Good morning, Swansea!
What better time than Halloween to share the story of the Swansea cinema where horror films were once shown in an actual crypt?
This week, we tell the story of Studio Cinemas - a wonderfully makeshift independent cinema once housed in a converted church, complete with salvaged seats, car speakers, and a screen that was projected via a homemade periscope.
Catch you on Sunday!
Andrew.
Studio Cinemas
The Birth of the Studio
St Paul’s Church on St Helens Road (opposite Joe’s Ice-Cream Parlour) was originally built in 1880 and remained a place of worship until at least 1972.
After its closure, a veteran of the cinema scene in South Wales, Lynn Thomas, bought the building and converted it into Studio Cinemas, which opened in 1977. Thomas had already converted buildings of various shapes and sizes into cinemas in the early 1970s, including one in Ebbw Vale and another in Pontypool.
Studio Cinemas originally had two screens, but when a third was added, the cinema changed its name to Studios 1-2-3.
Screen 1 was located in the main body of the former church. Screen 2 was located in the former crypt underneath the building, and Screen 3 was placed behind Screen 1 - in the area formerly occupied by the altar.
According to accounts, the 484-capacity complex was a rather DIY affair. People who visited remember that:
At least some of the seating was salvaged from the Albert Hall and the Carlton (two Swansea cinemas that had already closed, or were on their last legs).
Two salvaged car speakers were mounted on the walls of Screen 3 and advertised as “Studio Stereo.”
Projectors were set up on steel file cabinets laid on their side and the old church pews to get the beam above people’s heads.
In the crypt, the screen was projected using a homemade inverted periscope.
Memories of Studio Cinemas
"How well I remember the novelty of seeing the Joe Orton adaptation Prick Up Your Ears in Studio 1, distracted by the sound of running water from a faulty ballcock in the toilets situated on the right-hand side of the auditorium." - Richard Taylor.
"His answerphone was hilarious. On the week Odeon Swansea re-opened as a "triple" cinema in July 1982, the Studio's programme information line said "We lead, others follow." - Alex Jones
"We went there to see the horror film 'The Thing' years ago. Unfortunately, there was a Cowboy film showing in the studio next door. We kept wondering why the US Cavalry sounded like they were about to appear." - Richard Williams
"One memorable visit for me was to finally be of age to see The Exorcist. My friend and I saw it in what was the old crypt, which had the entrance around the back- it was a double bill with Friday 13th. You’d never seen two people leave a cinema so quick in your life." - Ian Howells
Troubled Times
In March 1989, Swansea Council pulled up Lynn Thomas about the state of his premises, the front of which was full of rubbish and overgrown with brambles. “It’s a tip, an absolute disgrace,” Councillor Richard Lewis told the public protection committee.
Thomas defended himself, saying that he did tidy the premises daily, but by the evening it was full of discarded rubbish again. As for the brambles, he added that they “are living breathing things, though beauty is in the eye of the beholder… If the council is willing to give me a grant I will do something about it.”
There were complaints about the inside of the cinema too. Two years earlier, The Studio was at risk of losing its license after it was discovered that extensive fire safety work and repairs were required to bring it up to standard. Problems noted included batteries in the boiler room (an explosion risk), loose floorboards, filthy carpets, and fire exit doors that were bolted shut.
Studio Cinemas’ Closure
Image © Reach PLC. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.
Despite all of its troubles, Studio Cinemas survived until the opening of Parc Tawe’s new £5 million 10-screen UCI cinema at the end of September 1989. It closed for its regular annual summer holiday in August, but never re-opened.
Lynn Thomas told The Evening Post in November of that year: “I am considering whether to close down and move elsewhere or re-open after major refurbishment… but so far nothing has been decided.”
Should he re-open, Thomas was concerned that a city like Swansea would not be able to sustain a total of 17 screens across all its cinemas. He added, “… change is inevitable and it may be that after being in a winning situation for 13 years we’re now in a losing situation.”
The Studio Cinemas building was put up for sale in April 1990, with plans at various times for a nightclub, or offices with an underground car park.
Neither came to fruition, and its last use as I can tell was as an Indian restaurant, Miah’s, in the 2000s. When this closed exactly is unclear, too, but the last evidence I can find online is from an online review posted in October 2008 ("Go for the Sunday buffet which is more than worth the money they charge”).
As of October 2025, the former St Paul’s Church remains empty and derelict.
Do you have memories of the Studio Cinemas? Let me know!
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