Horror double bill season at AMC in Manchester

One of the most lamentable changes to film-going culture during the 80s was the decline of the double bill. At one time, every movie would screen alongside a B-feature, as well as short films and the odd bit of newsreel. However, with our increasingly busy lives, multiplexes' desire to squeeze more screenings into an evening’s schedule and an ever-increasing plethora of trailers and car ads to fit into programmes, the double bill fell into terminal decline.

What a shame, as a well-chosen double bill (or triple bill if you’re feeling hardcore) can elevate a simple screening into something truly special, with each film talking to each other, adding colour and meaning. The chance to see a great double bill is rare nowadays.

That’s why we should rejoice at AMC and UK Horror Scene's upcoming season of horror double-features at Manchester's AMC. Over seven weekends in August and September, the cinema, housed in the city's Great Northern Warehouse complex, will screen 14 horrors, all modern classics, with four of the films screening in their original 35mm (another rarity in modern cinema-going).

The season kicks off with a John Carpenter double, where one of the horror master’s most loved films (The Thing) is paired with one of his most underrated (Prince of Darkness).

Next is parts two and three of Sam Raimi's demented Evil Dead series (Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness on 35mm).

August rounds off with An American Werewolf in London and Return of The Living Dead, two of the finest horror-comedies of the 80s, with the latter screening on 35mm.

The pairings in September get even more interesting. High-style emo horrors The Crow (35mm) and The Lost Boys share a bill, as do A Nightmare on Elm Street and the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers – two great movies about paranoia and being scared to fall asleep in case something horrible happens to you.

One of the most fascinating double bills in the season is the pairing of Guillermo Del Toro's award-winning horror fantasy Pan's Labyrinth with Dario Argento's giallo classic Deep Red. As a salty-sweet combo of styles, we reckon it might just work.

We also love the pairing of Zombieland and Attack the Block, two of the most lively horrors in recent memory; the former a comic take on the zombie movie and the latter a breakneck urban spin on the alien invasion saga.

Best of all, at £8 a programme that works out at a movie for the price of a pint.

AMC horror double bill season in full: 

The Thing & Prince of Darkness – 13 Aug
Evil Dead II & Army of Darkness (35mm) – 20 Aug
An American Werewolf in London & Return of the Living Dead (35mm) – 27 Aug
The Crow (35mm) & The Lost Boys – 3 Sep
Pan's Labyrinth & Profondo Rosso – 10 Sep
A Nightmare on Elm Street & Invasion of the Body Snatchers (35mm) – 17 Sep
Zombieland & Attack the Block – 24 Sep

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For more information and to order tickets visit amccinemas.co.uk. 

To be kept up to date with the screenings follow Horror Scene and AMC on Twitter at @ukhorrorscene & @amccinemas_UK.