You may even know it already, as I've told it before on this site in abbreviated form.
The reason I'm about to tell it again is because I told it to someone last week, and we both got a good laugh out of it. So heck, why not share it with you all? And then I'll shut up about it, promise.
This took place just over twelve years ago, when a colleague of mine had bought himself a Home Cinema. And when I say Home Cinema, I'm serious: we're talking about a silver screen which could be unrolled from the ceiling, a DVD player with two trays, and a kick-ass beamer. I have many fond memories of watching films there, his set-up even beating many of the crummy Dutch cinemas in sharpness and sound.
Now this colleague didn't like horror much, but Japanese friends kept saying Nakata Hideo's Ringu was fantastic, and he was intrigued by the concept. Remember, this is the seriously scary film about the video tape which kills anyone a week after seeing it. So during his next visit to Japan, my colleague bought a DVD boxset of Ringu and Ringu 2.
Once back home, curiosity got the better of him, so he popped in both discs, sat back, relaxed, and watched Ringu.
At home.
Alone.
At night.
Which is maybe not the best thing to do if you don't like horror much.
Respect where it's due though: he sat it out. At two AM my colleague, badly rattled, took out the DVD disc, to put it back in its packaging.
But the moment he reached up to his film shelf to do just that, something happened: his beamer suddenly popped back on and started projecting "The Video" from the cursed tape in the film. You know, the black and white shaky clip, which shows a well in the forest, a long-haired thin girl climbing out...
And as my colleague sees the girl moving towards him on the screen, he realized that he, impossibly, had the DVD disc STILL IN HIS HANDS!
He was about to yank the phone cord out of the wall (remember, after you've seen the video the ghost calls you up by phone, then hangs up, then you're doomed), when the Menu Screen for Ringu 2 appeared. Turned out disc 2 was still in the player, and the Ringu 2 DVD starts with "The Video".
My colleague told me the next day he couldn't recall a previous time he'd ever been so scared.
I love this anecdote. Bar the fact that I didn't have a home cinema at the time, this could so easily have been me. And I would have been terrified out of my skull, no doubt about it. Hell, I would have frozen on the spot and turned into lead.
Anyway, great movie anecdotes: we all have them. What is YOUR favorite? Chime in, in the comments below, and HAVE YOUR SAY!