London Theater Uses “Cinema Ninjas” to Stop Chatty Patrons

The Alamo Drafthouse has made excellent use of clever "no talking" bumpers before films and their unique flag system to keep talkers from bothering audience members, but a movie theater in London has a different idea: Ninjas. Or, more specifically, "Cinema Ninjas."

Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square has had it with people talking in their movie theaters, so they've decided to take a new approach to keeping the peace. They hooked up with Morphsuits, a company that specializes in making skintight active wear (we guess?), to procure black suits to give to their "Cinema Ninjas."

But what the hell is a "Cinema Ninja"? Apparently the theater has opened their doors to a group of volunteers who don the suits and sneak-attack talkative audience members in the dark. In exchange for their awesome duties, they get to watch movies for free. It sounds a little nuts, but two other British theaters have adopted the practice, so they must be doing something right. It's definitely a more humorous approach to getting patrons to keep their mouths shut.

One audience member provided this testimonial, courtesy of Slashfilm, after being confronted by the ninjas for answering his cell phone in the theater:

I normally hate noisy people in cinemas, but I got a call from my friend just as the movie started and thought I could get away with taking it. The last thing I expected was two completely blacked-out people suddenly appearing by our seats and give me and my mates a warning to shut up. It was actually pretty terrifying at first, but then I realised it was a bit of a laugh and a great way to make it clear what I was doing was having an impact on those around me. It certainly made me hang up and shut up for the rest of the film.