A quiet night at the movies? Not at a Cinemattack event

Quang Le wants to remind people of the importance of the theater-going experience.

While watching Netflix is an ideal night in for some, there’s nothing like going to the movies, he said.

The 36-year-old Santa Ana resident brings back this sense of nostalgia by presenting previously released films with a twist through his company, Cinemattack.

The entertainment company, co-founded by Le and friend Tyler Jacobs in 2013, has in the past screened movies like “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “Edward Scissorhands” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

Each film is presented in the style of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” where audience participation is encouraged.

The Turtle van was parked outside the movie theater during the “Turtles” screening, and pizza was served to the audience. For “Scott Pilgrim,” lasers beamed out into the crowd during fight scenes and there was an audience sing-along of Metric’s “Black Sheep,” which is performed by a character in the film.

“It only takes one little thing for us to ignite everything to happen,” Le said. “The event has to be entertaining for us to want to do it and to offer the audience something a little bit different than just a regular movie screening or just watching it at home. It’s an immersive experience.”

Cinemattack’s next event, “Wayne’s World Schwing-A-Long,” which takes place Friday at the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, is one of the production company’s most exciting events, Le said.

The “Wayne’s World” screening will be complete with ‘90s nostalgia, a heavy metal costume contest, an arcade, doughtnuts and surprise limited-edition prizes for the first 200 people in line. There will, of course, also be a sing-along and head-bang-along to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and quote-alongs to lines like “No ‘Stairway.’ Denied!”

He said the cult film starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey is one that many people will have fun with, regardless of whether they’ve seen it before.

“‘Wayne’s World’ is one of the ones that we’ve been the most excited about in a long time,” Le said. “It was one of those joint ideas between Tyler and I where there wasn’t any sort of difficulty in it. It was an immediate ‘yes.’”

Logan Crow, owner and founder of the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, said his theater has hosted multiple Cinemattack screenings and that he always looks forward to them.

“After personally experiencing how Tyler and Quang completely transformed our theater into a winter wonderland for ‘Edward Scissorhands’ and an ‘80s pizza party for ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,’ I can’t wait to see what becomes of our lobby and theater in honor of one of my favorite ‘90s movies,” he said.

The Cinemattack owners have a long list of cult films that they would like to present in the future. A screening of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2” is possibly in the works.

Many of the Cinemattack shows sell out in advance, Le said. He said the company has started to grow a reputation among film buffs who enjoy watching movies with other fans.

“We’re really fortunate for that, and it makes me want to work harder every time we do one to make it an experience for everyone that comes,” Le said. “We live by the belief that if people are going to come and dedicate a Friday night to hang out with us, we want to offer them the best possible experience in hopes they might come back and bring other people.

“I take that as a huge responsibility. I want everyone to come away with the feeling that they did something special.”

But just because a screening sells out, that doesn’t mean that it will necessarily be profitable.

Because of all the extra money Cinemattack puts toward giveaway items like pins and special prizes, which include custom Ninja Turtles pizza boxes, sometimes the company only breaks even or loses money.

Le, who also works full-time as a photographer, said he doesn’t mind the money loss.

“I generally lose money every time we do these screenings, even though they do sell out because of the fees that go to the theaters, the props and the giveaways,” he said. “But at the end of the day, if I can pack a theater of 400 or 500 people and give them an awesome Friday, the $200 I lost is a very minor thing.”

He said reintroducing fans to the theater-going experience and giving them something unique is Cinemattack’s top priority.

“When we do these screenings, a lot of people come up to us and tell us that they never got the chance to see these movies in the theaters,” he said. “That’s something that we never even thought about. After the very first screening, we knew it was a great thing and understand why revival cinema is so important. We just wanted to do it in a different manner to help drive people to our events.

“We’ve realized a lot of the movies we want to screen are on Netflix, but it doesn’t matter. People care about the theater-going experience.”

*

IF YOU GO:

What: Cinemattack’s “Wayne’s World Schwing-A-Long”

When: 9 p.m. Aug. 21

Where: Frida Cinema, 305 E. 4th St., Santa Ana

Cost: $15 at at the door (buying in advance is encouraged)

Info: cinemattack.com