Bristol Bad Film Club

03/09/2026

Neil Breen in the New Yorker? Surely a sign of the end times?

Why do we love trash and hate slop? Neil Breen’s so-bad-they’re-great movies elucidate the difference.

07/08/2026

Who wants to watch Gorgo on the Megascreen?

Everyone, that's who!

https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/whats-on/bristol-megascreen/thu-10-sep-gorgo-1961-on-the-megascreen-159810

Wondering why we've been a little quiet lately?

We've been busy planning our biggest project yet, a tour of our favourite nautical films!

This September, Archaeo-Heritage Film will be travelling around the South-West, showing a specially chosen trio of films from our February festival.

First stop on the tour? Bristol Megascreen! Details below 👇

🌊 'Gorgo' (1961) & 'The Lighthouse' (2019)
🗓 Thursday 10 September, 6.30pm - 10.45pm
🎟 £10 per film, £15 for the double bill
🔗 Ticket link in bio

21/07/2026

Love films AND improv?

At Cinema Rediscovered (happening this week at Watershed), join The Pretend Company to explore film from a new perspective.

Mixing post screening discussion with improv exercises, it's a chilled collaborative way to meet the festival community and deepen your connection with cinema.

Grab a ticket to one (or both) of the Improv Cinema Clubs via the link in bio, and receive 15% off films in the Vive Le Cinema! and Comics Come Alive seasons at the 10th Birthday edition (Wed 22 to Sun 26 July).

Join The Pretend Company for this first of two Improv Cinema Club sessions, a unique opportunity to explore some of the films presented at Cinema Rediscovered in a nuanced and in-depth way. Book now.

17/07/2026

After the success of Point Blank and Deliverance, Warner Bros. offered John Boorman (who had been Head of the Documentary Unit at BBC Bristol from 1962 to 1964) the opportunity of a lifetime... the chance to direct a sequel to William Friedkin’s 1973 blockbuster hit The Exorcist .

The result was one of the biggest follies in movie history; a critical and financial failure that not only changed how Hollywood did business but nearly ended Boorman’s filmmaking career (and life!) - but to be an artist is to be a risk-taker.

In super-fan David Kittredge’s eye-opening documentary, Boorman himself, the film’s stars Linda Blair and Louise Fletcher and many more, reflect on the creative ambition and challenges of making Exorcist II: The Heretic (which we’ll also be screening later on that evening).

On 25 July at as part of , you’ll be able to watch Boorman and the Devil followed by screening of Exorcist II: The Heretic at , so you’ll be able to decide for yourself whether it truly is one of the worst horror sequels ever made... or an under-appreciated big swing from an auteur with a vision!

Get your tickets via

04/07/2026

With ’s Summer Sale currently on, we thought we’d stock up on one of our favourite genres - 50s Monster Movies!

Four creature features packed full of Cold War paranoia courtesy of producer Sam Katzman!

- The Creature with the Atom Brain
- The Werewolf
- Zombies of Mora Tau
- The Giant Claw

02/07/2026

We’re back! Kinda!

We’ll be at this month at both and celebrating ‘one of the worst sequels ever made’ - The Exorcist II: The Heretic

Or is it?

As well as the film itself, you’ll also be able to see new docu-film Boorman and the Devil which explores the insane behind the scenes drama as Zardoz director John Boorman took the directing reins from William Friedkin!

Tickets on sale now. See you on 25 July!

19/06/2026

After 15 years of weird and wonderful screenings at The Cube, tonight was the final screening from the Hellfire Video Club - the one of a kind blend of Afro-futurism, jazz, blaxploitation and sci-fi: SUN RA

For years, HFVC has been a huge source of inspiration for The Bristol Bad Film Club and has provided many nights of entertainment from the likes of Turkish ripoffs to Shatner B-movies to ‘Bollyweird’.

It’s great to see their legacy has been picked up by the likes of and every now and then screens a title we may have seen there many years ago such as The Devil’s Sword and Body Melt.

Thanks for years of great movie nights Joseph and Matt - and thanks for keeping Bristol weird.

17/06/2026

A new restoration of Danger: Diabolik, sci-fi noir Dead Mountineer's Hotel, French thriller, Korean classic Oldboy, La Femme Infidèle, Joe Dante's Movie O**y at 20th Century Flicks, a documentary about the making of The Exorcist II FOLLOWED by a screening of Exorcist II at Bristol Megascreen (!) and much, much more!

Check out the stacked programme for Cinema Rediscovered 2026 (22-26 July) at Watershed and get your tickets now.

https://www.watershed.co.uk/cinema-rediscovered-2026/programme

16/06/2026

The Hellfire Video Club says goodnight after 15 years of cult weirdness at The Cube Microplex.

This Friday, get ready for a double bill of psychedelic-Blaxploitation-philosophical-space-Jazz fused with a recruitment film from a Californian UFO cult.

What more could you possibly want of this Earthly realm?

https://cubecinema.com/programme/event/hellfire-video-club-goes-out-of-this-world-space-is-the-place-the-arrival/15411/

15/06/2026

This week!

https://events.improvtheatre.co.uk/events/classic-horror-double-bill-god-told-me-to-1976-cure-1997-8201/classic-horror-double-bill-god-told-me-to-1976-cure-1997-thu-18-jun

There's a new cult horror film club in town!

On 18 June, at our old haunt Bristol Improv Theatre, Dr Pete Falconer (University of Bristol) and Dr Dominic Lash (Anglia Ruskin University) will be introducing a double bill of classic horror films.
_____
God Told Me To (1976)
Directed by Larry Cohen
Age Rating: 18
_
Cure (1997)
(AKA: The Horror of Doing What You’re Told)
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Age Rating: 15
_____

In God Told Me To, the NYPD’s Peter Nicholas investigates murders committed by normal people who cheerfully explain that “God told [them] to”.

In Cure, there is another series of apparently unmotivated murders, with an X carved into each victim’s throat. The case leads Tokyo detective Kenichi Takabe to a strange young man who may be able to compel people to kill.

Both films feature remarkable central performances, particularly from Tony Lo Bianco and Kōji Yakusho as the detective characters. This is a great opportunity to see two distinctively grimy and introspective horror movies on the big screen.

The event marks 50 years since the first release of God Told Me To and celebrates the publication of Dominic Lash’s book on Cure for the BFI Film Classics series.

https://events.improvtheatre.co.uk/events/classic-horror-double-bill-god-told-me-to-1976-cure-1997-8201/classic-horror-double-bill-god-told-me-to-1976-cure-1997-thu-18-jun