Secret Movie Club — Local services in Los Angeles

Listen, I love a good art house cinema; Laemmle, Landmark, Alamo — all wonderful editions to Los Angeles. This location and adaptation of a 'cinema' just ain't it. This location honestly reminded me of everything I hated about film school. Pretentious movie snobs that think they're better than everyone else because they watch European noir films.

But I digress... this 'Secret Movie Club' location is, at the end of the day, a warehouse loft that a bunch of hipsters decided to turn into a half-baked theater. Even if you can get past the pretentiousness, you're immediately smacked in the face with the reality that this is not a real theater. Firstly, seats are not tiered at all, meaning that if you are more than a few rows back, tough luck, you're not going to be seeing 1/2 the screen contents. Secondly, rows are narrow; too narrow for a person to pass by once somebody is sitting. Seats fold down like most old-fashioned theaters, but in my experience, felt like they folded too far down, making me feel like I was sliding forward and off the seat throughout the film.

In terms of projection quality, it's actually decent. The film we watched was RAW, which was digitally presented. Colors were accurate and projection was crisp. It seems they are using a high resolution projection system, but it's definitely not laser, as blacks were washed out. After the seating issue, the worst comes with sound. The system is completely uncalibrated with absolutely no sound deadening in the theater area at all. Most of the mix came from the center channel and left the audience ears pounding with the booming, echoing sounds of speakers being pushed passed their ideal frequency ranges. This would be my number two priority to fix (after tiering the seats) as a business owner.

I get it. Being a small business is difficult. But these are issues that will make myself and others never ever visit this location again. Pair the layout and technical issues listed above with how overpriced tickets are, alongside the generally sad and poorly organized concessions area, I don't see this becoming a frequent visit for many folks — no matter how many niche films are being shown. Experience was one star. Extra star for trying...

I'm now the third person here claiming the poster shop on the Secret Movie Club website might as well be a scam. Since I placed an order, it's been almost two months worth of broken promises and excuses with no end in sight. Same as the others, when I could even get a hold of SMC for a response to my inquiries it was "everything will be taken care of in two weeks," "it'll be shipped by the end of January." Of course, they never actually followed through. They still have my money, I still don't have my order, and they stopped responding. I wish I had seen these other reviews before ordering, so if you're thinking about it and see this, do not under any circumstances give this business any money! One instance might be an anomaly, twice might be a coincidence, but by the third time someone says that this business did the same exact thing, it's evidence of a pattern of malpractice. I'd welcome an actual resolution to the matter but they don't seem interested in or capable of doing so.

Edit: It's been over a year and half, and Craig Hammill and Secret Movie Club never resolved my complaint and either shipped me the product I paid for or refunded my money. Over that time, Craig and SMC "promised" over six different times that everything would be settled within two weeks, within the next month, or by XYZ date. Each time came and went with no action and no follow up until I reached back out, usually several different times, to figure out what was going on. The last correspondence (as of writing at the end of August 2025) was in mid-June 2025, saying everything would be handled by mid-July. Of course by this point I know better. Craig is either a pathological liar or the most incompetent businessman on the face of the Earth. Shame on him and anyone who supports a business run by someone with such a complete disregard for other people's...

DO NOT buy anything from this place. I purchased posters from their online store on December 13th for Christmas gifts that I never received. I tried their listed number which does not work and sent emails that weren’t acknowledged until January 3rd. I was then told by Craig Hamill, the company CEO that a printing issue delayed orders but that the issue was resolved and that I’d receive my order in the next 2 weeks. Those weeks went by without my order being fulfilled. I reached out to Craig again, but now I was going to receive my order by the end of January. Still no posters. This was clearly a stalling tactic. I’ve since come across other negative reviews online noting this exact same issue with SMC - one dating as far back as last summer without any kind of refund - and the strikingly similar replies from Craig. Secret Movie Club is a fraudulent business and Craig is a liar. I’ve since filed a complaint with the BBB and am making it a point to warn others online against patronizing SMC wherever possible. You’ve...