Celebrating cult cinema in town

A promotional poster for Hard Ticket to Hawaii, a brilliantly terrible film shown as part of the festival

The third Leamington Underground Cinema Festival begins tomorrow (Saturday) with two special events for film buffs – and particularly fans of Sherlock.

The festival kicks off at North Hall, Spencer Yard, at 4.30pm with a screening of the cult detective film Zero Effect starring Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller – who tweeted to say that he wished he could make it along.

The film will be preceded by a panel discussion of Sherlock Holmes and cinema, illustrated by numerous clips. Join Guardian film writer Mike McCahill and film academics from the University of Warwick Paul Cuff, Michael Pigott and Nicolas Pillai for this unique event.

The festival hosts its first Desert Island Films event at 8pm, promising a lively discussion among journalists, bloggers and academics about the films they would take with them to a desert island.

Tickets for these events are £5 each and can be purchased on the door, or in advance from www.wegottickets.com/lucfest

The festival continues until the November 14 with a variety of screenings every day at venues around the town.

Sunday features a new Live Soundtracks Event at The Pump Rooms with four different acts providing live music to accompany short films.

On Monday there will be a special Masochist Film Club presentation of the “brilliantly terrible” Hard Ticket To Hawaii at The Townhouse.

The Drawing Board plays host to a sell-out screening of the vampire comedy What We Do in The Shadows plus live music on Tuesday, while the award-winning animation World Of Tomorrow precedes a screening of the cult classic Southland Tales on Wednesday at the Spa Centre.

The American Movie screens on Thursday, while Friday November 13 sees a spooky screening of the classic horror Evil Dead 2 outdoors in Foundry Wood.

And on Saturday November 14 the organisers will be hosting the third LUC Short Film Prize at the Spa Centre followed by the closing film of this year’s festival, the award-winning drama Wildlike.

Tickets for all events cost no more than £7 and can be bought in advance from www.wegottickets.com/lucfest

For more information about the festival, visit www.leamingtonundergroundcinema.co.uk