IN a time of multi-million pound box office hits and dazzling special effects, a Methodist church is going back to basics and recreating cinema's early days.

Most people's film-going experience involves the comfort of a modern multi-screen cinema, with surround sound and buckets of popcorn.

But Elvet Methodist Church, in Old Elvet, Durham, is turning back the clock by inviting people to watch silent films in its church hall, on Friday.

The eight classic films will be accompanied by a soundtrack that is to be improvised on the night by pianist Stephen Dutton.

Many of the films to be screened at the Silent Night evening date back to the beginning of the last century and include footage created from slides, and a colour film dating back to 1905, which was coloured in by hand, frame by frame.

The evening is the brainchild of film enthusiast David Williams, as part of the church's annual fundraising project.

Mr Williams, a former film lecturer at Durham University, has provided most of the films from his own archive, comprised largely of copies from the National Film Archive.

The films will be shown on digitally-enhanced video, so audiences can experience the footage as close to its original quality as possible.

Mr Williams said: "The old films are now becoming more expensive than they were 20 years ago, because all of a sudden people have realised there are no more prints being done.

"People think old films were dreadful visually because they have usually seen very bad copies of copies. But a lot of them have been put on to DVD and video, and the quality is so much better."

Most of the films were created when the industry was in its infancy, such as A Trap for Santa, made in 1909, The Night Before Christmas, made in 1905, and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, created in 1905.

In keeping with cinema traditions of the era, Durham University student Mr Dutton will be providing the film soundtracks by improvising music on a piano in the hall.

He said: "I've seen the films, so I'm just going to respond to what I see and improvise the score. But I'm going to try to do it in the original style."

The night begins at 7pm. Admission is £3 and proceeds go to St Cuthbert's Hospice, Durham.