Our writer visited the Odeon cinema in the Great Northern Warehouse on Deansgate, a venue that social media users have compared to the horror film 'Backrooms', finding a labyrinth of empty corridors, retro 90s carpets, and a blocked-off entrance.
A surreal walk through the warehouse
The visit started badly when the escalators weren't working, forcing the writer to take the spiral staircase upstairs. The long walk through the warehouse's corridors was interrupted by the sight of numerous ping pong tables with players taking part in games, which felt like entering a simulation.
As the dark corridor gave way to the extension at the back of the warehouse, the writer came across a mini-arts and library room to the left, more table tennis tables, buckets catching a leak, wet floor signs, and an old box office that looked shut for good. The old entrance had been closed off, with signs directing visitors outside through Deansgate Mews and round to the entrance near the car park.
Liminal spaces and the Backrooms comparison
The writer noted that the cinema's atmosphere brought to mind the concept of 'liminal spaces', popularised by the horror film Backrooms, which features a hidden network of corridors beneath a furniture store. The film's 'Backrooms' included large spaces covered in bright yellow carpet and tiled rooms with small swimming pools.
Searching for the Odeon on TikTok reveals countless videos calling it abandoned, creepy, and even 'The immersive Backrooms experience'. A Reddit post from this summer asked for areas around Greater Manchester with a 'Backrooms' vibe, and the first comment mentioned the Odeon cinema in Great Northern. TikTok user Ciara Ashleigh shared a video captioned: “Top 2 scariest things in Manchester. 1. Piccadilly Gardens 2. The Odeon in Great Northern”, which amassed more than 5,000 likes.
In a TripAdvisor review from January 2025, reviewer NiamhOfTheNorth described the cinema as “understaffed and a bit creepy”, writing: “...the vibes this cinema gave were a tad post-apocalyptic. You'll know what I mean if you ascend the stairs under the gazes of random old celebrity actors and actresses in a partially lit lobby with no music.”
However, some find the creepiness part of its charm. In a TikTok video captioned “The best cinema in Manchester”, user mc_doesugc shared footage of the venue's corridors and escalators, saying: “I personally think this is the best cinema in Manchester to watch the new scary movie. Yeah it might take about ten minutes to get there and you pass through every single back room and liminal space that you can imagine, but when you eventually get there, oh my god it's giving nostalgia, it’s giving the 2000s.”
Uncertain future
In 2023, the Manchester Evening News reported that plans had been approved to redevelop the Great Northern Warehouse, which would include scrapping the cinema, creating 746 flats and office space. Work on the £294 million regeneration project was set to begin in 2024 and be completed in three stages, with the final stage completed in 2029. The plans involved demolishing the 1990s retail extension, home to the cinema, to create more than 700 apartments across three new buildings. Since then, there haven't been any updates on the development, so the future of the Odeon remains uncertain.
When asked about the development and the entrance spaces, the director for the Great Northern Warehouse, Mark Schofield, said: "We pride ourselves on offering a clean, welcoming environment at the Great Northern. As we evolve the public areas, we are proactively introducing free activities to enhance our visitor experience, including our popular table tennis hub and Little Northerners space. Alongside this, we are continuing to curate and celebrate an exciting mix of brands across our site, giving visitors even more unique reasons to spend time here."
The Manchester Evening News also approached Trilogy Property, the developer for The Great Northern Warehouse, and Odeon cinemas for comments, but did not receive a response.
