Despite its inauspicious debut in 2003, actor/director Tommy Wiseau's vanity project The Room has become a huge cult phenomenon, regularly playing in cinemas around the world, to the delight of film fans ready for a raucous night at the movies.

This tepid melodrama focuses on a love triangle between Johnny (Wiseau), his 'future wife' Lisa (Juliette Danielle) and his best friend Mark (Greg Sestero). The film is a calamitous mess, featuring turgid dialogue, unresolved plot threads and dreadful performances. There’s little argument: The Room is one of the worst movies ever made, and these days is loved all the more because of it.

The painful production was detailed in Sestero's frank and surprisingly good book The Disaster Artist (written with Tom Bissell), which is itself being adapted into a film starring James Franco as Wiseau.

The Room eventually found its audience on the midnight circuit where special screenings attracted excitable and drunk crowds who were willing to subject themselves to its numerous horrors in the safety of numbers. These screenings have turned into special events where audience interaction is part of the performance, and a set of guidelines has emerged to help new viewers join in the action. If you're a Room virgin then the following list, while far from exhaustive, will give you a few pointers:

Spoon!
The film features a photo frame displaying a stock image of a spoon. Whenever it appears, shout 'Spoon!' and throw plastic spoons at the screen. A well-organised screening will furnish you with a good handful of spoons as you enter, but Room veterans will have prepared their own plastic cutlery.

Hi Denny / Bye Denny
Johnny's neighbour Denny casually enters and exits the flat like he owns the place. Celebrate these frequent moments by shouting 'Hi Denny!' and 'Bye Denny!'

Because you’re a woman!
Whenever you hear one of the many examples of casual misogyny, shout 'Because you're a woman!'

Focus!
Shout 'Focus!' whenever the focus puller has a wobble. And 'Unfocus!' at the start of each of the many excruciating sex scenes.

Who are you?!
When a scene opens on two characters you've not met who are making out in Tommy's flat, shout 'Who are you?!'

You’re tearing me apaaaht!
And, most important of all, thoroughly practice the cadence, accent and odd pronunciation of The Room's most famous line:

The Room -- Official Trailer