The Nickel Cinema
117-119 Clerkenwell Road
London, EC1R 5BY
A fully licensed grindhouse cinema, bar and video shop
Shop and bar are open 1hr prior to screenings.
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Please note: as a small capacity grassroots theatre, we are unable to offer refunds or exchanges on tickets. No late admittance after 15 minutes!
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SUMMER OF FEAR
(1978, USA, Wes Craven)
Wes Craven steps out of the slasher spotlight into the realm of supernatural suspense with Summer of Fear, a tense story of adolescent unease and family paranoia. When an enigmatic cousin arrives in a small town, a young girl’s life unravels as mysterious accidents and dark influences mount. Craven’s keen eye for dread and atmosphere, combined with a slow-burning sense of menace, makes this more than a TV movie: it’s an intimate study of fear infiltrating the ordinary.
Introduced by Craig Williams.
Doors 6pm
Film 6.30pm
NIGHT VISIONS
(1990, USA, Wes Craven)
Wes Craven’s made-for-TV thriller follows a Los Angeles detective who must team up with a psychic to track a serial killer preying on the city. Tense, atmospheric, and compact, it showcases Craven’s skill in building suspense even within the constraints of a network television format. For fans of ’90s horror and procedural mystery, it’s an overlooked example of his versatility beyond the slasher genre.
Introduced by Craig Williams.
VHS screening
Doors 8.30pm
Film 9pm
LA MARGE (THE MARGIN)
(1976, France, Walerian Borowczyk)
Borowczyk’s exploration of sexuality and social transgression follows a man drawn into Parisian nightlife, where desire and desperation intertwine. Known for its frank eroticism and surreal visual composition, the film situates intimate acts within a bleak social margin, challenging both narrative convention and audience comfort. Borowczyk’s lush cinematography contrasts starkly with the protagonist’s existential alienation, making it simultaneously seductive and unsettling.
Introduced by Craig Williams.
Doors 6pm
Film 6.30pm
and
Doors 8.20pm
Film 8.45pm
AAAAAAAH!
(2015, UK, Steve Oram)
A savage, wordless comedy of human behaviour, Steve Oram’s Aaaaaaaah! turns primal instincts into absurdist spectacle. Office workers and suburban dwellers alike are reduced to grunts, yelps, and chaos, revealing the thin veneer of civilization. Equal parts hilarious and horrifying, it’s a deconstruction of social norms with the intensity of slapstick, ritual, and sheer physical comedy.
Steve Oram and Tom Meetan will join us for a Q&A/discussion.
Doors 6pm
Film 6.45pm
G.B.H. (1983)
(UK, David Kent-Watson)
A quintessential example of British shot-on-video cinema, G.B.H. follows Steve "The Mancunian" Donovan (Cliff Twemlow), a nightclub bouncer and ex-con, as he battles a ruthless London mob boss attempting to take over Manchester's nightlife scene. Twemlow not only stars in the film but also wrote, produced, and composed the music, infusing it with his unique vision. The film's low-budget production, amateurish performances, and over-the-top action sequences contribute to its cult status among fans of exploitation cinema. Notably, G.B.H. was one of the films that faced scrutiny during the UK's "video nasty" moral panic, adding to its notoriety.
Doors 8.40pm
Film 9pm
WALKING THE EDGE
(1985, USA, Norbert Meisel)
This tight, violent revenge thriller follows a former detective as he hunts the gang responsible for his brother’s murder. With gritty L.A. locations, car chases, and a relentless pace, the film is a textbook example of ’80s exploitation action, pairing hard-boiled morality with stylized bloodshed and street-level suspense. A minor cult classic, its adrenaline-driven sequences exemplify the era’s rough-and-ready crime cinema.
Doors 6pm
Film 6.30pm
MIXED BLOOD
(1985, USA, Paul Morrissey)
Paul Morrissey’s exploration of New York gang culture brings documentary realism into melodramatic structure, following a Puerto Rican youth gang negotiating crime, loyalty, and survival. Morrissey blends energetic street cinematography with intimate character studies, capturing the volatility of adolescence and urban decay while offering moments of surreal, almost operatic intensity.
Doors 8.20pm
Film 8.40pm
THE CASE IS CLOSED FORGET IT
(1971, Italy, Damiano Damiani)
Damiano Damiani’s giallo-noir hybrid tracks a determined investigator navigating Milan’s corruption and shadowy power structures. Branded by fatalism and punctuated by moments of visceral brutality, the film balances crime procedural mechanics with the psychological impact of pervasive moral decay. A taut, stylish example of Italian genre cinema’s capacity for social commentary.
Doors 5.30pm
Film 6pm
EBONY & IVORY
(2024, UK, Jim Hosking)
Jim Hosking's surreal comedy imagines a bizarre 1981 encounter between Paul McCartney (Sky Elobar) and Stevie Wonder (Gil Gex) at a remote Scottish cottage. What unfolds is a hallucinatory, absurdist odyssey filled with crude humor, awkward silences, and eccentric dialogue. The film's unconventional pacing and grotesque visuals challenge traditional narrative forms, offering a psychedelic parody that defies logic and coherence. A must-see for fans of avant-garde cinema and those seeking a truly unique cinematic experience.
With director Jim Hosking in person - intro and Q&A
Doors 6pm
Film 6.30pm
THE GREASY STRANGLER
(2016, USA, Jim Hosking)
Jim Hosking’s grotesque, absurdist comedy horror follows a father-son duo entangled in murder, mischief, and lubrication. Equal parts surreal performance art and black comedy, the film revels in bodily horror, sexual eccentricity, and neon‑lit madness. Michael St. Michaels’ performance as the titular figure is both horrifying and absurdly charismatic, ensuring the film’s instant cult status.
With director Jim Hosking in person - intro and Q&A
Doors 8.30pm
Film 9pm
SHRIME TIME: A NIGHT OF BIZARRO UNDERSEEN ANIME
From radical student animation collectives to sun-bleached techno-dystopias and gore-drenched horror, Shrime Time shines where the sun daren’t: revealing the backside of seldom-seen Japanese visual culture.
Expect screenings from the 1960s to the present day, paired with special guests: musicians, artists, researchers and those obsessed with the outermost edges of Japan’s visual imagination.
So come. Sit still in the dark.
Let the rectacular eye stare deep into your curious soul.
The Shrime is watching.
Doors 6pm
Film 6.45pm
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (1928) + LIVE SCORE
(1928, France, Jean Epstein)
Jean Epstein’s silent adaptation of Poe’s tale is a masterclass in early cinematic expressionism, merging abstract imagery with atmospheric tension. The decaying Usher estate, filmed in shadowed chiaroscuro, embodies psychological collapse, while the film’s experimental editing and camera movement intensify the narrative’s dreamlike terror. A touchstone of avant-garde horror, it remains visually hypnotic nearly a century later.
With a live score by Marika Tyler-Clark and introduction by Agnė Qami
Doors 6pm
Film 7pm
and
Doors 8.15pm
Film 9pm
FEAR OVER THE CITY
(1975, France/Italy, Henri Verneuil)
Henri Verneuil’s slick urban thriller stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as a tough Paris detective drawn into a deadly game with a sadistic killer who stalks women across the city. Mixing suspense, crime procedural, and high-octane spectacle, the film is famous for Belmondo’s breathtaking stunts—leaping across rooftops and dangling from skyscrapers—performed without doubles. Both a showcase for its star’s daredevil charisma and a portrait of a city under siege, it stands as one of the great European action films of the 1970s.
Doors 6pm
Film 6.30pm
KINJITE: THE FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS
(1989, USA, J. Lee Thompson)
A brutal, sensationalist thriller from J. Lee Thompson, Kinjite pits a veteran detective against a network of sex traffickers exploiting minors. Charles Bronson anchors the narrative with gruff moral authority, while the film’s lurid depictions of crime and corruption underscore the tension between vigilante justice and systemic failure. Shocking, exploitative, and morally pointed, it’s a signature late-career Bronson vehicle.
Doors 8.40pm
Film 9pm
DR. CALIGARI
(1989, USA, Stephen Sayadian)
Sayadian’s erotic reimagining of the classic German Expressionist tale fuses horror, surrealism, and adult cinema. With highly stylized sets, provocative imagery, and a narrative that blurs dream and delusion, it pushes the original material into explicit territory while maintaining a fascination with manipulation, control, and madness. A provocative, visually adventurous cult curiosity.
Doors 5.30pm
Film 6pm
SLAVE GIRLS OF MORGANA LE FAY
(1971, France, Bruno Gantillon)
An erotic fantasy steeped in sword-and-sorcery melodrama, the film follows Morgana’s seductive schemes and her thrall of young women trapped in a gothic, pseudo-medieval world. Gantillon’s direction combines risqué spectacle, campy effects, and overt sexuality, delivering a film designed for titillation and the pleasures of genre excess.
Doors 7.30pm
Film 8pm
117-119 Clerkenwell Road
London, EC1R 5BY
A fully licensed grindhouse cinema, bar and video shop
Shop + bar are open
1hr prior to screenings
Instagram | X | Email
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