"There was something magical about that space, how it felt so illicit. And the films they screened had this sense of everything being up for grabs, Tarkovsky one night, a Russ Meyer triple-bill the next. For me, it was feverish. I can still trace the urge to make films back there."

– Peter Strickland on London’s Scala Cinema

Many directors attribute the development of their artistic voices to early trips to the cinema and Peter Strickland (whose latest film In Fabric opens on Fri 28 June) is no exception. Strickland’s directorial voice was moulded by early exposure to repertory films in London’s legendary Scala cinema, and having ignited a fascination with eccentric filmmaking with his first trip there to see David Lynch’s iconic Eraserhead, the tantalising atmosphere of the Scala remains a fixed point of reference that threads itself throughout all of Strickland’s work.

To mark the release of In Fabric and our Q&A with Peter on Thu 6 June, we’re revisiting some classic Scala titles with a heady line-up of the fantastical and the surreal. Films that subsequently fuelled Strickland’s emotive and impassioned response to outsider cinema, as evidenced throughout his work, and not least in his latest tale of helplessness, horror, and delightfully funny delirium.

Presented in partnership with Mubi.

Enjoy a whole month of hand-picked films on MUBI, plus four free cinema tickets with MUBI GO.

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