4 Star Cinema — Local services in Kilgore

Free kids summer movie camp. I'm disgusted! There was a group of special needs people and their caretakers stuck standing on the sidewalk being barred from entering the building. They we're watched by the small blonde manager as the care takers went through the difficult lengthy process of unloading all of their patients. She smiled a friendly smile while watching this. After they were all unloaded and excited to go watch the movie she stopped them from entering and told them the theater was full to capacity. It was shortly after this that I walked up. The caretakers told me that they had said they were full but maybe I could still get in because they were letting other families in for some reason. THIS is NOT ok! So I did some checking and watching. They let me in no problem. They let several families in after I got there as well. They had two theaters roped off not allowing their use (I understand this. It is probably because of new nice furniture) but I did check the 2 theater rooms in use and there were SEVERAL seats! People could have easily swapped a few seats to accomodate those with special needs being able to sit with their caretakers. Right before barring everyone from entering there were about 3 small groups that came in and the manager told them, "We're full but you're welcome to check for a seat" they never came back out so I'm going to assume they found one. AFTER the employees started stopping EVERYONE from coming in I counted the number of seats available (19 in one theater and 15 in the other) I then counted the guests in the ladies room (7) plus 2 coming out of mens restrooms and did not see any stragglers in the lobby. This leaves 25 seats UNLESS there were 25 men in 2 separate one stall restrooms. There were less than 25 special needs and caretakers present (probably more like 12). This doesn't even count the seats that WERE available when they were turned away that got filled by people who were NOT turned away after the special needs people were barred from entry. The movie theater is NOT out any money for this summer camp. They show older films, not new releases. They make massive ammounts on concession since people are not having to pay for the movie. The movies are scheduled outside of business hours and the movies are sponsored by the police, chamber of commerce, and SEVERAL businessess. My family of 7 went to this theater MANY times. 7 tickets and 60 in concessions every time 1-3 times per month. Never again. This is absolutely repulsive. It's obvious the poor people were turned away because of their special needs. (For those who may say they would disrupt things...we've gone two previous years and i remember these sweet people from around 3 times in the same theater room and they were really polite and well behaved. A couple of them did clap and cheer after the movie ended.) Nothing to deserve barring...

Will NEVER return. Staff was rude. I heard several staff members YELLING at children for doing kid things. One lady who was clearly struggling to keep up with her grandchild was treated poorly and staff was talking about her right in front of her to other guest. Our movie was 15 min from starting time and the person who was supposed to be cleaning the theater was instead having an entire 30 minute conversation with other guest so when my husband went under the rope to go sit in the theater, he was yelled at like he committed a crime by staff. I worked in a large movie theater for 4 years and the way they do stuff here is ass backwards and makes no sense at all. THE CUSTOMER ALWAYS COMES FIRST!!! We choose a place to spend our hard earned money and why would we choose to come somewhere like this. We didn't even finish our movie. The theater was smaller than my living room and the volume was so low you could hear people crunch on their food. About halfway into the movie my husband pulls out his phone mind you there is no one behind us. He was getting multiple notifications from our home camera so he took a second to check our camera and low and behold there is a security guard right behind him acting like he committed another crime. It was clear he was being targeted because he was giving back the same energy he was given and of course they didn't like it. AWFUL PEOPLE IN AN AWFUL PLACE

Update: the response from the theater clearly did not like my comment about the fact that I criticized the size of the theater, comparing it to being smaller than my living room because that just isn't possible.... however I will say that they may be correct, it's probably the size of my living area, not smaller than. I did find the response unprofessional just like the experience I had there. Nothing regarding the negative part of my experience was mentioned because apparently now I am a liar since i made the "living room" comment. Yes I was exaggerating.... OBVIOUSLY!!!! The fact that children are being yelled out for pulling on ropes or stepping on the poles by employees is not ok. Your employees should address the parent or guardian. They have no right to speak to anyone's child that way and speaking about others to other customers is disgusting. Also I could seriously hear people crunch on their food. That was not an exaggeration. Turn the volume...

Upon arrival there was a staff member and police officer at the door, kinda sketchy and definitely concerning. My purse had to be inspected for outside food, This is a very old school theater as all the concessions were done by the staff. We asked for a hotdog tray to put some of our popcorn into and we were told they can't give out anything extra. Fountain soda options were limited, bottled soda was available and cost $2.48... I was honestly surprised we weren't patted down before we could enter the theater! This was a one and done trip for us. Reply to owner While I appreciate your reply, had you deserved a positive review it would have been given. I do review businesses and provide many with positive comments and feedback, that are earned. To gain customers or consumers of your products or services, and get positive reviews, you must appreciate the fact we are spending our money and a certain level of expectation comes with that. To address your comments, first off your reply shows a level of integrity you clearly missed. Without patrons your establishment will not survive and based off your reply you see no need to improve your services. I am sure other theaters will gladly accept our patronage and the sales we give them. Should the service we receive be above and beyond expectations, a review will be written, and, like this establishment, should the service be below expectations a review will be written. I find reviews the best way to find a place worthy of my hard earned money. I agree with you on one thing, you should be sorry we did not enjoy our experience. If my review offends you, perhaps you should remember, your facility isn't required to change, but I am not going to spend my money at a facility that is below my expectations. I do plan to enjoy this new year, thank you. I will also enjoy watching movies and enjoying refreshments at a theater who appreciates the value of its patrons and...