Who would have thought that tucked away in nice little Vancouver, Canada, was the LAST REMAINING full time 35mm "porn theatre" in North America? By the mid-to-late 80's, we know the era of the VCR had killed off hundreds of adult movie theaters. Many others converted to video projection. A few held out almost to the new millenium. BUT - according to our extensive research - there just ARE NO MORE 35mm movie houses left. There certainly is no 35mm porn print distribution service, or new 35mm prints, so any theatre that would remain must rely on its own stock of original XXX prints, as the Fox does -- or did, until it too finally fell before the mighty lure of easy DVD projection equipment vs. laborious film projection. Despite this end of the historic 35mm film era of porn, the Fox still has all its projection and other film equipment intact, so one day we may dust them off for another retro film night. I am happy to report I saw the very last 35mm double bill before the historic shutting down of the projectors on Saturday, July 18th, 2003. Can't recall offhand what was playing....maybe TARA TARA TARA and FOREPLAY, since those films are still built up onto the large metal reels in the projection room.

Stepping into the Fox Cinema was like entering a time capsule that slides you back to an earlier time. There was a certain quaintness to the sleazy, shady atmosphere of the place. It was a unique zone outside of common society, where movie-going is a whole different experience than going to your mega-mall-cinema. An experience, I would add, that this sanitized society sorely misses. We need at least a few genuine cultural slums where one can get the sense, "Hey, this is real."

The Fox has about a hundred prints (there are thirty or so more that weren't used for some reason, in some cases because of damage) - more than enough for a year's supply at two per week. This archive includes the two big ones -- DEEP THROAT and BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR -- classics such as AMANDA BY NIGHT and PANDORA¹S MIRROR, semi-classics like TALK DIRTY TO ME Part 2 and EVERY WOMAN HAS A FANTASY, solid 80's fare like BEVERLY HILLS COX and SURRENDER IN PARADISE, a pair of excellent modern noir-porns (CORRUPTION and THE VOYEUR), a camp classic (ULTRAFLESH), a 'lost' classic (PLATO'S - THE MOVIE), and what may be the worst, most boring porno of the film era: TEENAGE CHEERLEADER. Along the way there are also a couple of SEKA movies, a couple of AUNT PEG movies, a whole pile of 80's stuff, a great selection of CECIL HOWARD classics, a bunch of trite French imports, and so on.

The quality of the prints ranges from abysmal to suprisingly good. Considering most of them have been played over and over for 15-20 years, they are generally okay. The main problem is the damaged sprockets, which Li the projectionist used to patch up or cut out every time he screened a print. He jokingly remarked how the movies were getting shorter every year!

The clientele is mostly men, though curious couples would come in sometimes and some people did seek out the nostalgic, real film angle. The audience is also quite multicultural, I have seen older men from Chinese and East Indian cultures and got the impression they have been going there for years. I believe these people find some meaningful value in the Fox, or for some maybe it is just a place they can feel comfortable dropping out of society for a while. And watching sex on a big screen is quite simply an enjoyable way to pass the time. Sure, some people go there to get off - either alone or with company - but that is far from necessary to appreciate explicit sexual imagery.

A few years back some enterprising individuals who wanted to open their own repertory cinema set their sights on the Fox Cinema after the Return To Porno Chic nights brought the old porn house into the public eye. They made arrangements to take over the Fox on Saturdays and Sundays - under the name Criminal Cinema. So these folks cleaned the place up, slapped on some paint, put a new carpet runner down the aisle, and most alteringly ripped out the notorius elevated seating area at the back - which was a trashed pit of broken movie seats, ground in dirt and fluids of all kinds, and a haven for sordid activities. While some of the old trashy charm was lost, the place became slightly more inviting to the average citizen. Unfortunately, not enough to support a rep house cinema, though. The enterprise died, although the small number of us that watched such classics as Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia and Smokey and the Bandit have fond memories.

Symbolic of this new life, the Fox suddenly got a new sign out front (the illustration at right, by Robin 'cinema sewer' Bougie, is with the original sign). I found out the local business association gave a grant to the owners to help replace the old sign. I also noted that the owners copped my image for my Valentine's Day porn nite - a red heart with triple-X's inside it! So if you are ever in Vancouver, you can still check out the Fox Cinema at 2321 Main St. All they show is contemporary porn from DVDs now, although there's a couple of classic film posters up inside.

But for nostalgia's sake, we have resurrected the original Fox Cinema logo from an old newspaper ad and now offer in 'porno pink' the Fox Cinema t-shirt. Email us and we can send you out one for a fair price -- The Fox Cinema; 35mm adult film from 1984-2004, twenty years of XXX. The last 35mm porn theatre. RIP.

Fox Cinema T-Shirts

Venus Theatre T-Shirts

GOLDEN KITTEN THEATRE T-SHIRTS

Now available in a variety of Men's and Ladies' styles.

Contact us for shipping/payment details.

email: VIP (at) realboogienights.com