! I had left a comment as detailed as yours as well, I did have some experience with the film platters and I assume they made the job MUCH easier. I had a lot of fun running projectors in my youth and I loved being in control of the "behind the scenes" aspect. I forgot about manual focusing! Had a copy of Spiderman 2 where the last reel was out of focus from Columbia and we always had to be there for the final reel splice to fix focus until we received a replacement reel. I personally ran Revenge of the Sith through 4 projectors at once. Started on theater one and then instead of being wound up, it ran through pulleys to the next projector and so on. It was a AMAZING to see one film run across 4 projectors in 4 different theaters!
@@kingrodedog8487 Oh yes! We would bridge projectors as well when we had a huge release. We would just add extra leader to the film so that it was long enough to reach. I suspect that was a piece of black leader film that he picked up out of the tray. I threaded so many projectors while I was there that I could probably manage to do it again if I had to. That two finger wide loop right before the shutter advance was critical unless you wanted to do splices on the floor in the middle of a show :) ahh memories. I'm not sure if you ever had the film escape the reels, but that's a real mess... no pun intended. The first Harry Potter movie released on my first week. At that point I was just the poor guy who had to use an electric leaf blower to clean up popcorn spilled by 400 people. fun. Did you manage to keep any of the movie trailers once they were finished with their run? I have a couple somewhere, but I suspect they're pretty brittle by now. But yes! Nice to meet a fellow projectionist!
I was also a projectionist for a bit in the late 90s and worked exclusively with projectors that had platters. It definitely made the job much more automatic since once I started a show the automation would handle most of it unless there was a problem, then I'd get the loud projector alarm and have to go running to it. There were really only a few downsides to the platters. One was we couldn't rewind, so if there was a technical problem we couldn't back it up to the part that was missed, unless we wanted to do some cutting and splicing. Another was that sometimes due to static or defective film it would stick to itself and then start wrapping around the feed unit in the center. It was rare but if it happened and wasn't caught it would quickly tension the film and get stuck in the gate where it would get chewed up and melted until it broke and triggered the failsafe (and alarm). Oh and one correction, the oval in the corner was a reel change indicator, though it could be used for film orientation when splicing (I used the soundtrack to orient the film). This was for theaters that used a dual projector system with manual reel changes. If done right the changeover could be mostly seamless. The next reel would have been threaded on the second projector to the start frame on the leader. When the projectionist saw the first dark oval they would start the second projector then at the second indicator they would press the changeover button which would switch projectors.
@@PaulN504 Interesting! Our manager always had us check for the oval to make sure that the film was printed properly. Occasionally we would get a reel or two that was either developed poorly or printed backwards. So the right-side oval meant everything was at least turned the right direction. But I never saw a dual projector system in use. Our theater used the reel-to-reel system and so we would get a lot of static during the rewind. There were a lot of problems with tangling when the air was dry (I hated winter). So that problem seemed to plague everyone. The rewind after some kind of issue was possible but was not easy to pull off. The take up reel had to have a precise amount of tension on it or the pulley wouldn't float properly. So we always just fixed the issue and resumed from the same point, trying our best not to touch the reels. That pulley was used to determine the speed of the take-up and was very sensitive. Turning the feeder or the take-up independent of one another was a last resort type of event haha. Thanks for sharing guys! This is a part of my life that I had almost forgotten. But wow the memories flood back. It could get really crazy in the booth, but being alone up there was a lot of fun.
I remember 2005 well, such a special time for me. Went to see Revenge of the Sith twice when it was out, so it's crazy to see it still up on the sign as if it's still brand new. Meanwhile the world kept spinning and my life has changed so much since those 15 years have rolled by.
@@rionthemagnificent2971 People freak out if you take anything from abandoned places. Even though its likely to rot or be trashed. Its insurance reasons that everything that can does go in the trash.
@@drones8639 I agree with you. I’d have been “So, if no one ever wants these anymore, and since we’re the only ones here, would they notice a few films missing?”
It's basically the number one rule of urban explorers to not vandalise, not take things and not leave things behind. This would be a borderline case though, as you're actually "saving" something from being destroyed or deteriorating further. The tapes themselves are worthless, but the footage on them may be interesting.
@@TMCremixes see with cases like these I don't see why they cannot be returned once the footage has been scrubbed and preserved if there's anything valuable on them and then just place them back when you go and revisit.
I saw so many movies at this theater. That place was a huge part of my childhood and young adult life. Crazy to think at some point I saw a movie there and didn't realize it would be my last in that theater. I alway held out hope that they would be able to restore it.
I went here as a little girl and it’s crazy that it’s been closed for so long and the building is still there to this day. The front that you can see from the garden state parkway still has the Amboy cinemas sign on the front.
Imagine you're watching this video and you used to work at this theater and this (18:04) turns out to be your long lost yellow comb that you've been looking everywhere for? Former Employee: Hey that's my old comb, I've been looking everywhere for that!
I am a retired projectionist who started in 1970 retired last year These theaters were very robust in their day these were referred to as shoebox cinemas. I have worked in multiplex cinemas with 15 to 25 screens. Looking at this rundown cinema is a very sad picture for me. The digital aged changed everything and now the C-19 is pretty much the last nail in the cinema's coffin. By the way, the disc you called DVDs is the DTS soundtrack audio for the films that use that sound reproduction system. thanks for this nostalgic adventure! peace.
I pass this place all the time and think about how badly I want to explore it. I still remember my friend’s mom taking him and I to see that live action scooby doo movie here.
I opened Amboy Cinemas on 12/7/79. The theatre started out as six 500-seat auditoriums and was considered *thee* place to see a movie back then (despite our favorite competitor known as Movie City 5). This is sad to see for those of us who worked so hard there. There was no stadium seating yet and some of the DTS discs shown in the projection booth tour were actually played during a projected 35MM film that used the DTS sound system - the sound was synchronized to every frame of film moving at 24 frames per second (90 feet a minute). The difference in some of the projectors mentioned in the tour was because there were always at least 2 theatres capable of running 70MM film presentations - considered the state of the art and the best in film presentation in those days. As the 70MM indicates, the film was twice the size of the usual 35MM film, and there was magnetic sound striping on both sides of the film to provide the 6-track stereo sound used for big pictures like the "STAR WARS," "INDIANA JONES," movies, etc. I left in 1980 to run Sunrise Cinemas in Long Island and know that there were auditoriums added and split after my run there as Managing Director.
@@DebbiesHomeplace Oh my God!! I was just thinking about your Mom this morning and how we used to laugh - uproariously - while working at Amboy Cinemas! She was a riot and I loved working with her and listening to her stories about the RT 35 Drive In. She spoke of you and your brother and sister all the time. I hope all is well with you and this was a nice surprise to hear from you!!
My Mother worked at Amboy's Drive In as the manager under her manager Mr. Howarth for many years. Her name was Evelyn. They closed it and she worked as a manager at Razz Ma Tazz before moving over the the Multiplex as a manager. I remember her manager there was named Steve, that must've been you. She left a year before it closed. She worked for them for 50 years. I worked at the Drive In as did my Aunt and Grandmother and I worked at the Ticket Booth under Mr. Howarth.
@@MistrSteve100 Awwh how sweet, there is not a day that goes by I don't think of her. My Brother, Sister and I miss her so much! She was always a lot of fun, a riot for sure. All is well, I left home in 89 and I live in Kentucky, Doni and April are still in New Jersey. Another person who worked at the Cinema shared this video with my Brother. I watched it and read the comments. That's when I saw your comment. Hope all is well with you! Such a nice surprise.
@@DebbiesHomeplace My dad was the projectionist at the drive-in and the cinema, I too worked the cinema as projectionist. When I saw your post, I had to respond. Evelyn was a awesome person. When I was a kid going with my dad to the drive-in, she always talked with me at the concession stand. Gave us some freebie stuff and just a great person. At the cinema, she would come into the booth and hang out at the coffee machine in the break room with us. She was very busy, but she was there for us. I too, am so saddened about what happened to the theatre, just wish they would knock it down already. I remember one time, when Prince(the adopted dog at the drive-in) wasn't feeling well, she and I both tried to comfort him. You should be very proud of her, she was truly one of the best.
@@edwardhawley9503 Thank you so much for the kind words for my Mother. I miss her every day. And yes, she was a wonderful woman to all who knew her, she was greatly loved. Do you remember when Prince went through the plate glass window? Years later when he passed the rainbow bridge my Mom had him cremated. Mom had his ashes in a box on her dresser. She loved that dog, we all did. I remember your Dad. He was a very nice man. He would take a break and come chat when he would get coffee. Again, thanks!
I hear ya. I turned 30 in 2005. Hell, Episode III still feels like the new Star Wars movie to me and there have been like six Star Wars films released since then. It is downright surreal to see a place where time stopped in 2005 though.
That’s so sad. I remember all the summers when I would be out of school and would go to the theatre. I can’t stand it when people just get the urge to wreck and destroy property. So sad.
Great explore! I drive by this place all the time (saw a few movies there when it was open) and always wondered what it looks like inside. Love your channel, keep up the great work!
Ok, you really struck the nostalgia nerve with me. I was a projectionist late 80's through early 90's. My first job. I used to use an assembly table just like the one at 8:55. Mostly to splice together trailers to go on before the movies. Slight correction on the DTS discs, there was a time code printed next to the optical soundtrack on the film. A sensor on the projector read that timecode and kept the CD/DVD audio playing in time with it. The old style optical analog soundtrack was still on the film and was used as a fallback in case the DTS system faulted. I'm surprised that all those discs were still there. They were supposed to be put back in those round carriers and placed in the film cans when a movie was shipped out. Just for some (unnecessary) information on sound systems, Dolby Digital used a digital soundtrack code printed on the film between the perfs (sprocket holes). A camera would read it as it went by and it didn't need external media for the sound like DTS did. A third system, Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS) used a digital track printed on the last bit of real estate left on the film, the edges that took constant wear as it went through the projector. I never used that system but I'd heard that it was unreliable and not widespread. At 12:45 to the left of the projector you can see a Christie platter system. All the trailers and reels would have been spliced together to make one big film on one of the platters. The whole platter spins as the film unwinds from the center, goes through a speed control mechanism, to the projector, then back to a different platter where it was wound around a central ring. When the movie was over, pull the ring out and place it on an empty platter, pull the speed control out and place it in the center of the full one, thread it up and your film would be ready to load for the next showing. No rewinding necessary. It does not look like the other projectors used reel to reel but had platters also. There were pulleys at the top and bottom that would have gone to the platters which normally were to the left of the projector. It was common to take old projectors that were used in old reel to reel theaters where there were two of them side by side and use them singly with platters. I had 3 projectors that were built in the 1950's at my first cinema. #1 and 3 had been a reel to reel pair in the past with 40 minute magazines which we still had and were stored behind one of the screens. I'm going to assume that the projectors in this cinema were left behind because digital projection was taking over and they no longer had any value. Looks like the lamp houses were disassembled and the lamps removed because they could be dangerous and still had value to use in another cinema that was still operating. I had one of those lamps blow on me while in operation. Made a hell of a mess of the lamp house reflector not to mention the one in my pants from the noise it made. Looks like most of the sound equipment and speakers were taken out as they would still have value. Anyway, I went long winded for this comment but I hope it was educational for all you youngsters that took the time to read it. Thanks for this exploration. Made me sad to see the ruination of a cinema like that but the times keep on changing and us older farts can now be made fun of with our recollections just like we used to do for our previous generation.
This is incredible information and you should log it in a journal, facebook(i'm so sorry), or anything of the sort. in a hundred years people will study your words. Thank you for sharing.
Why do I find this exceptionally depressing? I worked at a movie theater (in the ticket office) and I remember how lively and fun these places always were. There was so much excitement in the air that you could feel it. I am sad now. :( RIP movie theater wherever it is. :(
great find, I was a union projectionist for 15-yrs before going technical as a 35/70mm film projection/sound engineer for 40-yrs, I saw projectors from manual change-over to platters, some of you guys may remember carbon arcs for the light before xenon bulbs in the early 70's to present... the film came to the theatre on 2000' reels (5-reels/90mins) (6-reels/2-hrs). until 1975 all cinemas was mono sound with 1-speaker behind the screen, in 1975 Dolby stereo came our in 4.0 w/left-center-right speakers behind the screen (no sub woofers), in 1980 sub woofers came out & the Dolby format was 4.1. In 1993 the format changed to 5.1 w/stereo left-right surrounds & DTS digital sound was the 1st digital sound on CD disc with time code on the film to tell the CD laser where to be to sync film to the disc...1998 Dolby digital came out with sound format on the film, also Sony SDDS was just beginning to come to theatres... Sony SDDS was the better of the three digital sound format...Dobly & DTS was 5.1, Sony SDDS was 8-channels 8.1.... in 1999 Dobly & DTS came out with (6.1), in 2001 Dolby & DTS came out with (8.1) & it stay that way until 2015 until digital cinema was beginning to take the place of 35mm film... By 2018 the 35mm & 70mm film era ended & digital projection & sound took over. This is when I retired from the cinema industry after 48-yrs in the business. 70mm was a limited production with tape recorder type sound track that was for large venues, later became IMAX..Until 1973 all projection light was carbon rod that can only run for 1-hr, that is why 2-projectors was use, when xenon bulbs came out in 1973 that changed the theatre industry, 1975 came the platters that the film was on large rotating table the rewind the film as it was being shown, these platters were gray in color & held the entire movie on 1-platter, there was 3-disc, 1-for the movie being shown, 1-to take-up the movie (rewind) as it being shown, & the 3rd disc to hold a 2nd movie.... to be part of a cinema with reel to reel & carbon arcs to platters & xenon light, from mono 35-watt amplifier to 7.1 stereo with up 17,000 watt of audio power was cool... If you see a indoor cinema w/5-6 amplifiers that was BIAMP sound 1-amplifier for each speaker except surrounds which was 1 or 2 amplifiers wired in a series/parallel config to trick the amplifier to maintain 4~8-ohms... subwoofer had 1~2 amplifiers usually one... I had installed cinemas around the world, my last count in projector install was over 2,200 plus in my career, I not only installed & serviced & maintain the projectors... the projectors were made by Ballantyne, Christie, Century, Norelco, Simplex, Strong, Furmenn, & Cinemeccanica... the projector light lamphouse was made Christie, Norelco, Cinemeccica, ORC, Xetron, Xebex, Film Systems & Strong...the platters were made by Balco, Ballantyne, Film System, ORC, Norelco, & Christie... the most use projectors was Christie, Century & Simplex/Strong... The worst projector was the Ballantyne Pro-35 & the India knockoff of the Century projector, my favorite was Century & Strong 35mm & 70mm film.... my favorite lamphouse was Strong & ORC, my favorite platter was Strong, Film System & Christie... my favorite sound processor was the Dolby CP50, CP650 & Sony SDDS DFP-2000... my favorite amplifiers for cinemas QSC IA750 & DCA series....One last note..indoor theatres use 1600watt~3K watt lamphouse, mostly 2K watts, drive theatres use 5~8K lamphouse for the light mostly 7K wattage... all lamphouses was 3-phase power, running at 25vdc/85 amps... a 7K bulb was 28vdc/135 amps... low working voltage but very high amps that would kill you instantly...the xenon bulb needed 20,000 volts to ignite the xenon gas in the bulb....these bulbs would explode....If you go into an abandoned cinema & the light buld is still in the lamphouse, DO NOT TOUCH IT, It can explode & you will get hurt by the glass...DO NOT TOUCH THE XENON BULB !!! look at it but do not touch !!!
I don't think Madagascar was being shown yet at this theatre...if you notice it's listed under Coming Soon... So that's why the promotional stuff was up for the movie, this closed down right when Madagascar was about to be released...crazy.
I worked at a movie theater in the 90's. I use to love seeing the family's come in and they were so excited and happy. Today it's really, really scary.
@@C.Peters. no movie theater has been making any money. Especially since covid rules been relaxed. stop in any movie theater and ask the manager in the last 3 years have they been making money? This has been on a directs downward spiral for years. Again really really sad and scary. So with all that being said all the other avenues created doing covid it's at a point of no return. Taking about Theaters
@@morganbrd That's your problem and I'm not even mad. But Trump gets up their and scream this and screams that and instead of you actually looking into yourself because he's TRUMP YOU just agree with it. Than man has over 500,000 thousand deaths in his hands. Failure to lead under pressure. Screams and tries to belittle the reporters. Complains SNL Picked on him and not Biden. SNL just got back to work😆😆😆😆 Dude smoke and mirrors. All he did was trash this country so the next man would have to dig us out. He's done nothing while president! You see in the beginning of the years March lowest unemployment rate ever. Helped increase the Coronavirus education and help clean Trump's mess up. A man that denied ever getting the shot and secretly did it. Incite a riot because he lost fair and square. Americans will never let him become president again. Dream on and keep believing the lies, don't research yourself
@@ABN6565 Excuse me? I said nothing about Trump. I oppose Trump. You're making a heck of a leap. If anything, I praise Biden for the current box office recovery.
When I worked as a projectionist these projectors were state of the art. I remember the good times we had showing movies on Thursday night with friends before the Friday premiere. That was when you could smoke in the theatres. We had reel rewinders set up next to the projectors and splicing tables for each.
I worked as a projectionist in a theater back in the 90's, thank you for going up to the projection booth! Those tables were likely used to put reels of film together which would sit on one of those big platters before feeding through the projector.
Yeah, me too. I assume that you're talking about the work table/bench... I would build up films and the trailer selections at the workbench onto those big 6000-ft reels and then use the AUTOWIND machine (also shown in this video) to load the film from the reel onto the platter.
@@matty_w cool! Did that myself many a Thursday night. I wonder if the theater business survives if movies will be shown from film or from a digital stream?
@@stashmerkin9576 Thursday night breakdowns! Except for anything Disney-related (Buena Vista Pictures Distribution) that arrived Thursday afternoons via Airborne Express, we didn't get our new movies until early Friday mornings. I often worked both shifts (not at the same time)... Thursday nights and also Friday mornings. Not sure about the movie business... I think that they were all going digital, but also not expecting the giant crowds (thus the "luxury" theaters with fancy seats, wait staff, and more food options). We'll have to see if they can survive COVID-19... Not sure if even the "luxury" theater model will work going forward. I think I also heard that the studios are going to plan on streaming everything this year anyways. One interesting thing that might be gaining customers right now... Drive-in theaters.
@@matty_w I think streaming directly to homes is how it's going to go. Pretty much everyone has a digital HD TV for that big-screen look. From the studio's point of view, they'll make more money by cutting out the middle man. Why let the theaters cut into your profits when you have this streaming service Disney?
All films are rented and have to be returned after showing. If not the fee is very high for "lost" films! I'm surprised this place is not more trashed being in New Jersey! It officially opened December 7, 1979. The first film shown was "Star Trek The Motion Picture." About the DTS Discs: The theater sound system uses six separate speakers. The audio channels are encoded onto one or two CDs. The theater is equipped with a CD player and a decoder that splits these channels up and plays them on different speakers arranged throughout the theater. As in Dolby Stereo, DTS has three front sound channels and a subwoofer. But instead of a single surround channel, it has separate channels for speakers on the left side of the theater and speakers on right side of the theater. The CD is synchronized with the picture by a special time code on the film. The code, a series of dots and dashes along the side of each frame, is read by a special optical reader mounted on the projector. The reader shines light on the film with a light-emitting diode (LED). The light that passes through the film hits a small photocell. The photocell sends pulses of current representing these flashes of light to the DTS processor. The dash pattern corresponds to a pattern encoded onto the CD. The processor makes sure the two codes are synchronized so that the sound and picture fit together.
Sad to see. I love those older theaters. Truly amazing how mother nature reclaims these buildings. Many theaters closed with the transition from film projectors to digital players which started around 2003. I talked to a small theater owner and he said the digital projector cost around $23,000 per screen. Film lingered on for quite a while but it was a losing battle, and many new movies were not getting film prints. The older theaters like this one was hit really hard.
The film does have soundtracks.. It had dolby SR tracks and DIGITAL tracks... Most likely DTS and Dolby digital tracks.. The theatre was setup for DTS digital and used those discs for the digital sound
@@txdraw Yeah, memory serves (I worked at theaters in the mid-90's) that DTS (Digital Theater Sound) barcodes were in-between the image and the analog (stereo) soundtracks, Dolby Digital was in-between the sprocket holes, and Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS) was on the outside edge of the film (the worst spot to put it because that's where the film got the most wear from the pulleys that it ran on). The latter two formats didn't require the discs like DTS. BTW, our theater had DTS in one auditorium and Dolby Digital in another.
I remember going there when I was little, like in the 90s, and it was impressive because I thought it was way bigger than the theater by my home. I drive passed this place a couple times a year and it still baffles me that it's still standing. Thanks for doing your best keeping it anonymous. Vandals are literally the worst.
Dude that's so crazy, I worked at that theater back in my earlier 20's in like 93/94 before I moved out of state. I heard it shut down for renovations, because of the roofs caving in, but never opened back up. Always wondered what the inside looked like since it's been abandoned for all that time. Sadly looks like they never renovated the place since I worked there, lol. Thanks for filming there, fun walk down memory lane. 👍
This was at the Amboy Cinemas in New Jersey, which is my home state. It closed in 2005 due to a sinking celling and it has been abandoned ever since then
I was thinking the place was massively degraded for 15 years. I’d bet they hadn’t been doing well financially for much longer, and they “deferred” building upkeep.
I moved to Florida almost 20 years ago, I loved this theater growing up. ( except when some tall big headed asshole sat in front of you, and blocked the dam screen) It used to have arcade machines in the front as well. But this is ( or was ) the Amboy multiplex Cinema. It closed because of its structural integrity, in 2005. Lowes theaters opened in Edison on us1 and was the first to offer stadium seating. Memories.....good times. I'm glad I got to see a video of you guys exploring it. cuz I've always wondered what it look like on the inside from years of decay.
i believe the whole building is structually unsound because of the ground underneath it, given its proximity to the raritan river. i remember seeing movies there as a kid from time to time in the late 80s/early 90s.
My name is Mike .......the woman in the picture on the left is my mom....I'm on her laptop computer. I started working at the Hazlet Drive In in 1988, I had moved to Colorado for 5 months, I moved back to NJ in 1989, and started working here as a weekend job. I worked the Drive In in Hazlet as the same company National Amusements owned it. Eventually I became a relief manager at the Drive In , in the summer and worked here at Amboy Cinemas during he fall, winter and spring. I worked in the box office. It hit home for me as you walked into box office I worked at. At the end where the phone is, was my station. It was called station A. I did alot of moving around back there, refilling ticket paper etc, and I can't count how many times I knocked that phone off the hook. Funny thing was at times the whole theater could hear us talking til I hung he phone back up. Underneath the marquee boards, were plants in the boxes, I don't don't think they were real, but ushers watered them, LOL
Bro honestly who would you be hurting by taking one of those vhs tapes laying next to the security monitors? I know you can't exactly show video of going on to a property you don't own and taking things, for moral and legal reasons. But think this place is an exception because it's already so trashed but those tapes could potentially give you an insight to how different and lively the place was in another time where the peak of cgi effects in movies was Star Wars and there was no touchscreen devices in everyone's pockets. I can't be the only one thinking this.
Wouldn't be worth the effort. Security tapes are re-recorded over regularly, thus already degrading the quality of the picture on the film medium. Tack-on 15+ years of being left "exposed" to the elements as it were, and the film medium would have degraded even further, pretty much to the point of un-readability by the heads of any remaining VHS machines left out there. ☹️
@@WitherlessLeaf I would just ask you go with a friend, and leave your wallets in the car just in case. I don't know the area, but I know that abandoned places can be safehouses for criminals. Godspeed.
These vids never cease to amaze me how neglect really takes a toll on these places. Take away any vandalism done and you get a great example of what things will be like after we are long gone. Crumbling buildings are all that will be left to show that there was life at one point in time. I think I’ve only seen maybe a few theatres that have been abandoned for a period of time that look like they could ever reopen. The rest...look like this if not worse.
I remember stadium theaters were pretty much everywhere by the mid 2000s. I went to an old fashioned theater in 1999 to see The Phantom Menace, and I remember thinking that style of theater was old fashioned BACK THEN!! That style was more common in the early and mid 90s, not the late 90s, and certainly not in 2005. I saw Revenge of the Sith in a large stadium theater with digital projection back in 2005. So I'm amazed this kind of old fashioned theater still showed first run movies in 2005.
They also closed due to the conversion to digital projection, very few National Amusements locations installed the new projectors as competitors were building more modern multiplexes. Customers enjoyed the bigger screens and stadium seating rather than small screens at the end of a tunnel.
This movie theatre appears to be very dated. My local cinima where I grew up was built in the 80s and had bigger wider screen and theatre rooms than this place
I used to work at a theatre in Washington State, many years ago. My Dad was also the manager of said theatre. The DTS discs were, as he said, the digital sound discs. I was the weekend projectionist and the machine your looking at was what I used to put the films together and spun onto reels to be spun onto the platters.
God, but I don't miss splicing all of those bloody films together from the reel-packs every time a new film came in, and then separating them out again when the picture left the theatre for another destination. Ruddy awful, it was... 🙄 😜😂😂😂
@@steadholderharrington9035 That was a real chore. It took me and hour or two just to put the films together. I had to make precision splices and sometimes I wasn't able to see the frame line and splice it in the wrong spot. Then I would have to match the frame to the correct tail when I broke the film down. The hardest part was moving the movie off of the platter and moving it to another projector.
@@GaryGeat28 Watch the video again and tell me if I'm just seeing things, or are the movie-reel guides missing from the walls and ceilings for you too? (remember having to feed those bloody "popular" first-run movies from the table and through multiple, successive projectors in theatre's next-door to each other and then back to the tables? Oh, What fun!) 🙄😜
@@steadholderharrington9035 I used to hate the manager who kept calling projection asking how long we going to be because he wants to go home? He never grasped on how long it took to break down a film after the last performance.
@@mrjohn.whereyoufrom I suppose I was luckier than most projectionists as I had a real cool manager at my theatre who "arose" through the ranks from Candy Bar counter to Ticket Stub taker to Ticket Booth Sales to Projectionist Asst., then Lead Projectionist and finally the various Asst. Manager(s) and finally General Manager of my theatre. She never once begrudged the time it took to put together or break down a film after its final showing. Hell, Film breakdown or assembly was often scheduled at my work as a complete shift unto its own if we had multiple films to assemble or breakdown in any particular week. Though how the hell she managed to budget that during audits made me marvel at her adroitness in juggling too. 😅😅
Really nice explore. Looks pretty outdated for 2005 but time has gone by fast so that might just be my perspective. I love how the theater showings are still up and not much vandalism, very cool.
The world and technology have changed dramatically in the last 10 years or so. We were still using fax machines in 2001 up until I left that job in 2011. Seems insane now to send a fax. Phones didn't have cameras until mid 00s. Things have escalated rapidly in very recent times.
@@jena.alexia i so agree, even from when i was growing up in the early noughties i noticed how much technology changed in the space of a couple years into the late 00’s, to the 10’s, then to now.
It was kinda funny to hear you say those projectors were vintage. I used to be a projectionist from 2004 - 2019 and before 2010, 35mm projectors were still manufactured and in full use almost everywhere at that point. That said, one of the theatres I worked in had lamp housing and projectorheads as old as I was at the time, so 23 - 36 years old! Amazed they left all that in there, they could have sold half those parts for a good price on somewhere like ebay. As beat up as that old scope lens looks, it could be cleaned up really nicely. The Q-tips would have been to clean between the different parts of the projectorhead. Even a tiny hair can look monstrously huge on screen, so you want all the oil and gunk out of your rollers before you run anything through the film gate. And those DTS discs you found, yep, they are indeed the sound for the movie. A Infared light on the DTS reader corresponds to the timecode on the film itself, it'll relay that to the processor in the amp rack and you get sound...hopefully in sync. Unless of course someone forgets to put the DTS disc in...but that never happened, of course
Excellent channel, I just tripped across this surfing to see what was posted when I found this. Several points. 1.). The holes in the screen are from where people have stolen the auditorium speakers. The theatre sound is located behind the screen. 2.). The Century projector is equipped for 35mm magnetic stereophonic sound. If you were to go back, that auditorium should have (or probably stolen) numerous smaller speakers on the side walls. The first very smaller auditorium would be used for an extended run, say after 4-5 months. Sometimes those are referred to as a "shooting gallery" because of the long narrow effect. The industry learned that the public as a whole did not care much for those. Bravo!!! Looking forward to more of your adventures, I'm envious!!
We had an old theater in our town that closed in the early 80's. Some friends and I went an explored one night. We found an old filing cabinet stuffed with movie posters from the 70's. Some great finds in there.
Built on the site of the Amboys Drive-In and located just off the Garden State Parkway as you go off the Driscoll Bridge. This theatre was entertaining audiences in central Jersey since opening on December 7, 1979. A sister theatre, Hazlet Multiplex Cinemas, shares the same design (I think) as this theatre. The Amboy Multiplex Cinemas was expanded to 8-screens on 21st August, 1981. On 11th June 1982 it became 10-screens. In 1985 it finally became a 14-screen multiplex. It was closed on May 28, 2005 due to the foyer floor sinking.
I was a projectionist in the late 90s. These old projectors brought back memories. You are correct about those DTS discs. They would sync with the 35mm movie and would provide the soundtrack. This was very cutting-edge at the time. We only had one theater of three that was set up to use those. The other two just pulled the audio from the 35mm.
I know stealing is wrong and all that but someone’s gotta save those retro pc’s, monitors, and vhs tapes. Nobody’s gonna miss them if you take it. I always see all this cool stuff that nobody seems to care about saving in these videos. Imagine those two black monitors sitting behind a SNES or hooked up to a Commodore 64 instead of dying in a damp theatre. Am I the only one who thinks this?
@@Spongebrain97 No, it's not. If people were really so concerned, they'd contact the owners(who would likely be happy to give them away or sell them cheaply), instead of just arbitrarily deciding it's ok to steal them.
The PCs, monitors and definitely the VHS tapes are likely the least valuable thing there. Even if the monitors(which may well be black & white) weren't ruined by all the moisture(as seen by the rusted object they're sitting on) they're likely burnt in from security use. Aside from privacy issues, the VHS tapes are probably full of mould anyway. Nobody has the right to decide of somebody else's property that "nobody's gonna miss them".
It used to be pretty easy, I was a good looking popular guy in those days. The girls in that generation weren't so uptight back then, that's half the reason they wanted to go. I had some pretty sexual girlfriends in those days that liked taking risks in public. Nothing like that happens to me anymore, they're all moms now.
The first thing I thought when he walked into the actual theater part was... “I wonder how many BJs have been given in that room?” 🤣😂🤣😂 Those were the days! 🤘
I can't remember if I went to a theater in 2019 at all. Certainly wasn't able to go in '20. It's unfortunate too, I love going whenever I can. On second thought, I did go in 2019, to an Alamo Drafthouse in San Antonio. Can't remember what I saw. Great footage here guys, well done! I welcome the day we can all go back to the movies, getting that bathtub-size popcorn and drink...
That was the last theater I went to before the shut down. Seen the film the invisible man. Super awesome theater which I heard was expanding to the Orlando market.
I recognize that theater. I saw many a movie in the 80's and 90's there. Thank you for satisfying my curiosity of what remains to juxtapose with my nostalgia.
Being from Sayreville i grew up hanging out at this theatre in i remember seeing The first TMNT and Jurassic Park when they first came out and i remember they had tons of video games in the lobby
Not dvds. DTS discs playing audio. Films still had sound bars added to the print. But the DTS discs were an extra added feature to play sound digitally. I was a projectionist and movie theater manager btw.
Its sad really. The theater that my friends and I would go to in high-school for years had to close down because hurricane Harvey messed it up bad. We must have seen over 100 movies there over the years. So many memories of that place. It was the spot for everyone to go on the weekends.
Loved the video. Loved seeing the old projectors and the movies names still being up on the sign. You can tell it was a retro movie theater by the way that first theater looked when you went into it. So long and narrow. They don't make theaters like that anymore. Kind of eerie honestly. Thanks for the video. It was very entertaining
The reason why they had Blockbuster and Rugrats stickers may have been due to the fact that National Amusements, Viacom's parent company owned this theater. Viacom owned Nickelodeon and Blockbuster so they were just doing some synergies.
Once again, as a former projectionist, let me clue you in. . Projector 7 at about 9:47 is a century JJ 70 70mm projector. That projector alone once sold for about $15,000. Today it is useless as everything is digital now. The big blue box behind the projector is a LAMPHOUSE, made by CHRISTIE. They used XENON bulbs which ran about $300 to 900 each. . They had high pressure gas in a quartz envelope. . The thing you asked about 8:55 was called a Makeup-rewind bench. This was where the projectionist would splice the 20 minute reels of film togather into a long movie. They would then transfer the film to a PLATTER system which looked and worked like a big 8 track tape. The gold lens at 8:21 is an Anamorphic (cinemascope) lens that uncompressed the image from 35 mm film to a wider format on the screen. They were about $1,000 each. At 8:27 you are looking at a film drop sensor that lets the projectionist know if all the theatres are actually projecting a film, or if it had BROKEN or ran out (movie ended). . from a sensor on the bottom of the sound head under the projector. At 7:59 you are looking at the back side of a CHRISTIE 35mm projector. This would normally be covered. At 9:22 you are holding a piece of LEADER film that would have had the funny decreasing numbers that told a projectionist where the actual important bit were the film started was. They were usually spliced off to put it at the beginning of a movie. (the adverts of coming attractions) For trailers, you did not ship those out with the movie. . they were disposable. At 10:18 you are holding a bit of a film trailer 10:32 There is NO OFFICE where the "film is stored" that was likely the theatre office and storage room for the concession stand. 11:20 or so, the film stuff you are looking at is 16mm. . some smaller theatres use it for shows, as the image quality is not as good and cannot be blown up to the larger auditorium screens At 12:52 to the left of the projector is a platter system mentioned above that handled the film for the projector. The film laid on its edge on one platter, fed out via pulley to the projector and then back to another empty platter that took the film up. . .When the movie ended you just fed the film out from the center and back the same way. . Platter->projector->sound head->Back to empty platter. You never had to rewind it. Sad to say, what a major waste of money here. . But I noticed a sign that said Redstone theatres 15:11 Not a register, an early computer ticket machine. 17:10 under the phone was a computerized sales reporting system that relayed the sales data to the main office. . Redstone was notorious for thinking every employee was a thief. I don't know why you protected the name of the cinema. . .if the roof was problematic, the builder was likely sued and the whole theatre was a write off. . The whole place was just waiting to be demolished.
I love abandoned exploration and have followed it for yrs on different channels. When you got to the Bldg exterior (at the end) I nearly fell out off my chair when it was my hometown! A few things: 1) The local story was the foundation kept settling as it was built on marsh land. The parking lot and surrounding areas often flooded. The foundation settling could have affected the roof issue as you described? 2) This was a popular “family theater” with a Chuckie Cheese next door - was that still standing? Then at some point there was a homicide by gun shot, less and less families attended and the audience demographic changed. 3) I might be mistaken on this, my memory is hazy, but I think that weird winding hallway to the additional theaters was from an addition/expansion of the original theater. 4) The original carpet was red, so this was not the original 1979 color pallet! Thanks for the blast from the past!
for the record, films have analog audio tracks next to the sprocket holes on one side, some theaters can use the discs instead of course if they were set up that way
yes, however, there IS one exception:CDS a digital cinema audio system by Kodak/ORC, had no analog track, so if the digital audio has problems, then there is NO backup audio. Not a good situation! This disappeared VERY quickly. Also, some digital audio systems used discs(like DTS), others used digital info on the print itself. Dolby Digital and the Sony digital system(SDDS)did this. One of these put the digital info in-between the sprocket holes(Dolby Digital), the other one put it on the very edges of the print, past the sprocket holes(Sony SDDS). As for DTS, it used a very narrow track added to the print that was basically like time code, to allow the film and disc to sync up.
Wow Revenge of the Sith and Madagascar. That’s crazy. Madagascar was a big chunk of my childhood. Revenge of the Sith I didn’t see until a few years ago.
@@thelastradacompany They will never give away locations in abandoned vids but if you pay close attention you can Google things and eventually may narrow it down.
Aww man, this is sad af. I am a movie fiend from back in the early 60s, which is the decade I was born. Movies have always been a major part of my life and I hate to see any theater structure is this condition. I know that time and technology would catch up to these theaters would eventually make some of them obsolete, but it's like seeing a part of my own past decline a bit. I miss those good times.
As I watch them walking along all of the corridors in the film projectionist area, I keep asking myself "They left the equipment behind, but they took the film-reel guides off the walls exactly why?" (The film-reel guides are what projectionists used to move film from the film-reel tables, to the projectors, and then back to the receiving tables. They'd just reverse the direction of the film feed to rewind the film before the next showing, giving the staff time to clean out the theatre and to reload it with patrons for the next picture. Other cinema's, depending on the length of the film also spooled the film from the centre of the film-reel table instead of reversing the feed to set up for the next showing.)
Damn! At 9:25 , The Ring 2 came out in March 18, 2005!!!! I still can’t believe like House of Wax/The Ring 2 was 15ys ago! Idk , like 15yrs ago seems so long ago but then it doesn’t. I love this video so much! Brings back so much memories💯♥️
I feel like we are headed towards a very depressing future. Covid is causing so many places to close. Places memories were made. When I was growing up going to the theater was where you would make out with your girlfriend while a horror movie played or hung out with your friends on a hot summer day. Soon their will be no theaters no shopping malls no places to go and just get of the house. Very depressing if you think about it.
@@jerrysanders9101 and the communist party who used the virus as a weapon. Soften our defenses then used sjw woke cancel culture as a rehearsal for an actual mass killing later.
Wow I drive by here all the time and have always wanted to see the inside of this place again. I used to go here all the time as a kid because everyone said they had the best sound system. I remember watching Pearl Harbor and The Lord of the Rings in this theater.
Okay one mistake I made , this theater did close in 2005. Not '07. For some reason I got confused , hopefully you guys enjoy! What's the last movie you saw in theaters ??
Great to see that you followed up. Please keep these things going as absolutely the type of video I follow!
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Its ok we all get confused at some stage. Great explore. I seen this place in another explore. Amazing what is left behind. The last movie I seen in the cinemas was Rambo Last Blood. It was great but also sad, it really hits the realitiy of things. Thanks for sharing with us. Stay safe ❤
Just letting you know the description still says 2007! Sad it's been abandoned :(
I saw the New Mutants movie a month or so ago and it was wild being in a mostly empty theater on a Saturday night
This is Amboy Cinemas in NJ. I'm pretty sure it is. I worked here in 1983. Lots of memories here.
Wait, sorry, it is by a bridge I would think so. And it is in NJ since the vault company is still around today in that town.
Thank you, I'm always curious, even though I really shoudn't know.
@@someguystudios23 its off the Driscoll bridge in NJ
Yes, this is the Amboy cinema, in Sayreville, NJ. It used to be a drive in prior to 1979. It’s at the base of the Edison Bridge.
Yes you are right. I looked it up and it closed due to a roof that was sinking in.
Crazy seeing 2005 stuff decaying away as if it's from the 50's or something. 2005 still seems super modern to me!
me too. I love the amboy cinmena
Dang man. Star Wars revenge of the sith. So nostalgic. Brings me back so much. Great video.
For people who love movies and movie theaters, this is like attending a funeral. Sad beyond measure.
Yep, this is how these videos strike me. There was no bigger thrill for 12 year old me than going to the opening night showing of King Kong for my birthday at the Beverly theater.
Or it’s like going into the home of a close friend who just passed away...
I mean if digital stuff keeps rising I'm sure movie theaters will completely vanish...
which kinda sucks, as much as I like being lazy and staying home nothing beats going to a theater to see a movie.
so TRUE!
True
I was a projectionist in high school at our local theater back in 2001. On the table where you found the movie trailer, that little box with the pulley on it is a build station. When movies would come in from the distributor they would usually be in 3 or 4 canisters and you would have to splice them together. Your goal was to make buttery smooth splices. If you ever watch a film based movie, you will notice a small black oval in the top right corner of the frames right before the splice. That was to help us ensure that the film was turned the right direction.
In another part you picked up a black telephone. That was connected to the old-school auto-answer system (box below the phone) that would give out the movie times when people would call in. Our theater was so small that you could only fit 2 minutes of audio on it, so it was a game sometimes to fit it all on there.
The rectangular boxes on the concession counter with a well in them were the "butter" warmers. Inside those you would fill it about 1/4 full of water and then put the butter tub inside. It would keep it boiling hot, so when we cleaned those at the end of the night you would pray you weren't scalded to death by the mysterious substances in the butter and water.
Lets see... In the projectors, they had removed the xenon arc lamps that produce the light. That bulb was 1 million candle power and was under such immense pressure that they would explode like a bomb if broken. I'm sure that the owner or corporate offices made sure to remove those because of the huge hazard it would be to vandals. I'm sure one of those exploding in your face could kill you easily.
The DTS audio discs were only used on one of our screens, but the others just pulled the analog audio directly from the film. The DTS system would sync that audio using a special player and sensors that read the marks on the film with infrared light. That way if you had to stop it for any reason, the audio would still be in sync.
Finally, the last thing I can remember were the lenses... You could manually focus those, but they had an auto-focus, auto-pincushion, and auto zoom system that would automatically engage when the sensors detected the marks on the film. It would check itself for every reel that was spliced in. If the film was 4x3 format it would also call the side curtains to close which would frame the movie and prevent light-bleed. If it was 16x9 those curtains would automatically open. Usually when you powered down, the curtains would close and so it leaves the screens looking quite square.
The film platters were something we didn't use, so no experience there unfortunately. We used the really old-school reel-on-the-wall type that would absolutely cut your arm off if you got to close during a rewind. It was a dangerous job... the film was like a fast moving knife and was known to cut pretty deeply. 6' spinning reels, exploding bulbs, extremely hot surfaces... I'm not sure how I didn't die at 18 years old up there.
Hope this gave you all a bit of context for the stuff you saw :)
Nice! Ahoy there fellow projectionist! I had left a comment as detailed as yours as well, I did have some experience with the film platters and I assume they made the job MUCH easier. I had a lot of fun running projectors in my youth and I loved being in control of the "behind the scenes" aspect.
I forgot about manual focusing! Had a copy of Spiderman 2 where the last reel was out of focus from Columbia and we always had to be there for the final reel splice to fix focus until we received a replacement reel.
I personally ran Revenge of the Sith through 4 projectors at once. Started on theater one and then instead of being wound up, it ran through pulleys to the next projector and so on. It was a AMAZING to see one film run across 4 projectors in 4 different theaters!
@@kingrodedog8487 Oh yes! We would bridge projectors as well when we had a huge release. We would just add extra leader to the film so that it was long enough to reach. I suspect that was a piece of black leader film that he picked up out of the tray.
I threaded so many projectors while I was there that I could probably manage to do it again if I had to. That two finger wide loop right before the shutter advance was critical unless you wanted to do splices on the floor in the middle of a show :) ahh memories.
I'm not sure if you ever had the film escape the reels, but that's a real mess... no pun intended. The first Harry Potter movie released on my first week. At that point I was just the poor guy who had to use an electric leaf blower to clean up popcorn spilled by 400 people. fun.
Did you manage to keep any of the movie trailers once they were finished with their run? I have a couple somewhere, but I suspect they're pretty brittle by now.
But yes! Nice to meet a fellow projectionist!
I was also a projectionist for a bit in the late 90s and worked exclusively with projectors that had platters. It definitely made the job much more automatic since once I started a show the automation would handle most of it unless there was a problem, then I'd get the loud projector alarm and have to go running to it.
There were really only a few downsides to the platters. One was we couldn't rewind, so if there was a technical problem we couldn't back it up to the part that was missed, unless we wanted to do some cutting and splicing.
Another was that sometimes due to static or defective film it would stick to itself and then start wrapping around the feed unit in the center. It was rare but if it happened and wasn't caught it would quickly tension the film and get stuck in the gate where it would get chewed up and melted until it broke and triggered the failsafe (and alarm).
Oh and one correction, the oval in the corner was a reel change indicator, though it could be used for film orientation when splicing (I used the soundtrack to orient the film). This was for theaters that used a dual projector system with manual reel changes. If done right the changeover could be mostly seamless. The next reel would have been threaded on the second projector to the start frame on the leader. When the projectionist saw the first dark oval they would start the second projector then at the second indicator they would press the changeover button which would switch projectors.
@@PaulN504 Interesting! Our manager always had us check for the oval to make sure that the film was printed properly. Occasionally we would get a reel or two that was either developed poorly or printed backwards. So the right-side oval meant everything was at least turned the right direction. But I never saw a dual projector system in use.
Our theater used the reel-to-reel system and so we would get a lot of static during the rewind. There were a lot of problems with tangling when the air was dry (I hated winter). So that problem seemed to plague everyone.
The rewind after some kind of issue was possible but was not easy to pull off. The take up reel had to have a precise amount of tension on it or the pulley wouldn't float properly. So we always just fixed the issue and resumed from the same point, trying our best not to touch the reels.
That pulley was used to determine the speed of the take-up and was very sensitive. Turning the feeder or the take-up independent of one another was a last resort type of event haha.
Thanks for sharing guys! This is a part of my life that I had almost forgotten. But wow the memories flood back. It could get really crazy in the booth, but being alone up there was a lot of fun.
Yes to everything you said. I was a protectionist back then, too.
I remember 2005 well, such a special time for me. Went to see Revenge of the Sith twice when it was out, so it's crazy to see it still up on the sign as if it's still brand new. Meanwhile the world kept spinning and my life has changed so much since those 15 years have rolled by.
@Aaron Lewis Ah, and I'd never imagine you'd be here, king of cool. ;)
@Aaron Lewis *Definitely* I gotcha. ;)
@Aaron Lewis Haha caught ya
Duuuuude Revenge Of The Sith. Thats crazy
wonder if any of the reels are still there lol it'll probably be worthwhile to a collector of that stuff.
@@rionthemagnificent2971 most likely
@@rionthemagnificent2971 People freak out if you take anything from abandoned places. Even though its likely to rot or be trashed. Its insurance reasons that everything that can does go in the trash.
Was sitting home ready to get food ready for dinner and discovered this! Absolutely made my night thanks!!
The old VHS tapes would have been brilliant to be able to view the past and see parts of the cinema in its glory days. Great video as always..
I agree I would have took them for viewing
@@drones8639 I agree with you. I’d have been “So, if no one ever wants these anymore, and since we’re the only ones here, would they notice a few films missing?”
It's basically the number one rule of urban explorers to not vandalise, not take things and not leave things behind. This would be a borderline case though, as you're actually "saving" something from being destroyed or deteriorating further. The tapes themselves are worthless, but the footage on them may be interesting.
@@TMCremixes see with cases like these I don't see why they cannot be returned once the footage has been scrubbed and preserved if there's anything valuable on them and then just place them back when you go and revisit.
@@PACKERMAN2077 Well because legally it's not acceptable and it goes against the unwritten urbex rules, but yes, I agree.
Ok you know its old when they have a reference to turning your pagers off!
One of my favorite parts !
😂
I knew it was old then and also the payphone bank
Makes me feel old. I was thinking it’s new enough that there were pagers.
Ok turn off your phone
I saw so many movies at this theater. That place was a huge part of my childhood and young adult life. Crazy to think at some point I saw a movie there and didn't realize it would be my last in that theater. I alway held out hope that they would be able to restore it.
is that sunrise cinemas on long island next to green acres mall?
@@makeupover4039 No, it's in South Amboy, NJ
I went here as a little girl and it’s crazy that it’s been closed for so long and the building is still there to this day. The front that you can see from the garden state parkway still has the Amboy cinemas sign on the front.
Imagine you're watching this video and you used to work at this theater and this (18:04) turns out to be your long lost yellow comb that you've been looking everywhere for?
Former Employee: Hey that's my old comb, I've been looking everywhere for that!
I am a retired projectionist who started in 1970 retired last year These theaters were very robust in their day these were referred to as shoebox cinemas. I have worked in multiplex cinemas with 15 to 25 screens. Looking at this rundown cinema is a very sad picture for me. The digital aged changed everything and now the C-19 is pretty much the last nail in the cinema's coffin. By the way, the disc you called DVDs is the DTS soundtrack audio for the films that use that sound reproduction system. thanks for this nostalgic adventure! peace.
I pass this place all the time and think about how badly I want to explore it. I still remember my friend’s mom taking him and I to see that live action scooby doo movie here.
Fascinating, yet sad at the same time.
I opened Amboy Cinemas on 12/7/79. The theatre started out as six 500-seat auditoriums and was considered *thee* place to see a movie back then (despite our favorite competitor known as Movie City 5). This is sad to see for those of us who worked so hard there. There was no stadium seating yet and some of the DTS discs shown in the projection booth tour were actually played during a projected 35MM film that used the DTS sound system - the sound was synchronized to every frame of film moving at 24 frames per second (90 feet a minute). The difference in some of the projectors mentioned in the tour was because there were always at least 2 theatres capable of running 70MM film presentations - considered the state of the art and the best in film presentation in those days. As the 70MM indicates, the film was twice the size of the usual 35MM film, and there was magnetic sound striping on both sides of the film to provide the 6-track stereo sound used for big pictures like the "STAR WARS," "INDIANA JONES," movies, etc. I left in 1980 to run Sunrise Cinemas in Long Island and know that there were auditoriums added and split after my run there as Managing Director.
@@DebbiesHomeplace Oh my God!! I was just thinking about your Mom this morning and how we used to laugh - uproariously - while working at Amboy Cinemas! She was a riot and I loved working with her and listening to her stories about the RT 35 Drive In. She spoke of you and your brother and sister all the time. I hope all is well with you and this was a nice surprise to hear from you!!
My Mother worked at Amboy's Drive In as the manager under her manager Mr. Howarth for many years. Her name was Evelyn. They closed it and she worked as a manager at Razz Ma Tazz before moving over the the Multiplex as a manager. I remember her manager there was named Steve, that must've been you. She left a year before it closed. She worked for them for 50 years. I worked at the Drive In as did my Aunt and Grandmother and I worked at the Ticket Booth under Mr. Howarth.
@@MistrSteve100 Awwh how sweet, there is not a day that goes by I don't think of her. My Brother, Sister and I miss her so much! She was always a lot of fun, a riot for sure. All is well, I left home in 89 and I live in Kentucky, Doni and April are still in New Jersey. Another person who worked at the Cinema shared this video with my Brother. I watched it and read the comments. That's when I saw your comment. Hope all is well with you! Such a nice surprise.
@@DebbiesHomeplace My dad was the projectionist at the drive-in and the cinema, I too worked the cinema as projectionist. When I saw your post, I had to respond. Evelyn was a awesome person. When I was a kid going with my dad to the drive-in, she always talked with me at the concession stand. Gave us some freebie stuff and just a great person. At the cinema, she would come into the booth and hang out at the coffee machine in the break room with us. She was very busy, but she was there for us. I too, am so saddened about what happened to the theatre, just wish they would knock it down already. I remember one time, when Prince(the adopted dog at the drive-in) wasn't feeling well, she and I both tried to comfort him. You should be very proud of her, she was truly one of the best.
@@edwardhawley9503 Thank you so much for the kind words for my Mother. I miss her every day. And yes, she was a wonderful woman to all who knew her, she was greatly loved. Do you remember when Prince went through the plate glass window? Years later when he passed the rainbow bridge my Mom had him cremated. Mom had his ashes in a box on her dresser. She loved that dog, we all did. I remember your Dad. He was a very nice man. He would take a break and come chat when he would get coffee. Again, thanks!
He talks about it being abandoned since 06 and I'm like, so not that long.., then he says,"so about 15 years ago." Now I feel old. 😅😂
Same! I graduated high school in 2005. And I work with people that were born in 2001. I'm like holy shit I am fucking old 😂
@@riceland1186 Ik!! I can’t believe someone who is 20 or 21 was born in ‘00. Like, WHAT.
@@riceland1186 try graduation of 89😭
I hear ya. I turned 30 in 2005. Hell, Episode III still feels like the new Star Wars movie to me and there have been like six Star Wars films released since then. It is downright surreal to see a place where time stopped in 2005 though.
Yea, the place looks like it’s been abandoned longer, then you see it’s from 2005, you feel old af lol
That’s so sad. I remember all the summers when I would be out of school and would go to the theatre. I can’t stand it when people just get the urge to wreck and destroy property. So sad.
Great explore! I drive by this place all the time (saw a few movies there when it was open) and always wondered what it looks like inside. Love your channel, keep up the great work!
The projector shown at 8:55 was capable of running 70mm films
It was a century JJ2 70mm projector See it here:
www.film-tech.com/warehouse/manuals/STRCENJJ.pdf
I worked in a movie theater for 18 years ...love what you do .
I worked at a movie theatre for 18 years.
Love this looks like the theatre I work at
Ok, you really struck the nostalgia nerve with me. I was a projectionist late 80's through early 90's. My first job. I used to use an assembly table just like the one at 8:55. Mostly to splice together trailers to go on before the movies. Slight correction on the DTS discs, there was a time code printed next to the optical soundtrack on the film. A sensor on the projector read that timecode and kept the CD/DVD audio playing in time with it. The old style optical analog soundtrack was still on the film and was used as a fallback in case the DTS system faulted. I'm surprised that all those discs were still there. They were supposed to be put back in those round carriers and placed in the film cans when a movie was shipped out. Just for some (unnecessary) information on sound systems, Dolby Digital used a digital soundtrack code printed on the film between the perfs (sprocket holes). A camera would read it as it went by and it didn't need external media for the sound like DTS did. A third system, Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS) used a digital track printed on the last bit of real estate left on the film, the edges that took constant wear as it went through the projector. I never used that system but I'd heard that it was unreliable and not widespread. At 12:45 to the left of the projector you can see a Christie platter system. All the trailers and reels would have been spliced together to make one big film on one of the platters. The whole platter spins as the film unwinds from the center, goes through a speed control mechanism, to the projector, then back to a different platter where it was wound around a central ring. When the movie was over, pull the ring out and place it on an empty platter, pull the speed control out and place it in the center of the full one, thread it up and your film would be ready to load for the next showing. No rewinding necessary. It does not look like the other projectors used reel to reel but had platters also. There were pulleys at the top and bottom that would have gone to the platters which normally were to the left of the projector. It was common to take old projectors that were used in old reel to reel theaters where there were two of them side by side and use them singly with platters. I had 3 projectors that were built in the 1950's at my first cinema. #1 and 3 had been a reel to reel pair in the past with 40 minute magazines which we still had and were stored behind one of the screens. I'm going to assume that the projectors in this cinema were left behind because digital projection was taking over and they no longer had any value. Looks like the lamp houses were disassembled and the lamps removed because they could be dangerous and still had value to use in another cinema that was still operating. I had one of those lamps blow on me while in operation. Made a hell of a mess of the lamp house reflector not to mention the one in my pants from the noise it made. Looks like most of the sound equipment and speakers were taken out as they would still have value. Anyway, I went long winded for this comment but I hope it was educational for all you youngsters that took the time to read it. Thanks for this exploration. Made me sad to see the ruination of a cinema like that but the times keep on changing and us older farts can now be made fun of with our recollections just like we used to do for our previous generation.
This is incredible information and you should log it in a journal, facebook(i'm so sorry), or anything of the sort. in a hundred years people will study your words. Thank you for sharing.
Why do I find this exceptionally depressing? I worked at a movie theater (in the ticket office) and I remember how lively and fun these places always were. There was so much excitement in the air that you could feel it.
I am sad now. :( RIP movie theater wherever it is. :(
that and the farts
I think it’s Amboy cinemas in nj
@@allisonn5472 it is, ive passed it a few times
I miss this theater 😭 saw lots of 80 movies and 90 rip theater
This theater paralleled the decay of Paris Hilton’s career after House of Wax
That moment you realize your daddy's money can't buy everything, like acting skills
@@MrWest728 she's so iconic tho😂
She’s doing fine tho 😂 jealous much
😂😂😂😂😂
I actually liked this movie....
great find, I was a union projectionist for 15-yrs before going technical as a 35/70mm film projection/sound engineer for 40-yrs, I saw projectors from manual change-over to platters, some of you guys may remember carbon arcs for the light before xenon bulbs in the early 70's to present... the film came to the theatre on 2000' reels (5-reels/90mins) (6-reels/2-hrs). until 1975 all cinemas was mono sound with 1-speaker behind the screen, in 1975 Dolby stereo came our in 4.0 w/left-center-right speakers behind the screen (no sub woofers), in 1980 sub woofers came out & the Dolby format was 4.1. In 1993 the format changed to 5.1 w/stereo left-right surrounds & DTS digital sound was the 1st digital sound on CD disc with time code on the film to tell the CD laser where to be to sync film to the disc...1998 Dolby digital came out with sound format on the film, also Sony SDDS was just beginning to come to theatres... Sony SDDS was the better of the three digital sound format...Dobly & DTS was 5.1, Sony SDDS was 8-channels 8.1.... in 1999 Dobly & DTS came out with (6.1), in 2001 Dolby & DTS came out with (8.1) & it stay that way until 2015 until digital cinema was beginning to take the place of 35mm film... By 2018 the 35mm & 70mm film era ended & digital projection & sound took over. This is when I retired from the cinema industry after 48-yrs in the business. 70mm was a limited production with tape recorder type sound track that was for large venues, later became IMAX..Until 1973 all projection light was carbon rod that can only run for 1-hr, that is why 2-projectors was use, when xenon bulbs came out in 1973 that changed the theatre industry, 1975 came the platters that the film was on large rotating table the rewind the film as it was being shown, these platters were gray in color & held the entire movie on 1-platter, there was 3-disc, 1-for the movie being shown, 1-to take-up the movie (rewind) as it being shown, & the 3rd disc to hold a 2nd movie.... to be part of a cinema with reel to reel & carbon arcs to platters & xenon light, from mono 35-watt amplifier to 7.1 stereo with up 17,000 watt of audio power was cool... If you see a indoor cinema w/5-6 amplifiers that was BIAMP sound 1-amplifier for each speaker except surrounds which was 1 or 2 amplifiers wired in a series/parallel config to trick the amplifier to maintain 4~8-ohms... subwoofer had 1~2 amplifiers usually one... I had installed cinemas around the world, my last count in projector install was over 2,200 plus in my career, I not only installed & serviced & maintain the projectors... the projectors were made by Ballantyne, Christie, Century, Norelco, Simplex, Strong, Furmenn, & Cinemeccanica... the projector light lamphouse was made Christie, Norelco, Cinemeccica, ORC, Xetron, Xebex, Film Systems & Strong...the platters were made by Balco, Ballantyne, Film System, ORC, Norelco, & Christie... the most use projectors was Christie, Century & Simplex/Strong... The worst projector was the Ballantyne Pro-35 & the India knockoff of the Century projector, my favorite was Century & Strong 35mm & 70mm film.... my favorite lamphouse was Strong & ORC, my favorite platter was Strong, Film System & Christie... my favorite sound processor was the Dolby CP50, CP650 & Sony SDDS DFP-2000... my favorite amplifiers for cinemas QSC IA750 & DCA series....One last note..indoor theatres use 1600watt~3K watt lamphouse, mostly 2K watts, drive theatres use 5~8K lamphouse for the light mostly 7K wattage... all lamphouses was 3-phase power, running at 25vdc/85 amps... a 7K bulb was 28vdc/135 amps... low working voltage but very high amps that would kill you instantly...the xenon bulb needed 20,000 volts to ignite the xenon gas in the bulb....these bulbs would explode....If you go into an abandoned cinema & the light buld is still in the lamphouse, DO NOT TOUCH IT, It can explode & you will get hurt by the glass...DO NOT TOUCH THE XENON BULB !!! look at it but do not touch !!!
Man, it's sad to see a place that brought so much joy to hundreds if not thousands of people in such a state. Especially during these times.
Sounds like Madagascar has a special place in your heart
It's a movie from my childhood, saw it in theaters too. So yes :)
@@DarkExploration nice lol I can tell
Oh man, I remember getting Madagascar on DVD for my 11th birthday. It’s insane to think that it’s 15 years old now.
I don't think Madagascar was being shown yet at this theatre...if you notice it's listed under Coming Soon...
So that's why the promotional stuff was up for the movie, this closed down right when Madagascar was about to be released...crazy.
I saw it with my grandmother when it first came out.
She sadly passed away in 2008 though :(
I worked at a movie theater in the 90's.
I use to love seeing the family's come in and they were so excited and happy.
Today it's really, really scary.
What do you mean it's really scary?
@@C.Peters. no movie theater has been making any money. Especially since covid rules been relaxed.
stop in any movie theater and ask the manager in the last 3 years have they been making money?
This has been on a directs downward spiral for years.
Again really really sad and scary.
So with all that being said all the other avenues created doing covid it's at a point of no return.
Taking about Theaters
@@ABN6565 The last 3 years? 2019 was our most profitable year in history, far from a downward spiral.
@@morganbrd That's your problem and I'm not even mad. But Trump gets up their and scream this and screams that and instead of you actually looking into yourself because he's TRUMP YOU just agree with it.
Than man has over 500,000 thousand deaths in his hands. Failure to lead under pressure. Screams and tries to belittle the reporters. Complains SNL Picked on him and not Biden. SNL just got back to work😆😆😆😆
Dude smoke and mirrors. All he did was trash this country so the next man would have to dig us out.
He's done nothing while president! You see in the beginning of the years March lowest unemployment rate ever. Helped increase the Coronavirus education and help clean Trump's mess up. A man that denied ever getting the shot and secretly did it.
Incite a riot because he lost fair and square.
Americans will never let him become president again. Dream on and keep believing the lies, don't research yourself
@@ABN6565 Excuse me? I said nothing about Trump. I oppose Trump. You're making a heck of a leap. If anything, I praise Biden for the current box office recovery.
Amboy Cinemas, This was my cinema in the 90's . Thank you for sharing and bringing all those happy memories back.
It's amazing how things can turn to absolute shit in just 15 years without maintenance
When I worked as a projectionist these projectors were state of the art. I remember the good times we had showing movies on Thursday night with friends before the Friday premiere. That was when you could smoke in the theatres. We had reel rewinders set up next to the projectors and splicing tables for each.
I worked as a projectionist in a theater back in the 90's, thank you for going up to the projection booth! Those tables were likely used to put reels of film together which would sit on one of those big platters before feeding through the projector.
Yeah, me too. I assume that you're talking about the work table/bench... I would build up films and the trailer selections at the workbench onto those big 6000-ft reels and then use the AUTOWIND machine (also shown in this video) to load the film from the reel onto the platter.
@@matty_w cool! Did that myself many a Thursday night. I wonder if the theater business survives if movies will be shown from film or from a digital stream?
@@stashmerkin9576 Thursday night breakdowns! Except for anything Disney-related (Buena Vista Pictures Distribution) that arrived Thursday afternoons via Airborne Express, we didn't get our new movies until early Friday mornings. I often worked both shifts (not at the same time)... Thursday nights and also Friday mornings.
Not sure about the movie business... I think that they were all going digital, but also not expecting the giant crowds (thus the "luxury" theaters with fancy seats, wait staff, and more food options). We'll have to see if they can survive COVID-19... Not sure if even the "luxury" theater model will work going forward. I think I also heard that the studios are going to plan on streaming everything this year anyways. One interesting thing that might be gaining customers right now... Drive-in theaters.
@@matty_w I think streaming directly to homes is how it's going to go. Pretty much everyone has a digital HD TV for that big-screen look. From the studio's point of view, they'll make more money by cutting out the middle man. Why let the theaters cut into your profits when you have this streaming service Disney?
@@matty_w Also I think you're right about drive-ins. Be nice to see those again!
All films are rented and have to be returned after showing. If not the fee is very high for "lost" films!
I'm surprised this place is not more trashed being in New Jersey! It officially opened December 7, 1979. The first film shown was "Star Trek The Motion Picture."
About the DTS Discs:
The theater sound system uses six separate speakers. The audio channels are encoded onto one or two CDs. The theater is equipped with a CD player and a decoder that splits these channels up and plays them on different speakers arranged throughout the theater. As in Dolby Stereo, DTS has three front sound channels and a subwoofer. But instead of a single surround channel, it has separate channels for speakers on the left side of the theater and speakers on right side of the theater.
The CD is synchronized with the picture by a special time code on the film. The code, a series of dots and dashes along the side of each frame, is read by a special optical reader mounted on the projector. The reader shines light on the film with a light-emitting diode (LED). The light that passes through the film hits a small photocell. The photocell sends pulses of current representing these flashes of light to the DTS processor. The dash pattern corresponds to a pattern encoded onto the CD. The processor makes sure the two codes are synchronized so that the sound and picture fit together.
They opened with Star Wars and closed with Star Wars. Crazy.
Star trek is different from star wars so almost
Interesting.
@@IronMaidenDoD but has the same dweeb/nerd/geek crazed fan followers?
@@nathanlewis5682 your point?
Sad to see. I love those older theaters. Truly amazing how mother nature reclaims these buildings. Many theaters closed with the transition from film projectors to digital players which started around 2003. I talked to a small theater owner and he said the digital projector cost around $23,000 per screen. Film lingered on for quite a while but it was a losing battle, and many new movies were not getting film prints. The older theaters like this one was hit really hard.
YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THE SECURITY CAMERA TAPES YOU FOUND
For some weird reason I want to sit in one of those theaters and watch the showing movie on my phone. Surrounded by the silence and decay.
i dont know about on my phone, but yes i would love to watch a movie in the silence and decay of an old movie theater
@@floridaman4596 yea I been there at night and when you’re alone, u don’t feel alone😭
Thank you for always showing these older places. Brings back great memories of when times were more simple.
The DVD's are DTS soundtracks for theaters set up with those systems use those instead of the analog track on the film
They realized and mentioned it in the video later on. They got it wrong assuming there'd be no soundtrack on the film itself though.
The film does have soundtracks.. It had dolby SR tracks and DIGITAL tracks... Most likely DTS and Dolby digital tracks.. The theatre was setup for DTS digital and used those discs for the digital sound
@@txdraw those Christie projectors were old a hell even for 2006 lol. I remember working with Christie P35's in 1999.
@@txdraw Yeah, memory serves (I worked at theaters in the mid-90's) that DTS (Digital Theater Sound) barcodes were in-between the image and the analog (stereo) soundtracks, Dolby Digital was in-between the sprocket holes, and Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS) was on the outside edge of the film (the worst spot to put it because that's where the film got the most wear from the pulleys that it ran on). The latter two formats didn't require the discs like DTS. BTW, our theater had DTS in one auditorium and Dolby Digital in another.
I remember going there when I was little, like in the 90s, and it was impressive because I thought it was way bigger than the theater by my home.
I drive passed this place a couple times a year and it still baffles me that it's still standing.
Thanks for doing your best keeping it anonymous. Vandals are literally the worst.
Yay I've been watching all the older videos glad there's a new one up today. Liked it before it even started, knew it was gonna be good. :)
Dude that's so crazy, I worked at that theater back in my earlier 20's in like 93/94 before I moved out of state. I heard it shut down for renovations, because of the roofs caving in, but never opened back up. Always wondered what the inside looked like since it's been abandoned for all that time. Sadly looks like they never renovated the place since I worked there, lol. Thanks for filming there, fun walk down memory lane. 👍
Thanks for sharing your comment! Any interesting stories about working at this movie theater?
This was at the Amboy Cinemas in New Jersey, which is my home state. It closed in 2005 due to a sinking celling and it has been abandoned ever since then
I was thinking the place was massively degraded for 15 years. I’d bet they hadn’t been doing well financially for much longer, and they “deferred” building upkeep.
So funny I didnt realize this was Amboy until i saw the Ruby Tuesdays Old Bridge magnet on the safe and made the connection.
I moved to Florida almost 20 years ago, I loved this theater growing up. ( except when some tall big headed asshole sat in front of you, and blocked the dam screen) It used to have arcade machines in the front as well. But this is ( or was ) the Amboy multiplex Cinema. It closed because of its structural integrity, in 2005. Lowes theaters opened in Edison on us1 and was the first to offer stadium seating. Memories.....good times. I'm glad I got to see a video of you guys exploring it. cuz I've always wondered what it look like on the inside from years of decay.
I thought they said that the floor was sinking
i believe the whole building is structually unsound because of the ground underneath it, given its proximity to the raritan river. i remember seeing movies there as a kid from time to time in the late 80s/early 90s.
My name is Mike .......the woman in the picture on the left is my mom....I'm on her laptop computer. I started working at the Hazlet Drive In in 1988, I had moved to Colorado for 5 months, I moved back to NJ in 1989, and started working here as a weekend job. I worked the Drive In in Hazlet as the same company National Amusements owned it. Eventually I became a relief manager at the Drive In , in the summer and worked here at Amboy Cinemas during he fall, winter and spring. I worked in the box office. It hit home for me as you walked into box office I worked at. At the end where the phone is, was my station. It was called station A. I did alot of moving around back there, refilling ticket paper etc, and I can't count how many times I knocked that phone off the hook. Funny thing was at times the whole theater could hear us talking til I hung he phone back up. Underneath the marquee boards, were plants in the boxes, I don't don't think they were real, but ushers watered them, LOL
Bro honestly who would you be hurting by taking one of those vhs tapes laying next to the security monitors? I know you can't exactly show video of going on to a property you don't own and taking things, for moral and legal reasons. But think this place is an exception because it's already so trashed but those tapes could potentially give you an insight to how different and lively the place was in another time where the peak of cgi effects in movies was Star Wars and there was no touchscreen devices in everyone's pockets. I can't be the only one thinking this.
@Stunt Smith It would be so fun to see what’s on those tapes. A little glimpse back into the early 2000’s.
Wouldn't be worth the effort. Security tapes are re-recorded over regularly, thus already degrading the quality of the picture on the film medium. Tack-on 15+ years of being left "exposed" to the elements as it were, and the film medium would have degraded even further, pretty much to the point of un-readability by the heads of any remaining VHS machines left out there. ☹️
I'm almost willing to go there myself, just to see what those security tapes have.
@@WitherlessLeaf I would just ask you go with a friend, and leave your wallets in the car just in case. I don't know the area, but I know that abandoned places can be safehouses for criminals. Godspeed.
He's already documenting himself trespassing, not sure why the moral/legal line at that point.
These vids never cease to amaze me how neglect really takes a toll on these places. Take away any vandalism done and you get a great example of what things will be like after we are long gone. Crumbling buildings are all that will be left to show that there was life at one point in time. I think I’ve only seen maybe a few theatres that have been abandoned for a period of time that look like they could ever reopen. The rest...look like this if not worse.
I remember stadium theaters were pretty much everywhere by the mid 2000s. I went to an old fashioned theater in 1999 to see The Phantom Menace, and I remember thinking that style of theater was old fashioned BACK THEN!! That style was more common in the early and mid 90s, not the late 90s, and certainly not in 2005. I saw Revenge of the Sith in a large stadium theater with digital projection back in 2005. So I'm amazed this kind of old fashioned theater still showed first run movies in 2005.
They also closed due to the conversion to digital projection, very few National Amusements locations installed the new projectors as competitors were building more modern multiplexes. Customers enjoyed the bigger screens and stadium seating rather than small screens at the end of a tunnel.
This movie theatre appears to be very dated. My local cinima where I grew up was built in the 80s and had bigger wider screen and theatre rooms than this place
I used to work at a theatre in Washington State, many years ago. My Dad was also the manager of said theatre. The DTS discs were, as he said, the digital sound discs. I was the weekend projectionist and the machine your looking at was what I used to put the films together and spun onto reels to be spun onto the platters.
God, but I don't miss splicing all of those bloody films together from the reel-packs every time a new film came in, and then separating them out again when the picture left the theatre for another destination. Ruddy awful, it was... 🙄 😜😂😂😂
@@steadholderharrington9035 That was a real chore. It took me and hour or two just to put the films together. I had to make precision splices and sometimes I wasn't able to see the frame line and splice it in the wrong spot. Then I would have to match the frame to the correct tail when I broke the film down. The hardest part was moving the movie off of the platter and moving it to another projector.
@@GaryGeat28 Watch the video again and tell me if I'm just seeing things, or are the movie-reel guides missing from the walls and ceilings for you too? (remember having to feed those bloody "popular" first-run movies from the table and through multiple, successive projectors in theatre's next-door to each other and then back to the tables? Oh, What fun!) 🙄😜
@@steadholderharrington9035 I used to hate the manager who kept calling projection asking how long we going to be because he wants to go home? He never grasped on how long it took to break down a film after the last performance.
@@mrjohn.whereyoufrom I suppose I was luckier than most projectionists as I had a real cool manager at my theatre who "arose" through the ranks from Candy Bar counter to Ticket Stub taker to Ticket Booth Sales to Projectionist Asst., then Lead Projectionist and finally the various Asst. Manager(s) and finally General Manager of my theatre. She never once begrudged the time it took to put together or break down a film after its final showing.
Hell, Film breakdown or assembly was often scheduled at my work as a complete shift unto its own if we had multiple films to assemble or breakdown in any particular week. Though how the hell she managed to budget that during audits made me marvel at her adroitness in juggling too. 😅😅
I know where this is!! I live in NJ and pass by here very frequently. Always wondered what it looked like inside. Thanks for the video!
Same I've always wondered what the inside looked like
Really nice explore. Looks pretty outdated for 2005 but time has gone by fast so that might just be my perspective. I love how the theater showings are still up and not much vandalism, very cool.
The world and technology have changed dramatically in the last 10 years or so. We were still using fax machines in 2001 up until I left that job in 2011. Seems insane now to send a fax. Phones didn't have cameras until mid 00s. Things have escalated rapidly in very recent times.
@@jena.alexia i so agree, even from when i was growing up in the early noughties i noticed how much technology changed in the space of a couple years into the late 00’s, to the 10’s, then to now.
Sick find guys, loving the content. Can't believe all those old reels were still inside👌 keep on exploring 👊
after this year there will be a lot more cinemas to explore with shops etc
It's sad, but I'll be ready to document the nostalgia when the time comes.
AMC to the moon 🚀🚀🚀🌙.
It was kinda funny to hear you say those projectors were vintage. I used to be a projectionist from 2004 - 2019 and before 2010, 35mm projectors were still manufactured and in full use almost everywhere at that point. That said, one of the theatres I worked in had lamp housing and projectorheads as old as I was at the time, so 23 - 36 years old! Amazed they left all that in there, they could have sold half those parts for a good price on somewhere like ebay. As beat up as that old scope lens looks, it could be cleaned up really nicely.
The Q-tips would have been to clean between the different parts of the projectorhead. Even a tiny hair can look monstrously huge on screen, so you want all the oil and gunk out of your rollers before you run anything through the film gate.
And those DTS discs you found, yep, they are indeed the sound for the movie. A Infared light on the DTS reader corresponds to the timecode on the film itself, it'll relay that to the processor in the amp rack and you get sound...hopefully in sync. Unless of course someone forgets to put the DTS disc in...but that never happened, of course
Excellent channel, I just tripped across this surfing to see what was posted when I found this. Several points. 1.). The holes in the screen are from where people have stolen the auditorium speakers. The theatre sound is located behind the screen. 2.). The Century projector is equipped for 35mm magnetic stereophonic sound. If you were to go back, that auditorium should have (or probably stolen) numerous smaller speakers on the side walls. The first very smaller auditorium would be used for an extended run, say after 4-5 months. Sometimes those are referred to as a "shooting gallery" because of the long narrow effect. The industry learned that the public as a whole did not care much for those. Bravo!!! Looking forward to more of your adventures, I'm envious!!
We had an old theater in our town that closed in the early 80's. Some friends and I went an explored one night. We found an old filing cabinet stuffed with movie posters from the 70's. Some great finds in there.
Built on the site of the Amboys Drive-In and located just off the Garden State Parkway as you go off the Driscoll Bridge. This theatre was entertaining audiences in central Jersey since opening on December 7, 1979. A sister theatre, Hazlet Multiplex Cinemas, shares the same design (I think) as this theatre. The Amboy Multiplex Cinemas was expanded to 8-screens on 21st August, 1981. On 11th June 1982 it became 10-screens. In 1985 it finally became a 14-screen multiplex.
It was closed on May 28, 2005 due to the foyer floor sinking.
I was a projectionist in the late 90s. These old projectors brought back memories. You are correct about those DTS discs. They would sync with the 35mm movie and would provide the soundtrack. This was very cutting-edge at the time. We only had one theater of three that was set up to use those. The other two just pulled the audio from the 35mm.
I know stealing is wrong and all that but someone’s gotta save those retro pc’s, monitors, and vhs tapes. Nobody’s gonna miss them if you take it. I always see all this cool stuff that nobody seems to care about saving in these videos. Imagine those two black monitors sitting behind a SNES or hooked up to a Commodore 64 instead of dying in a damp theatre. Am I the only one who thinks this?
If its abandoned and at some point the place will be destroyed anyways, nah its okay to take
@@Spongebrain97 No, it's not. If people were really so concerned, they'd contact the owners(who would likely be happy to give them away or sell them cheaply), instead of just arbitrarily deciding it's ok to steal them.
The PCs, monitors and definitely the VHS tapes are likely the least valuable thing there. Even if the monitors(which may well be black & white) weren't ruined by all the moisture(as seen by the rusted object they're sitting on) they're likely burnt in from security use.
Aside from privacy issues, the VHS tapes are probably full of mould anyway.
Nobody has the right to decide of somebody else's property that "nobody's gonna miss them".
I was a senior in high school in 2005. Those were the good old days of getting blown in the back row lol
You mean blown in the back row of your dreams?
It used to be pretty easy, I was a good looking popular guy in those days. The girls in that generation weren't so uptight back then, that's half the reason they wanted to go. I had some pretty sexual girlfriends in those days that liked taking risks in public. Nothing like that happens to me anymore, they're all moms now.
@@TRJ2241987 yeah dude, kids these days are prudes.
The first thing I thought when he walked into the actual theater part was...
“I wonder how many BJs have been given in that room?” 🤣😂🤣😂
Those were the days! 🤘
@@TRJ2241987 dude back in 2017 I got a prostate massage in a theater when I was a senior
It’d be cool to have someone who worked here explore it with you, all the things that you would learn.
That thing y’all were standing on that made farting sounds. lolololol. Thank you for making me laugh. 😂😂😂 I needed that. I watched that like 4 times.
the suction from the air made the thing vibrate
It got me luaghing literally out loud, too!
I can't remember if I went to a theater in 2019 at all. Certainly wasn't able to go in '20. It's unfortunate too, I love going whenever I can. On second thought, I did go in 2019, to an Alamo Drafthouse in San Antonio. Can't remember what I saw.
Great footage here guys, well done! I welcome the day we can all go back to the movies, getting that bathtub-size popcorn and drink...
That was the last theater I went to before the shut down. Seen the film the invisible man. Super awesome theater which I heard was expanding to the Orlando market.
I recognize that theater. I saw many a movie in the 80's and 90's there. Thank you for satisfying my curiosity of what remains to juxtapose with my nostalgia.
0:38 2 bollywood movies 😁 waqt and kaal
1:43 Darna mana hai ( bollywood horror movie)
15:36 that poster cut one!
Every time I see one of these places like these I can almost see Joel and Ellie inside running for their lives.
Seeing those DTS discs warmed my heart. I'm a 35mm film collector and live for that sorta stuff. Great upload. Thanks for sharing.
Love old cinemas, shame that loads more are likely to close over the coming months/ years due to COVID...
They've been on the decline anyways.
Still sad to see that happen nothing like the cinama exsperenes
And crap movies. Hollywood doesn't even try anymore.
There are some starting to open know I would expect alot will be open by somer
Being from Sayreville i grew up hanging out at this theatre in i remember seeing The first TMNT and Jurassic Park when they first came out and i remember they had tons of video games in the lobby
I was a senior in Highschool when this place was still open, I’m 33 now, that’s a mind fuck.
You old lol
Not dvds. DTS discs playing audio. Films still had sound bars added to the print. But the DTS discs were an extra added feature to play sound digitally.
I was a projectionist and movie theater manager btw.
Going to be a lot more cinemas like this to explore once COVID-19 has ended.
Definitely, Hamilton 24, Hamilton, New Jersey. Closed a couple months ago
Its sad really. The theater that my friends and I would go to in high-school for years had to close down because hurricane Harvey messed it up bad. We must have seen over 100 movies there over the years. So many memories of that place. It was the spot for everyone to go on the weekends.
I know, its such a shame
Mr.John....how do you know that?
@@johnmessick9946 I’ve been working in cinemas since 1992 and I can tell you that not many cinemas are going to survive.
Loved the video. Loved seeing the old projectors and the movies names still being up on the sign. You can tell it was a retro movie theater by the way that first theater looked when you went into it. So long and narrow. They don't make theaters like that anymore. Kind of eerie honestly. Thanks for the video. It was very entertaining
The reason why they had Blockbuster and Rugrats stickers may have been due to the fact that National Amusements, Viacom's parent company owned this theater. Viacom owned Nickelodeon and Blockbuster so they were just doing some synergies.
Once again, as a former projectionist, let me clue you in. . Projector 7 at about 9:47 is a century JJ 70 70mm projector. That projector alone once sold for about $15,000. Today it is useless as everything is digital now. The big blue box behind the projector is a LAMPHOUSE, made by CHRISTIE. They used XENON bulbs which ran about $300 to 900 each. . They had high pressure gas in a quartz envelope. .
The thing you asked about 8:55 was called a Makeup-rewind bench. This was where the projectionist would splice the 20 minute reels of film togather into a long movie. They would then transfer the film to a PLATTER system which looked and worked like a big 8 track tape.
The gold lens at 8:21 is an Anamorphic (cinemascope) lens that uncompressed the image from 35 mm film to a wider format on the screen. They were about $1,000 each.
At 8:27 you are looking at a film drop sensor that lets the projectionist know if all the theatres are actually projecting a film, or if it had BROKEN or ran out (movie ended). . from a sensor on the bottom of the sound head under the projector.
At 7:59 you are looking at the back side of a CHRISTIE 35mm projector. This would normally be covered.
At 9:22 you are holding a piece of LEADER film that would have had the funny decreasing numbers that told a projectionist where the actual important bit were the film started was. They were usually spliced off to put it at the beginning of a movie. (the adverts of coming attractions) For trailers, you did not ship those out with the movie. . they were disposable.
At 10:18 you are holding a bit of a film trailer
10:32 There is NO OFFICE where the "film is stored" that was likely the theatre office and storage room for the concession stand.
11:20 or so, the film stuff you are looking at is 16mm. . some smaller theatres use it for shows, as the image quality is not as good and cannot be blown up to the larger auditorium screens
At 12:52 to the left of the projector is a platter system mentioned above that handled the film for the projector. The film laid on its edge on one platter, fed out via pulley to the projector and then back to another empty platter that took the film up. . .When the movie ended you just fed the film out from the center and back the same way. .
Platter->projector->sound head->Back to empty platter.
You never had to rewind it.
Sad to say, what a major waste of money here. . But I noticed a sign that said Redstone theatres
15:11 Not a register, an early computer ticket machine.
17:10 under the phone was a computerized sales reporting system that relayed the sales data to the main office. . Redstone was notorious for thinking every employee was a thief.
I don't know why you protected the name of the cinema. . .if the roof was problematic, the builder was likely sued and the whole theatre was a write off. . The whole place was just waiting to be demolished.
I love abandoned exploration and have followed it for yrs on different channels. When you got to the Bldg exterior (at the end) I nearly fell out off my chair when it was my hometown! A few things: 1) The local story was the foundation kept settling as it was built on marsh land. The parking lot and surrounding areas often flooded. The foundation settling could have affected the roof issue as you described? 2) This was a popular “family theater” with a Chuckie Cheese next door - was that still standing? Then at some point there was a homicide by gun shot, less and less families attended and the audience demographic changed. 3) I might be mistaken on this, my memory is hazy, but I think that weird winding hallway to the additional theaters was from an addition/expansion of the original theater. 4) The original carpet was red, so this was not the original 1979 color pallet! Thanks for the blast from the past!
The Chuck-e Cheese is long gone, though I'm not sure exactly when it was torn down.
Man got goosebumps seeing my favorite Star Wars movie as one of the films up there.
That looks like it would have been the perfect theatre to see a horror movie like House of Wax in, too.
Super cool. Your videos are freaking awesome.
Glad you wore respirator masks!
And I literally LOLed at that sound! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Loved the pagers sign!
I love this notification, thanks
Your Insta is mad cool, had to follow you!
Amboy Cinemas in NJ! Last movie I saw there was The Hunted starring Christopher Lambert and John Lone. Great video.
for the record, films have analog audio tracks next to the sprocket holes on one side, some theaters can use the discs instead of course if they were set up that way
yes, however, there IS one exception:CDS a digital cinema audio system by Kodak/ORC, had no analog track, so if the digital audio has problems, then there is NO backup audio.
Not a good situation!
This disappeared VERY quickly.
Also, some digital audio systems used discs(like DTS), others used digital info on the print itself.
Dolby Digital and the Sony digital system(SDDS)did this.
One of these put the digital info in-between the sprocket holes(Dolby Digital), the other one put it on the very edges of the print, past the sprocket holes(Sony SDDS).
As for DTS, it used a very narrow track added to the print that was basically like time code, to allow the film and disc to sync up.
Wow Revenge of the Sith and Madagascar. That’s crazy. Madagascar was a big chunk of my childhood. Revenge of the Sith I didn’t see until a few years ago.
I know where this is!!! I’ve passed by it so many times and I always wondered what it looks like inside.
Same
Where is it?
@@thelastradacompany They will never give away locations in abandoned vids but if you pay close attention you can Google things and eventually may narrow it down.
Amboy Multiplex Cinemas
Sayreville, New Jersey
@@afflixia7 wow do you think John Bongovi went there on a date when he was in HS in 1979?
I’ve seen all those movies, definitely 2005 vibes, and weird that mindhunters made it to the theaters, I thought that was straight to dvd.
Vandalism is a hard thing to see people don't care to have control always destroying for fun
Who cares, the place is a dump
Aww man, this is sad af. I am a movie fiend from back in the early 60s, which is the decade I was born. Movies have always been a major part of my life and I hate to see any theater structure is this condition. I know that time and technology would catch up to these theaters would eventually make some of them obsolete, but it's like seeing a part of my own past decline a bit.
I miss those good times.
As I watch them walking along all of the corridors in the film projectionist area, I keep asking myself "They left the equipment behind, but they took the film-reel guides off the walls exactly why?"
(The film-reel guides are what projectionists used to move film from the film-reel tables, to the projectors, and then back to the receiving tables. They'd just reverse the direction of the film feed to rewind the film before the next showing, giving the staff time to clean out the theatre and to reload it with patrons for the next picture. Other cinema's, depending on the length of the film also spooled the film from the centre of the film-reel table instead of reversing the feed to set up for the next showing.)
I graduated high school in 2005. Seeing the movie titles really took me back!
Wonder how many bjs and hjs you gave in theatres? Wow that’s making me CURRRIOUUSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!?!?!?
@@johnnyblm2656 Reported 🖕
@@rebeccawicks5111 I take it that it’s more than a few then!?!? Pretty standard for a yt girl
Those globes were a pain to keep clean, we eventually removed them at our location.
Probaly would have been less annoying if they were opaque white glass.
Damn! At 9:25 , The Ring 2 came out in March 18, 2005!!!! I still can’t believe like House of Wax/The Ring 2 was 15ys ago! Idk , like 15yrs ago seems so long ago but then it doesn’t. I love this video so much! Brings back so much memories💯♥️
I feel like we are headed towards a very depressing future. Covid is causing so many places to close. Places memories were made. When I was growing up going to the theater was where you would make out with your girlfriend while a horror movie played or hung out with your friends on a hot summer day. Soon their will be no theaters no shopping malls no places to go and just get of the house. Very depressing if you think about it.
You’re right. This will accelerate at warp speed beginning in 2022. Thank the establishment Republicans and the democrats.
@@jerrysanders9101 and the communist party who used the virus as a weapon. Soften our defenses then used sjw woke cancel culture as a rehearsal for an actual mass killing later.
@@jerrysanders9101 nah, thank divided conquer
Another terrific video,guys👍
"This is the office where all the film is stored"
Right next to the mustard....LMAO
Wow I drive by here all the time and have always wanted to see the inside of this place again. I used to go here all the time as a kid because everyone said they had the best sound system. I remember watching Pearl Harbor and The Lord of the Rings in this theater.
"family owned" so you know the aesthetics will be there no corporate upgrades
Ha it was a sumner redstone owned theater, national amusements owned this place. Furthest thing family owned