Riviera Theatre Unleashes Late Nights

Cult Classics Come to New Life with Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s New After-Hours Movies

George A. Romero's 'Dawn of the Dead' | Credit: Courtesy

Time to unroll the sidewalks in Santa Barbara! Late nights are about to get a little bit hipper and a whole lot more fun as SBIFF just announced a new series: After Hours at the Riviera Theatre. Kicking off the weekend of April 12-13 with a horde of zombies swarming in the restoration of Dawn of the Dead, every Friday and Saturday, the theater with the plushest seats and best sound in town will have showings of classic films as well as brand-new genre films in that same midnight movie mode.

“We’re always looking for ways of bringing great cinema to Santa Barbara, and this series will allow us to showcase restored classics — cult films — new indie horror films, and just overall fun late-night fare,” says SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling.

All screenings are at 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, and the lineup so far includes:

April 12-13: George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, 45th anniversary 4K restoration

As hordes of zombies swarm over the U.S., the terrified populace tries everything in their power to escape the attack of the undead, but neither cities nor the countryside prove safe. A radio-station employee and his girlfriend escape in the station helicopter, accompanied by two renegade SWAT. The group retreats to the haven of an enclosed shopping center to make what could be humanity’s last stand. Watch the trailer.

April 19-20: James Cameron’s The Abyss, new 4K restoration

A civilian oil-rig crew is recruited to conduct a search and rescue effort when a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks. One diver (Ed Harris) soon finds himself on a spectacular odyssey 25,000 feet below the ocean’s surface, where he confronts a mysterious force that has the power to change the world or destroy it. Watch the trailer.

James Cameron’s ‘The Abyss’ | Credit: Courtesy

April 26-27, John Carpenter’s Escape from New York, 4K restoration

When the President of the United States crash-lands on the island of Manhattan, now a maximum-security prison, Snake Plissken is sent in to rescue him … or die trying. Watch the trailer.

John Carpenter’s ‘Escape From New York’ | Credit: Courtesy

May 3-4, Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!

Set against the backdrop of a spectacular Moulin Rouge show, an idealistic young writer (Ewan McGregor) is drafted into a bohemian entourage and falls in love with an ambitious but doomed showgirl (Nicole Kidman) who is caught between the hero and a ruthless duke. Watch the trailer.

Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Moulin Rouge’ | Credit: Courtesy

May 10-11, David Lynch’s Dune (1984 version), new 4K restoration

A Duke’s son leads desert warriors against the galactic emperor and his father’s evil nemesis to free their desert world from the emperor’s rule. Watch the trailer.