The Rex Cinema

Soon after moving to Berkhamsted my wife and I were quick to find out about the Rex Cinema, a beautiful art-deco cinema built in 1938. The cinema had actually closed in 1988 but reopened in 2004 after three years of restoration from its derelict state.

The cinema is an absolute feast for all the senses. The films that are shown are fantastic – they tend to only be on for one or two days but vary between modern blockbusters, excellent foreign-language movies and classics that may not have been seen for some time. We’ve already been twice in the four weeks since we have lived here – the first was to see 5×2, a recent French film, and the second was to see five short silent Buster Keaton movies accompanied by live piano! We thoroughly enjoyed both of them, but the Buster Keaton night was particularly special for the sheer fun and novelty of the evening.

The cinema is absolutely beautiful inside. All of the seats are made of a lovely red velvet-like material and are gorgeous to sit on. The best thing for us, though, has to be the fact that in the lower half of the cinema you get a rotating red chair seated round a small table with easy access to the fab bar behind – just for a couple of pounds extra from what you pay for a normal seat in the top half of the cinema. A glass of wine with your film? The movies will never be the same again!