Red Vic Movie House
1727 Haight Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94117
1727 Haight Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94117
8 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Functions: Retail
Previous Names: The Red Victorian
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Oct 8, 2012 — Former Red Vic may get a partial return to theatrical use
- Jun 18, 2012 — Film Fatale: Dark times for independent movie theaters
- Oct 25, 2011 — Red Vic to become food startup space
- Jul 30, 2011 — The Red Vic's place in S.F.
- Jul 6, 2011 — Sad day for San Francisco film fans
This eclectic independent theater was founded in 1980 by a group of cinema aficionados inside a red Victorian hotel (hence, its name) on Haight Street and Belvedere Street. At that original site, it became known for using old couches as part of the seating, and for offering mostly homemade snack fare. However, conflicts with the owner forced them to eventually seek a new location.
The Red Vic moved to its current location in 1991, converting a former restaurant into a larger auditorium that now offered video, 16mm and 35mm Dolby capability. Yet it still offered signature couches (newly-made, as the old ones had to be discarded), and organic homemade treats in its snack bar.
Still run by collective members and volunteers, the Red Vic Movie House was one of the foremost venues of independent and offbeat cinema in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was closed on July 25, 2011. In 2018 it is the Bindery, a bookstore and live performance space specialising in poetry.
Contributed by
Garrett Murphy
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
Exterior photo here:–
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The Red Vic Movie House celebrates 29 glorious eclectic independent years this year!
I’ve posted information and photos from a recent visit here.
KTVU-2 news last night ran an article about the attendence at the Castro theater suffering due to the decline of available “revival film product”. They mentioned that the Red Vic has been struggling as well and has had to cut back in printing film schedules.
The Red Vic has plans to close with a final screening of Harold and Maude on July 25. If you are in the area, try to get to the theater this month or next for one last time!
According to the publication SFist, there is a proposal to turn the former Red Vic into “a food-centric incubator space where budding entrepreneurs and retailers can get their sea legs before moving on to their own commercial kitchens or storefronts”. Story here: http://sfist.com/2011/10/25/red_vic_movie_house_could_become_fo.php
According to a redevelopment proposal, the theater may get a partial return to theatrical use in addition to the entreprenurial “incubator” use: View article
Bring back the Red Vic!
The Red Vic is across the street from where my sister lives and sadly it looks like it’s been closed for years. A lot of homeless people sleep in the doorways and garbage has piled up. The building has seen some vandalizing too, which is sad. I really hoped someone would snap this place up and re-open it. Maybe modify it a bit to do more food and stuff. It was a nice place and easily return. Hope someone figures it out soon before too much damage is done.
Never a comfortable or luxurious theater (four walls and a couch), it provided a community friendly place for like-minded individuals to view works other theaters would not screen. I lived in the Haight (Upper and Lower) for a good 5 years and loved the fact that I could walk to a theater to see an interesting film. Good luck doing that today, no matter where you live.
After the Haight Theater closed in the late 70’s (long before my arrival, and demolished in the early 80’s) where it sat empty for a good 10 years before St. Vincent De Paul build a structure there, the Red Vic (at its original location, where the Red Vic B&B is located today), it was the only theater in the immediate area of The Haight, the amazing Castro being the next nearest.