New Beverly Independent Cinema in LA: $14 for Two 35mm Films

Every film at the New Beverly Cinema runs on actual film. The independent cinema at 7165 Beverly Blvd, one block west of La Brea, projects only 35mm and 16mm prints, and a single $14 general admission ticket covers both halves of the nightly double feature. Seniors and children pay $10, weekend matinees are $10, and Friday and Saturday midnight shows are $12 with no discounts or passes accepted, according to the theater's own 2026 print calendar.

The building dates to the 1920s and has worn many costumes: vaudeville house, candy factory, beer parlor, Jewish Community Center and celebrity nightclub. In 1978 Sherman Torgan turned the shuttered adult theater into a repertory house and spent nearly 30 years pairing classic, foreign, independent and arthouse titles into themed double bills. The theater's own history calls the place a de facto film school, and notes that seeing Sherman in the box office was always a welcome sight for the city's cinephiles.

After Sherman died in 2007, his son Michael took over day-to-day operations and still helps run the theater. Quentin Tarantino had been a benefactor for a decade before becoming owner and head programmer, launching his era in October 2014 with a Paul Mazursky tribute pairing Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice with Blume in Love. Under him the lobby partition came down to make room for large French and Italian posters, and the old periscope projection system was removed for a brighter image.

The rule is printed on the schedule itself: all shows are presented in 35mm unless a listing says 16mm. Tarantino has said he wants the New Bev to be a bastion for 35mm, so nobody needs to ask whether a title is digital. Many prints come from his private collection, which he has curated for about two decades, and the rest are borrowed from studios and other collectors. The booth gained 4-track magnetic sound heads and a 16mm projector during the renovation.

That commitment shapes what you will actually see on screen. Old prints carry their age honestly, so expect the occasional reel-change cue mark in the upper corner, a splice that jumps a frame, or the pink cast of faded Eastman stock on a 1970s title. The theater even publishes a glossary explaining terms like changeover, I.B. Technicolor and vinegar syndrome. Treat those blemishes as part of the show rather than a defect worth complaining about at the concession stand.

This week the screen belongs to Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Jane Schoenbrun's horror remake starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson, billed as its Los Angeles 35mm debut and running nightly at 7:30 pm through Saturday, then 6:30 pm on Sunday, October 25. That Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari plays as a silent with a live music score, a rare chance to hear an accompanist in this room.

The final week is a horror marathon in double features. Funeral Home and Blue Monkey share Monday, October 26. The Others and The Orphanage run Tuesday and Wednesday, The Beyond and Pieces take Thursday and Friday, and Halloween night pairs William Castle's Homicidal with Mr. Sardonicus at 6:30 pm. From Dusk Till Dawn holds the 11:59 pm midnight slot on both Fridays, while Maniac Cop 2 and Halloween: H20 fill the Saturday midnights.

Afternoon shows cost $10 and come in two flavors. Friday matinees are grown-up picks, with Aliens on October 23 and David Cronenberg's The Fly on October 30, both at 2:00 pm. The weekend kiddee matinees add a free bag of popcorn for patrons 12 and under, with The Cat and the Canary from 1939 on Saturday, October 24 and Beetlejuice on Halloween afternoon and again on Sunday, November 1. These are full features on film, so bring kids who can handle older pacing.

The one rule staff enforce without exception is the no-cell policy. Phones must be silenced and out of sight whenever the lights are down, including during trailers and shorts. Offenders get one warning and are then removed from the theater without a refund. The policy covers smartwatches and tablets too, since the theater's wording applies to all electronic devices, so dim everything before the first trailer rolls.

On a typical weeknight the room mixes film students taking notes between features, longtime patrons who still remember Sherman selling tickets himself, and genre obsessives who come for Grindhouse Tuesdays, the long-running night started by Hollywood Book and Poster Co. founder Eric Caidin with current manager Brian Quinn. The renovation added cupholders and re-upholstered seats, but this is still a small old house, so pick an aisle seat if you plan to leave between films.

An honest call on timing: the Friday midnight shows of Tarantino's own films are fun but crowded and late, and a 2:00 pm weekday matinee such as Aliens or The Fly offers the same print quality with a calmer room. If a show sells out online, there is no point waiting on the sidewalk hoping for no-shows. Head instead to Vidiots in Eagle Rock or the American Cinematheque's Los Feliz 3, both of which run their own repertory calendars.

Street parking is the norm. Meters on Beverly Blvd now run until 8 pm every night. The theater points regulars to the first block of Formosa Ave north of Beverly, which is unrestricted after 6 pm and all day Sunday. The first block of Detroit Ave past the meters is restricted after 6 pm Monday through Saturday but free all day Sunday. Read every sign, since other blocks of Formosa are restricted after 6 pm. Metro lines 14 on Beverly and 212 on La Brea stop nearby.

Arrive early enough to walk. La Brea north toward Melrose is an easy ten-minute stroll, and Pink's Hot Dogs sits at the Melrose corner if you want a chili dog before an evening bill. Heading west, the Original Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax is about a mile away and makes a good stop before a weekend matinee. If the first feature lets out with time to spare, a lap around the block on Formosa is quieter than Beverly itself.

Address: 7165 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036, one block west of La Brea. Tickets: $14 general admission, $10 seniors and children, $10 matinees, $12 midnights with no discounts or passes. One ticket admits you to both films of a double feature. Tickets are sold online through the New Beverly website, and the theater can be reached by email at info@thenewbev.com. Every show is on 35mm unless the listing says 16mm.

Plan your night around the second feature's start time, not the first, because the late film can end well after 11 pm. Download the monthly PDF calendar from the theater's site to see every pairing at once. Ask the Karpo APP to line up dinner nearby and the fastest route home after the last reel, and it will build the evening around whichever double feature you choose.