09-08-2025
Inside 'haunted' 100-year-old cinema uncovered by urban explorer in Eastbourne
An urban explorer has uncovered the eerie interior of a 'haunted' 100-year-old cinema in Eastbourne.
The Picturedrome opened in the East Sussex resort town in 1920 as an independent cinema, later becoming part of the Curzon art house chain.
But it was forced to close down in January 2020 due to competition from larger cinema brands which moved into the area.
After five years of the building falling into disrepair, so-called 'urban explorer' Sean Piper has now ventured into its depths to see what it looks like now.
The growing trend of urban exploring, or urbex, sees adventurers investigate abandoned properties and post their findings online.
Mr Piper, also known by his username URBEX, put a fascinating video of the inside of the Picturedrome on TikTok, garnering thousands of likes and comments.
He said behind its dusty, boarded up windows, the cinema mostly looked chillingly unchanged.
'The cinema was pitch black and very smelly, lots of pigeon mess around', he said.
'Once you got past that, it was amazing as some of the screens and seats were left behind, plus some cool movie posters. It was very nostalgic.'
This eerily consistent appearance continued across the whole cinema, with the explorer dubbing a largely untouched projector room the highlight of his visit.
Mr Piper's fascinating video starts in the cinema's foyer, which still boasts a sweeping curved staircase, with even advertising posters still up on the walls.
The walls seem dirtied by years of being left to deteriorate, with piles of junk - including old cardboard drinks cups - cluttering the space under the stairs.
Another area of the foyer has film posters arranged horizontally on the wall and painted around to look like sections of a reel of film.
One of the screens, though full of cobwebs and dust motes, is seen to still have several rows of red, velvet seats at the back.
Chairs closer to the screen appear to have been removed and dumped in a large pile.
Other rooms look to be largely intact too, with screens and seats still up.
In most of the rooms, the plaster is peeling, falling into large dusty piles on the floor.
But many of what look like they could be original 1920s features are still intact, with colourful wainscoting and an impressive art-deco style light fixture in one room.
Similarly, gold railings and a grand chandelier have stood the test of time in one part of the foyer.
One shelf boasts stacks empty cardboard popcorn boxes and reams of old 'admit one'-style paper cinema tickets.
Mr Piper also found, interestingly, an old reel of film for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.
He also discovered an announcement board listing the last films shown in the Picturedrome.
These included the critically panned 2019 musical film Cats and 2019 romcom Last Christmas starring Emilia Clarke and Emma Thompson.
Viewers of Sean's post, which garnered nearly 8,000 likes and hundreds of comments, were impressed and fascinated by the video
Also on the schedule was The Kingmaker, a 2019 documentary about the career of Filipina politician Imelda Marcos.
She was First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1968 and is current President Bonbong Marcos's mother.
He also showed an old poster room with images of various iconic films completely plastering the walls.
There are various random junk rooms too including one simply containing, bizarrely, a piano and a wheelchair.
Viewers of Sean's post, which garnered nearly 8,000 likes and hundreds of comments, were impressed and fascinated by the video.
One user wrote in the comments section: 'I used to go there as a teenager! Saw so many good films there, still so sad that it closed. Such a cool place to go!'
Another said: 'That theatre room looks haunted as hell.'
Someone else joked: 'I feel so bad this beautiful building didn't get a decent last movie to show. Cats of all things.'
One added: 'Wow it only closed in 2020? That's insane decay for that relatively short amount of time.
'It always amazes me just how quickly buildings go down hill.'
