The Electric Cinema

I rarely go to the cinema, as I get annoyed at people who constantly talk and mess around all the way through, but this is One of Birminghams little gems. Attracts a nice crowd and adds a touch of class.

We hired the Electric for Christmas last year – got some friends together and split the cost between us. Was a fab night.. I’d highly recommend it.

As the oldest cinema in the country, this is a real piece of history and a very cool place to go and watch the odd release for a treat. Kicking back on the comfy leather sofas and sipping a delicious butter beer (it was Harry Potter!) and munching cookies at 9.30am is something you don't get to do that often, but it's a great way to start a Saturday!
The Electric Cinema also tends to show movies it's easier to access elsewhere so it's always worth a look if the mainstream cinemas aren't catering to your needs.

Really funky lil cinema, definitely worth the money as a little treat every now and then.

My favourite bit is texting you order for munchies and drinks while u watch the movie.. so you never miss a bit if you fancy that extra glass of vino!

Totally worth a visit!!

The electric city is a bit of a gem in cultureless birmingham.
great choice of films, great seats and great prices.
plus they have a bar with proper cocktails, homemade snacks and lovely staff. plus it's only two minutes away from new street station!

The Electric Cinema is the tiny, but pristine jewel in the crown of the Birmingham cinema scene. A modest, independent venue tucked away to the side of New Street Station, The Electric caters for fans of more arty, off-kilter entertainment. It has two screens of reasonable size, but the true appeal of the place lies in its spacious, comfy seating and novel approach to cinema snacking, namely swapping traditional popcorn for home-made cake, and litres of cheap soda for fruit juices, wines and even real ale.

The Electric tends to get more mainstream films in after the big name cinemas, which means unless you're happy to watch films like Avatar on a smaller screen in the comfort of The Electric, you may be better off going elsewhere. Where this place really shines is in its offering of obscure, arty and foreign films that receive the barest of lip service, if anything, from the large cinema franchises.

That said, even with the recent spate of 3D blockbusters The Electric hasn't let itself fall behind: they recently installed a 3D system in the upstairs screen, allowing for what the cinema calls "one of the best 3D experiences in the country".

If you love cinema and are forever looking for something a little different to the latest Hollywood snorefest, check out The Electric and you're bound to find something to love.

Thanks to Qype from now i can say definetly The Electric Cinema, San Carlo Restaurant and Red Bar and Lounge will be in my favourite hangouts in Birmingham City Centre.

thanks for introducing me to them. the seats are great and there are great films on.

Birmingham is lookin cool!

I love the Electric. Love it. And have done for years. From the sumptuous leather sofas, to the gorgeous art-deco styling to the scrummy-yummy little bowls of truffles this is a glorious cinema. It is the oldest working cinema in Britain and feels like it. I remember years back it was a scruffy, shabby and unpretentious kind of place. Now it is a home to glamour – but in a brilliant understated brummy way – and the perfect treat when ever I venture home.

this place is brilliant, you can forget your multiplexes and your star city. This place is the oldest continually working cinema in the country. It has very comfy seats some old movies are shown aswell as the latest blockbusters. It is a good place to take your partner on a date to very cosy atmosphere and intimate, by the way this place also used to be an adult cinema in the past.

Purportedly the oldest working cinema in the UK, the Electric has been in recent years been lovingly restored to something approximating its past glory though with a modern update. The sound which use to be appalling is now state of the art; there are sofas at the back of the screens so it can be like watching a film in your living room. seats are also lovely, luxurious in fact.

It’s now a nice place to go and see arthouse films whereas previously it was bit hit and miss plus smelly and cold!

The cinema, which happens also to be also art deco in style, is licensed with a waiter/waitress service so quite posh!

great selection of cakes, you can also get coffee/teas and nibbles from the front of cinema cafe/hatch.

For budding musicians there’s also a recording studio/dubbing theatre for hire too

It’s old, it looks nice, the seats are comfy and it sells darn good cocktails.

Oh, and it shows films. The best ones it can find.

The only independent Art House / Cult cinema in the city. Quirky, classy retro/art deco feel. Friendly staff. I personally prefer the regular seats -I found the sofas too far away for the money and the slouching position you adopt when sitting on them for a long period actually uncomfortable!

The text-ordering service is a nice touch and great if you’ve got the munchies but don’t want to miss any of the film! I’ve seen some great films here…films I would have not been able to see anywhere else but glad I was able to.

Certainly not the cheapest cinema in the city but for a bit of independent cinema culture and the experience, it is most certainly worth it.

What an awesome little place.
It really makes something as pedestrian as 'going to a movie’ exciting again with a totally unique viewing experience. I highly recommend booking a sofa and going with your significant other. From your 2 seater sofa you can text during the film and food and drink you want which will be delivered silently to your little table during the film, it’s genius.
The retro styling of the place is charming and the experience is really something. If you’re a film connaisseur you owe it to yourself to check this place out.

Really great little cinema, it’s brilliant having a place that is so unique and friendly and not anonymous like the rest of the cinemas in this city. The programme is good - and I’m glad they have gone down the road of having the main films on there aswell as independent ones. You can be pretty sure though that obscure films that wouldn’t make it to cineworld would be considered for the electric. The seating is perfectly comfortable, although you can pay extra for the sofas, I don’t as I suspect I’d fall asleep. Ditto for the wine too! But it’s nice to have the option. And the cakes and coffees make this place a great cinema to go to!

Enjoy the cinema in luxury. Pay a little bit extra (Not that much when you consider probably the same as you’d pay in London for a normal cinema!) and get to sit on a comfy couch and enjoy your film. Tends to show more independant films which can lead to a slightly pretentious crowd, but nice for something different to do on a weeknight.

Fantastic little gem in Birmingham! I was absolutely devastated when it closed down a few years ago, but when it re-opened I was so happy and I promised myself I’d support it as much as I could this time but making sure I went regularly.

It’s not run quite as it was in those days - I remember the olden days when it was run mainly by volunteers and was a lot more run down - but obviously although that had a certain charm, it wasn’t sustainable.

They’ve lovingly restored it now and kept the beautiful Art Deco features intact. They’re also reopened the second screen which is great as it allows them to show a better range of films. I still wish they’d show a few more foreign and independent films, as they tend to have very long runs of mainstream films you can see anywhere, but that’s the only criticism I have. They serve lovely fresh ground coffee and lovely snacks like olives - no popcorn here!

If you’ve never been - go - you’re in a for a real treat. If you have a special occasion, two or more can rent a sofa for £10 instead of standard seating with text waiter service too!

I have been to the electric cinema a couple of times and have been very impressed. It is the oldest working cinema in the U.K. and actually went through a bit of a phase of being a pornographic cinema but luckily was bought by a local entrepreneur and restored to look like it did many years ago. The service is excellent with Cocktails that are tailored to the movie you are watching and it is worth the extra money to sit on the sofas which has a great novelty value. On the sofas you can also text to order a drink and you settle the bill at the end. Sat on sofa is a very comfortable way to watch a movie and it is nice to not need to watch hundreds of adverts before the movie starts.

The Electric is definitely one of Birmingham’s finer points. Bizarrely, despite its subtle class and retro appeal, it is never overcrowded and always has that uniquely personal feel of somewhere you’ve accidentally stumbled upon that happens to be amazing. It’s decadent and glamourous without being over the top. The food on offer is high quality without being pretentious, and they manage to show both unusual independent and blockbuster films without losing that blissfully alternative feel. Definitely not one too miss.

The Electric Cinema is great if you are not a fan of squeezing in between strangers and listening to people laughing and giggling at the most inopportune times.

The great thing about the Electric Cinema is the movies are hand picked by the owners and they only show one movie at a time. This means that it only attracts a certain type of people, and they certainly are the people you want to sit in a dark room with watching a movie.

The bar has a great selection of drinks and snacks and they even change the cocktails to theme with the movie showing at the time.

They also have a VIP service. There are leather (comfy) sofas at the top of the screen for only a little extra money and you also get a waitress service to bring your drinks to you. They have thought of everything, as they serve so many delicious cocktails and beers they have an interval in the middle of every film for toilet stops lol.

Highly recommended!! ***

The Electric Cinema is the oldest cinema in the UK. The cinema is a sumptuous, luxury building with sofa seating and a full bar. You can enjoy the visual impulse using electric technology. I think the cinema is a good place to see a movie.