Carlisle Cult Cinema Club
By Arran George
Bringing his love for film to Carlisle has been no easy task, but Paul Donaldson and his Cult Cinema hope to shine a light on some “cracking films from yesteryear”.
In a small room in Carlisle, a carpet fitter called Paul Donaldson has been quietly collecting thousands and thousands of films.
He said: “It’s all to do with my dad. In the late 70’s and early 80’s he would let me stay up at night to watch Hammer horror movies. I remember renting the original Evil Dead from the tape rental shop, after a few minutes I was hooked. It blew me away.”
Since then Paul has been collecting thousands of movies, housing his huge collection in a small room in his Carlisle home. Tragically however, most of Paul’s collection was destroyed in the 2005 floods.
It was at this point that Paul stopped buying movies; a lifetime of collection was gone overnight. It wasn’t wasn’t until 2014, when he began to collect again.
He explained: “I lost a lot of the DVD’s and all of the original VHS bought back in the early 80’s.
“But I missed that physical product, fair enough there is downloading and streaming, but there’s nothing like the physical copies. The first one I bought was the original Evil Dead.”
Now Paul has amassed a collection that would rival his earlier one and this time he wants to share his love of film with the rest of the city. He has recently set up the Carlisle Cult Cinema Club at Harraby Community Centre, to offer fellow film buffs an alternative to the mainstream. Audiences can vote on what movie they want to see on the big screen, watch with friends, discuss it afterwards and even have a chance to win the movie on DVD.
Paul said: “I just love film, I wanted to show these cinematic treasures off to people who might never have seen them on the big screen. Just something other than Batman. But mostly, I wanted to show some cracking films from yesteryear.”
A huge variety of amazing films are being shown at the club over the next couple of months, with ‘Dawn of the Dead’ up next on the 15 July. If you love great film and live in Carlisle, go and support Carlisle Cult Cinema. There’s a genre for everyone.
For full listings and more information on the Carlisle Cult Cinema Club, search “Carlisle Cult Cinema” on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/251913925255577/
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