Luke Owen attended Secret Cinema Presents Back to the Future, but what did he think?..
Secret Cinema’s Back to the Future got a lot of early attention when it was announced. While there were those who bemoaned the rather hefty £55 a ticket, the Internet was buzzing with excitement about an interactive screening of the one of the most beloved movies of the 1980s. Having attended their screenings of Ghostbusters and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (albeit under the Future Cinema banner), expectations were riding high for what they will do with Hill Valley. Despite the lofty price tag, tickets sold very quickly. So quickly in fact that Secret Cinema added almost a full month of extra dates to meet the demand.
Then, problems arose when Secret Cinema cancelled their first night about an hour before it was due to start. The following day they announced they were cancelling all shows for the first week, offering refunds or ticket changes to dates that were available. But it’s now on and ready to go. But was it worth the wait? And more importantly, was it worth the money?
The Hill Valley 1955 site is very impressive and Secret Cinema have done a great job of re-creating the setting of Back to the Future. Parades of shops adorn each side of the green, they had a Lou’s café where you could get food and drinks, a radio station playing 50s hits (but no Mr. Sandman, oddly) and there was even a fun fair to accompany the theme of this being the Hill Valley 1955 Town Fair. Cars drove around the block and mock houses (converted sheds) were built to represent the homes of the McFlys, the Baines and the Tannens. Biff himself along with his goons walked around the town insulting attendees, major Red Thomas (looking for re-election) was glad-handing and even Strickland was handing out tardies for those late to school. There was a live band over at the Hill Valley High School to play for the Enchantment Under the Sea dance and, a little bit later on, Marty and Doc were seen running around looking for George and Lorraine.
To call Secret Cinema’s Back to the Future immersive is an understatement. Despite the looming John Lewis just to the left of 1955 Hill Valley, you really felt like you had entered a living, breathing town. The shops were real, the people were real and the atmosphere was real.
Nitpicking can certainly be placed against certain elements of the set-up however. For example, there was a bar in the middle of the town shops which had an 80s setting with an band playing music from the decade and there was a moment during the proceedings in which they had an 80s-style dancercise routine including skateboard tricks. While fun, it was jarring against the 50s setting for everything else. Defence can be given due to the time-travel nature of the movie, but none of this was really set out. It was as if Secret Cinema wanted to keep it strictly 50s, but then found some 80s stuff to throw in there and couldn’t turn them down.
But these nitpicks went away when it came to the show itself.
While this review will not go into detail about what was shown during the Back to the Future screening, it has to be said that is beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most impressive live display of a movie put on in recent memory. The stunts were amazing, the car chases were thrilling and the special effects were stunning. Loud cheers erupted from the crowd as they popped big for certain moments being re-enacted while the movie was projected against the front of the infamous Hill Valley clock tower. Sadly, there was a photographer running about the place during the show which was slightly annoying while you’re trying to watch the actors do their bits. But the whole show was amazing and won’t soon be forgotten.
It was an incredible show. An incredible show that was sadly marred by the greed of Secret Cinema.
Prior to the event starting, an email was sent round to everyone attending that they would have to leave their mobile phones at home (which they called “communication devices”) as they do not exist in their world of 1955 Hill Valley. A nice idea, if a little pretentious, but the cynical side of anyone’s mind would see the real reason they want you to leave your phones and cameras at home when you walk in: they didn’t want you taking photographs.
They claim this is because they want to keep this screening “a secret”, a statement which is odd when you can look online and find dozens of photos of the event on places like the BBC and the Metro. But the real reason is because, in order to have photos taken during the event, you had to pay for them. If you took your own phone or camera, you could do this for free and Secret Cinema couldn’t exploit another £10 out of your back pocket because you want a photo keepsake.
Want to create a poster? £5. Want to buy a badge? £4. Want to play the hook a duck game to win an inflatable saxophone? £3. T-shirt? £10. When you factor in you’ve already spent £55 each just to get in, it all starts to add up.
Food and drink wasn’t cheap either and the queues to get inside Lou’s Café were ridiculous. Pricey amenities like these are to be expected at a live event so it would be advisable to eat before you go, but you have to be at Hill Valley for around 5pm. And with performances finishing at midnight, you will need to buy food and drink. Furthermore, there isn’t enough to do to fill the time they want you there for, unless you want to spend even more money. The film didn’t start playing until 9pm, which means you have a whopping four hours to really no nothing but eat the expensive food and drink the expensive drinks. By the time it was all said and done, you’ve spent a good £40-50 on food and drink alone.
The 9pm start time was also a huge issue when it came to exiting the arena and heading home. It seems as if Secret Cinema created this Back to the Future event without thinking of anyone outside of East London. By the time the film was finished, you’ve collected you “communication devices” and made your way outside and to the station, it was gone midnight – which means the tubes are shut. So not only have you spent £40-50 on food and drink and whatever other money you spent during your time in Hill Valley, you now have to spend another obscene amount of money on a taxi or mess around with night buses for a few hours just to get home. It was bad enough getting back to West London, let alone if you’ve come in to see the show from out of town. And considering this is posed as a “family event”, starting a film at 9pm seems awfully foolish.
Now, Secret Cinema is between a rock and a hard place with this one. In order for the film to project clearly and for the stunts and effects to have any impact, you have to be outside and it has to be dark. With the sun setting at around 9pm, this was the only viable time to really screen the movie. But when you’ve had to pay £40 just to get home, it’s hard to sympathise with their “dilemma”.
It’s a real shame that the exploitive and money-grabbing nature of Secret Cinema has tainted the brilliance of the Back to the Future show itself. This attitude was never there for the Ghostbusters and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? screenings and the start and end times were smart enough to allow people to get home easily – even if you had come in from out of town. The screening was incomparable, but it’s hard to find positives when everything else feels solely designed to rip you off.
Was the show worth £55? Absolutely. Was it worth in excess of £200 in total? Not really.
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
