Underground Cinema

We’re back at Redcliffe Caves this September for a weekend of subterranean screenings with our Underground Cinema!

Bristol Film Festival's Underground Cinema is an unforgettable way to discover, or rediscover, some of the silver screen’s hidden gems, pop culture milestones and genre highlights.

Delve deep into one of the most unique locations in Bristol, and forget about the outside world for a couple of hours. Whether you’re settling down for a favourite fantasy film or a cult classic, it’s sure to be one of the year’s most memorable movie viewing experiences.

2025 Season: 19th - 21st September

 
 
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CINDERELLA at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 19
CINDERELLA at Redcliffe Caves

WE’RE HAVING A BALL AS WE LAUNCH 2025’S UNDERGROUND CINEMA SERIES

Our matinee screenings at the Caves bring classics from the archives back to the big screen at discounted prices, and 2025’s Underground Cinema starts with our first ever Friday matinee screening! We’re celebrating the 75th anniversary of Cinderella, Walt Disney’s beloved take on the 17th Century fairy tale. A critical and commercial hit, it rejuvenated Disney’s post-WWII fortunes and remains one of the studio’s most seminal works to this day.

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BATMAN BEGINS at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 19
BATMAN BEGINS at Redcliffe Caves

THE SILVER SCREEN ORIGIN STORY THAT BATMAN DESERVED AND NEEDED

Like Bruce Wayne descending into the caverns beneath Wayne Manor, it’s your opportunity to leave the surface behind and slip into Redcliffe Caves for a 20th anniversary screening of Batman Begins. Christopher Nolan’s first Batman film not only rebooted the franchise, but set the tone for a darker era in both superhero movies and more widely in 21st Century blockbusters. Come and witness the birth of a legend - and in case you’re worrying, we can pretty much guarantee that your venue will be bat-free, apart from the ones onscreen…!

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SE7EN at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 19
SE7EN at Redcliffe Caves

A SERIAL KILLER STORY TO GIVE HANNIBAL LECTER THE SHIVERS

Is it Halloween already? Well, no, but if you venture into the Caves on Friday night for our 30th anniversary screening of Se7en, you may well feel chilled to the bone unseasonably early! David Fincher’s gritty and grimy tale of a Seven Deadly Sins-inspired serial killer is not for the faint-hearted, but push past the grislier moments and you’ll find yourself immersed in a gripping detective noir thriller that has set the benchmark for so many imitators and homages ever since.

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THE BLACK CAULDRON at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 20
THE BLACK CAULDRON at Redcliffe Caves

DISNEY’S DARKER SIDE BATTLES FORCES OF GOOD IN THIS 80s CULT FANTASY

Saturday’s matinee at the Underground Cinema is a 40th anniversary screening of The Black Cauldron. In keeping with Saturday’s theme of cult classics, this dark fantasy has developed a dedicated fan following over the decades. With echoes of Welsh mythology, a stirring Elmer Bernstein score and John Hurt as one of Disney’s creepier villains, it’s an epic adventure that’ll reawaken your inner child.

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WEIRD SCIENCE at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 20
WEIRD SCIENCE at Redcliffe Caves

SCI-FI SILLINESS AND B-MOVIE MAYHEM FROM THE BRAIN BEHIND THE BREAKFAST CLUB

Our cult classics continue in the Caves on Saturday with a 40th anniversary of the teen sci-fi fantasy comedy Weird Science. John Hughes’ third coming-of-age film combines the Frankenstein mythology with 80s computer geeks to create a knowingly goofy mash-up inspired by 50s comics, classic monster movies and Hughes’ hallmark touch of breathing life into awkward teenager tropes. So place your tongue firmly in your cheek, and start coding…

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MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 20
MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME at Redcliffe Caves

WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER HERO - WE’VE GOT MAD MAX

Next up on Cult Classics Saturday at the Caves is another 40th anniversary screening: it’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome! The third outing in the epic post-apocalyptic series introduces Tina Turner in her iconic role as the ruthless Aunty Entity, and is packed with stunning vehicle choreography, one of the most epic movie fight scenes of all time, and enough energy to keep the franchise alive until the Tom Hardy revival. Strap yourselves in…

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FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 20
FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS at Redcliffe Caves

“WE CAN’T STOP HERE - THIS IS BAT COUNTRY…”

Saturday at the Underground Cinema is all about cult classics, and Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas certainly fits the bill! Terry Gilliam’s adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s drug-fuelled gonzo novella is intentionally provocative, at times hilarious and frightening, and a whirlwind of a film that got the seal of approval from Thompson himself!

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REPO MAN at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 20
REPO MAN at Redcliffe Caves

IF YOU LIKE THEY LIVE THEN YOU’LL LOVE THIS ANARCHIC 80s CULT COMEDY

Saturday evening’s selection at Redcliffe Caves is the surrealist satire Repo Man - or is it a conspiracy thriller, or a punk rock operetta, or an indie road movie? No matter how you classify it, it’s one of the best films of the 80s, and even has a surprising local link: first-time writer/director Alex Cox studied film at the University of Bristol before moving to LA to make this!

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MANDY at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 20
MANDY at Redcliffe Caves

NIC CAGE IS A LUMBERJACK & HE’S NOT OK IN THIS HALLUCINOGENIC HELLSCAPE

We’re concluding Saturday’s Underground Cinema screenings with a late evening screening of one of the great cult actors in one of his cultiest films (there’s even a cult in it!) - it can only be Mandy. Nicolas Cage is hypnotic to behold in this surrealist revenge horror that follows a lumberjack trying to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend from a brutal cult [please stop using the word “cult” now - Ed.]. There’s beauty amidst the chaos, but be warned: it gets very, very messy too…

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LEGEND (1985) at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 21
LEGEND (1985) at Redcliffe Caves

TIM CURRY IS DEVILISHLY FUN BATTLING TOM CRUISE IN RIDLEY SCOTT’S DARK FANTASY

Sunday’s matinee at the Underground Cinema is a 40th anniversary screening of Ridley Scott’s Legend. Starring a pre-Top Gun Tom Cruise and Tim Curry in a terrifying turn as the demonic creature Darkness, it also assembled the largest makeup team ever at that time to bring the dark fantasy world to life, ultimately winning an Oscar in this department. It’s as 80s as it gets, and all the greater for it!

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JUMANJI at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 21
JUMANJI at Redcliffe Caves

30 YEARS OLD, AND STILL AS ROARSOME AS EVER

Our Sunday screenings at the Underground Cinema are all about fantasy and adventure, and the schedule continues with a star turn from Robin Williams in a 90s action-adventure: the original Jumanji! Based on a novel and spawning sequels, spin-offs and even theme park rides, the original film turns 30 this year - stampede on down to Redcliffe Caves to enjoy its thrills and spills deep beneath the surface…

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THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 21
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN at Redcliffe Caves

BILLIONS OF BLUE BLISTERING BARNACLES: SPIELBERG + HERGÉ = MOVIE MAGIC

We’re delighted to bring a 20th anniversary screening of The Adventures Of Tintin to the Caves this autumn. Tintin’s creator Hergé personally stated that Steven Spielberg “was the only person who could ever do Tintin justice,” and this breathtaking animated adventure draws inspiration from three of the plucky journalist’s most beloved stories. With Snowy, Captain Haddock, Thomson and Thompson, Bianca Castafiore and more all joining the fun, it’s a must-watch for any fan.

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LABYRINTH at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 21
LABYRINTH at Redcliffe Caves

CAN YOU LEARN TO DANCE THE MAGIC DANCE BEFORE THE CLOCK STRIKES THIRTEEN?

In what has become Underground Cinema tradition, watch Jim Henson’s magical musical adventure Labyrinth at Redcliffe Caves. Step into Bristol’s very own subterranean labyrinth, get ready to dance the magic dance, and follow Sarah deep into the Goblin King’s realm where nothing can be taken at face value…

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PAN’S LABYRINTH at Redcliffe Caves
Sep 21
PAN’S LABYRINTH at Redcliffe Caves

THE DARKER SIDE OF FAIRY TALES VERSUS THE DARKER SIDE OF HUMANITY

Our 2025 Underground Cinema series concludes as always with the dark fairytale masterpiece – and firm festival favourite – Pan’s Labyrinth. Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-winning masterpiece is both hauntingly beautiful and brutally ugly, in its seamless blending of its surreal and sinister mythical realm with the harsh realities of the Spanish Civil War’s immediate aftermath.

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