ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS FOR THIS SLICK AND TWISTING CRIME THRILLER
Our October Vintage Screenings start with a bang on 10th October with a 30th anniversary screening of The Usual Suspects. This compelling crime thriller is packed with twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very last minute - and to honour that, we’ll be doing the same with another blind tasting evening, giving you subtle clues to help you pick the odd wine out before the evening is up…!
A PIONEERING ANTHOLOGY OF CHILLING TALES FROM A BELOVED BRITISH STUDIO
Our October Vintage Screenings continue with a chilling warm-up (or perhaps chill-down?) for Halloween, Dead Of Night. One of Ealing Studios’ rare horror outputs and helping to set the tone for British horror for the rest of the century, this anthology of eerie tales turns 80 in 2025. We’ll be pairing it with a wine flight inspired by some of the stories that it tells, in a spine-tingling celebration of the macabre.
We’re returning to Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol’s very own necropolis, for the start of our Halloween Season 2025. We’re hosting a triple bill celebrating acclaimed filmmaker Tim Burton, starting with a 20th anniversary screening of Corpse Bride. Burton’s directorial stop-motion debut is delightfully eerie, packed with dry wit and dark whimsy, and surprisingly poignant. The titular bride’s story of love transcending even death will warm even the coldest of hearts as the nights begin to draw in this autumn…
This October, we invite you to step back into the twisted, magical world of Oz with a 40th anniversary screening of Return to Oz. This spiritual sequel to the original film delves deeper into L. Frank Baum’s stories to present a darker, wilder journey beyond the yellow brick road. Join us this cult classic where Tik-Tok ticks (not the app!), Wheelers creep, and Dorothy faces her strangest adventure yet. We know that some of our Gen X audience still have their nightmares haunted by the spookier moments in this warped fantasy, so whether you’re discovering this strange chapter for the first time or facing up to your childhood cinema-based trauma, we’re ready to welcome you back to Oz…!
We’re returning to St Mary Redcliffe during our 2025 Halloween season for a special centenary screening of The Phantom Of The Opera, featuring a career-defining performance from Lon Chaney as the Phantom and one of cinema’s earliest and most infamous jump scares… This remarkable film will be set to an original score performed live by Bristol-based quartet Minima - their score for this seminal film is an event not to be missed!
Our Matinee Screenings return to the Caves on Saturday and Sunday mornings – these screenings, starting at just £10 a ticket, showcase vintage films from the horror vault. For Saturday’s Matinee Screening, we’re celebrating the 80th anniversary of Bride Of Frankenstein. Elsa Lanchester appears as the eponymous bride opposite Boris Karloff as the original monster in this shocking sequel to the 1931 adaptation. It’s one of the all-time great sequels and still a cornerstone of the genre.
As we move into Saturday evening at Horror In The Caves, we’re resurrecting Fright Night for a 40th anniversary screening. This comedy-horror about a vampire next door inspired a sequel, remakes, comic books, novels, a video game, a stage adaptation, and there’s even a rumoured prequel in the pipeline - but it doesn’t get better than the original, with its chills, thrills, and affectionate homage to the glory days of vintage horror crossed with 80s pop culture. One worth sinking your teeth into!
We’re celebrating another 40th birthday on Saturday evening at Horror In The Caves: it’s the notorious Re-Animator! Stuart Gordon’s infamous adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story is one of the bloodiest mad scientist stories out there, as two medical students create a literally death-defying serum with horrific consequences. We’re presenting a restoration of the original unrated cut; it’s both genuinely scary and genuinely funny, for those with a warped sense of humour and a stomach for gore…
Saturday at Horror In The Caves 2025 concludes with a late evening screening of Bone Tomahawk, which turns 10 this year. This gritty Western - with Kurt Russell on top form as a grizzled sheriff - suddenly takes shocking twists and turns and descends into full-throated, unflinchingly brutal horror. If you’ve seen it, you’ll know it’s a modern genre-fusing classic. If you haven’t seen it, we’re not saying anything more than “Prepare yourself” and “There’s a reason we’re showing this one in a cave complex”…!
For Sunday’s Matinee Screening at Horror In The Caves 2025, we’re celebrating the 70th anniversary of The Night Of The Hunter. Widely considered one of the greatest films of all time, one-time director Charles Laughton didn’t live long enough to see his work become recognised as a classic - but Robert Mitchum’s nightmarish turn as a murderous “preacher” remains one of the enduring villains of the genre.
Sunday afternoon at Horror In The Caves 2025 takes us back a quarter of a century to the original Final Destination. The franchise is still box office gold, but the very first film expertly sets up the fiendishly stressful premise of Death itself hunting down a group of friends who literally cheat it when they narrowly avoid a plane crash. The Rube Goldberg-style machinations of seemingly ordinary objects creating deathtraps will have you on the edge of your seat!
As Sunday evening draws in at Redcliffe Caves, we’re presenting a 20th anniversary screening of the possession chiller The Exorcism Of Emily Rose. Part courtroom drama and part demonic nightmare, this eerie film is all the creepier knowing it’s inspired by real-life events - and Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter, Quarantine) is ghoulishly hypnotic as Emily Rose, channeling dark forces in an award-winning and incredibly physical performance that has to be seen to be believed!
This November we’re presented a trio of Hitchcockian Vintage Screenings to mark some major anniversaries of some of his finest films. Our first screening is the haunting adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, which turns 85 this year. This was Hitchcock’s only film to win Best Picture at the Oscars, and it’s a glorious Gothic psychological thriller. We’ll be pairing it with some suitably Gothic wines inspired by the film’s character and characters…
This November we’re presented a trio of Hitchcockian Vintage Screenings to mark some major anniversaries of some of his finest films. Our second screening is Spellbound, which turns 80 this year; this brooding psychological thriller sees Ingrid Bergman face off against Gregory Peck, a man who isn’t who he seems and can’t be sure of who he’s supposed to be… We’ll be pairing it with wines that each have a Hitchcockian twist to them that make them unusual in their respective categories… Intrigued? We hope so!
Our trio of Hitchcock Vintage Screenings in November concludes with a 90th anniversary screening of the espionage thriller The 39 Steps. Showing just in time for St Andrew's Day, you can choose either a wine tasting or opt for a Scotch whisky tasting flight in honour of both the seminal film's setting and patron saint. Slainté!
With kind permission from Hammer Films, we’re thrilled to bring a 70th anniversary screening of The Quatermass Xperiment to the Planetarium this November. Based on the BBC serial, this chilling story of extraterrestrial threat and body horror was a major influence on cult director John Carpenter, and this digitally restored print will be a treat on the big screen once more for all fans of sci-fi and vintage horror!
We’re celebrating another milestone of dystopian sci-fi this November with a 30th anniversary screening of Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys. It’s a mind-bending time-travel misadventure featuring Bruce Willis as the convict trying to save humanity from its own fate, plus Brad Pitt in an Oscar-nominated, memorable turn as a psychiatric inmate.
As part of a double bill of dystopian international cinema, Battle Royale is coming to the Planetarium for a 25th anniversary screening. This controversial Japanese film about schoolkids forced to fight to the death by a totalitarian regime has influenced Tarantino, The Hunger Games, Squid Game and much, much more - it’s still a shocking and exhilarating watch, with satire, action, pathos et al for those who can stomach it!
ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS FOR THIS SLICK AND TWISTING CRIME THRILLER
Due to demand, we’ve added an additional 30th anniversary screening of The Usual Suspects to our Q4 programming. This compelling crime thriller is packed with twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very last minute - and to honour that, we’ll be doing the same with another blind tasting evening, giving you subtle clues to help you pick the odd wine out before the evening is up…!
We’re delighted to present our first ever screening of the musical sensation, The Sound Of Music, this December, to coincide with its 60th anniversary! Join us to celebrate the Oscar-winning classic, following Maria, the Von Trapp family and their remarkable story through a songbook of timeless classics. The film will be introduced by Festival Director Owen Franklin, and there will also be a very special live medley performed by our friends at BLOC Productions, Bristol’s premiere musical theatre club. Whether you’re discovering it for the first time or rewatching it for the fiftieth time, experiencing this heartwarming favourite on the big screen is a magical way to start the festive season.
As we move into December, we’re presenting a 20th anniversary screening of War Of The Worlds. Steven Spielberg masterfully adapts the seminal H.G. Wells novel for the 21st Century, bringing the scale of the alien invasion to life without losing sight of the existential dread of the source material. Harrowing and haunting, it’s another example of Spielberg’s proficiency in producing PG-13 horror (or 12-rated for us Brits!).
Our final night at the Planetarium in 2025 begins with a 20th anniversary screening of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith. The final film of the prequel trilogy details Anakin Skywalker’s tragic turn to the Dark Side of the Force, and the origins of one of cinema’s all-time greatest villains… It’s a space opera spectacle for the ages!
Do you feel the need? The need for speed? We hear you… Or maybe you’ve lost that lovin’ feeling? Then we can be your wingman any time, because we’ve got your date night plans/entire month of February sorted with a 40th anniversary screening of Top Gun underneath Concorde at the magnificent Aerospace Bristol! Join us for a high-octane screening of Maverick’s original outing in all its 80s glory - it’s guaranteed to take your breath away.
