What's the coolest-slash-geekiest entrance you can think of for a basement movie theater? A Star Trek one that gently hisses open? One of those expanding irises that turn up in cheesy spy films? Wrong and wrong — the correct answer is the Doors of Durin, better known as the entrance to the Mines of Moria in The Lord of the Rings. And how do we know this is the best option? Because some guy built one.

Hidden LEds light up the iconic design

Step forward Reddit user Eclipse_007, who posted images of the ambitious project on Imgur this week. The door itself is built like a shadow box, with a plywood frame filled with LED lights and covered with a painted, plexiglass front. The door's iconic patterns are then scraped out of the paint, and the plexiglass is covered with a vinyl layer to blend in with the surrounding wall. A capacitive sensor registers when someone touches the door in the right place and presto, the lights turn on, illuminating the arch-and-stars design before swinging open to admit the individual.

The door being built. (Eclipse_007)

There is, of course, one key element missing: "Speak, friend, and enter." In The Lord of the Rings, the Doors of Durin can only be seen in moonlight or starlight and they only open in response to the Sindarin word for "friend" (which we all know is "mellon"). According to Eclipse, this element is being working on, and although the door currently recognizes his voice, it "has a hard time with everyone else's." Eclipse says it's unfinished but this makes sense to us: what would be the point of a secret entrance if just anyone could get in?