Streaming is convenient. It is also not the way these films were meant to be seen. Here’s where to find cult, horror and genre cinema on an actual screen, with an actual audience, in Melbourne and Sydney. Programs change constantly, so treat this as a map rather than a timetable and check each venue before you head out.
Melbourne
The Astor Theatre, St Kilda
A single-screen 1936 picture palace and the spiritual home of repertory cinema in Melbourne. Double features, 35mm and 70mm prints, and a calendar that has room for both restored classics and genuinely disreputable trash. If you only visit one cinema on this list, make it this one.
Cinema Nova, Carlton
Lygon Street’s arthouse multiplex is where a lot of new genre releases land first, and it has a long history of hosting late-night cult screenings, live-riffed B-movie nights and audience-participation events. Keep an eye on the special events page.
Lido Cinemas, Hawthorn
Comfortable, well-run and adventurous in its programming, with a rooftop screen in summer. Lido regularly hosts retrospectives and festival satellite screenings, and the bar is a good place to argue about what you’ve just watched.
Thornbury Picture House
A small, independent, single-screen cinema in the north with a loyal local crowd and a programmer who isn’t afraid of the weird end of the catalogue. Cult and horror titles turn up here more often than you’d expect.
ACMI, Federation Square
Australia’s museum of screen culture runs curated seasons year-round, and its retrospectives often dig into genre history with proper context: director spotlights, national cinema surveys, archival prints. Less midnight-movie energy, more film-school energy, but worth following.
Sydney
Golden Age Cinema and Bar, Surry Hills
A restored 1940s screening room in the basement of the old Paramount building, with a bar that’s a destination in its own right. The program mixes new independent releases with cult favourites and themed seasons, and the room itself makes everything feel like an event.
Dendy Newtown
The inner-west’s arthouse anchor and a frequent host for genre festival screenings and special-event previews with Q&As. If a new horror release is getting a limited theatrical run in Sydney, there’s a good chance it’s here.
Ritz Cinemas, Randwick
An art deco survivor that has leaned hard into repertory programming in recent years, with retrospectives, cult double bills and a serious commitment to showing older films on the big screen. One of the best-value nights out in the city.
Hayden Orpheum, Cremorne
Another beautifully preserved 1930s cinema, complete with a Wurlitzer organ that rises from the stage before selected sessions. Its classic and cult seasons are a lower-north-shore institution.
Festivals to watch for
Australia’s genre festival calendar has grown a lot over the past decade. Dates move around from year to year, so check each festival’s site, but these are the ones we plan our year around.
- Monster Fest (Melbourne): the country’s longest-running dedicated genre festival, usually in the second half of the year, with touring screenings in other capitals.
- Sydney Underground Film Festival: exactly what the name suggests, and proudly so.
- Fantastic Film Festival Australia: a newer festival of international genre cinema screening in Melbourne and Sydney.
- Melbourne International Film Festival and Sydney Film Festival: the big generalist festivals, both of which run late-night or genre-focused strands worth combing through.
Further reading
Sites, shops and services we’ve found useful while putting this guide together. Suggestions welcome.
- Most of the cinemas above publish a weekly program email. Sign up for the two or three nearest you; it’s still the most reliable way to hear about one-off screenings.
- Local film societies and university film clubs often screen prints that never get a commercial run. Ask at the venues above; the staff usually know.