Crowds, Skepticism Greet ‘Showgirls’ : Movies: Controversial NC-17 film about a nude dancer earns $8.3 million on opening weekend. But viewers find furor based more on hype than heat.

Something made them drive to the theater. The same thing made them shell out $7.50. Then it made them line up down the block and around the corner.

The Hype.

“Showgirls,” the NC-17-rated movie about an ambitious nude dancer in Las Vegas, packed in audiences on its opening weekend, taking in $8.3 million and placing second at the box-office behind another debuting film, “Seven,” a crime tale that collected $14.5 million. For most films, an NC-17 rating, barring those under 17, is a kiss of death; for “Showgirls,” it was the primary audience draw.

Betty Park of North Hollywood was typical. She’d seen the advertisements--the ones that told her to “leave her inhibitions at the door.” She’d heard that the new film by writer Joe Eszterhas and director Paul Verhoeven--who collaborated on “Basic Instinct”--was supposed to break new ground. She was intrigued.

She left the Cineplex Odeon Broadway in Santa Monica on Saturday unimpressed. “I’m disappointed in the fact that the movie was so poor, and that I let myself be drawn in by the controversy,” said Park, 23. “I wouldn’t even give it the energy to say it was degrading.”

Unlike “Kids,” which was also rated NC-17, “Showgirls” didn’t have a message to offer teens--most of whom couldn’t be admitted to either film anyway. Park’s advice to anyone trying to get a fake I.D.: “Don’t even risk it.”

Zack Shubb, 22, of Monrovia followed the controversy that started when MGM/UA first announced that it was going to make a film about erotic dancers. He was surprised by the casting of Elizabeth Berkley, who played Jesse on the squeaky-clean teen sitcom “Saved by the Bell,” as the lead character, Nomi Malone. And then there was the NC-17 rating, embraced by the filmmakers.

For him, opening night on Friday was an important event. “If this makes $50 million, that’s a hundred times more important than if ‘Batman’ makes $200 million,” he said, waiting for a 10:55 p.m. show at the AMC Burbank 14. “If this movie does well, you’ll see six other studios do NC-17 films.”

Those six studios may hesitate after Shubb’s evaluation of the first NC-17 movie to get a wide release. “It was awful. It was atrocious,” he said. “It was just wrong. “

Shubb looked at his watch 10 times during the 131-minute film and found himself--and others--laughing during supposedly dramatic scenes. And despite a few whoops and catcalls from the crowd, he didn’t think the movie was remotely erotic.

“For a movie that was supposed to break taboos. . . . there was nothing that I hadn’t seen in R-rated movies before,” he said. “It seemed like a movie made by two dirty old men who wanted to see as many pairs of breasts as they could.”

“Showgirls” didn’t break any ground by Ross Goza’s standards either. But he said he bought his ticket for a Friday night screening at the Edwards Cinema Bristol 4 in Santa Ana as a show of his support for releasing NC-17 films. “I’m doing my part against the radical Christian Right,” said Goza, 33, of Corona del Mar.

Not all viewers panned the film outright. Emilio Fontana, 55, of Santa Monica said that it wasn’t as bad as a review indicated. But that didn’t mean it was good, either. “If you covered up the girls, you’d see one-tenth of the people in there,” he said after the Saturday matinee in Santa Monica.

It was also better than Judy and Bob Erber of Laguna Niguel thought it would be. “It was fast-moving and it had a good story. She (Malone) had a lot of guts. She was strong and she went for what she wanted. I liked that,” said Judy Erber, 45, who saw the film at the Edwards Saddleback in Lake Forest.

But she also thought it was appropriate that the cashiers were requiring photo identification and turning away young people who couldn’t prove they were older than 17. “It’s definitely not for kids,” she said.

MGM/UA might find out how effective theaters were in keeping teens out. An anonymous survey passed out by MGM/UA staff at the Friday night screening in Burbank asked the age of respondents. Among choices were: under 12, 12-14 and 15-17.

The studio staff, however, asked the audience not to complete a section about which phrases applied to the film. Among the 30 choices were “nothing new,” “too silly/stupid,” “humorous in parts,” and “not enough sex.”

Perhaps they didn’t want to know.

Orange County correspondent Alan Eyerly contributed to this story.

* BOX OFFICE VERDICT: “Showgirls” took a back seat to “Seven” at the box office. F5