Thread: Secret-Cinema (S-C) Review

TRACKER NAME: Secret-Cinema
TRACKER URL: secret-cinema.net
SIGNUP URL: Invite only
TRACKER TYPE: Obscure Movie Tracker

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TRACKER DESCRIPTION

Secret-Cinema, previously known as Cinema-Obscure, is a ratio based movie tracker that specializes in more obscure content, including silent films, classics, arthouse, cult, etc. It falls in the same category as Karagarga and Cinemaggedon as it focuses on non-mainstream content. While its primary focus is on movies, the site also offers music (OST, Radio) and a small selection of ebooks.

Ratio is not very difficult to maintain if you pace yourself and jump on new torrents early. There is an initial grace period of 5gb before you have to worry about ratio. The PotM section (see below) is also very helpful for those who have trouble.

The tracker itself is laid out differently than most might be used to, and is primarily forum-based. If you select a torrent from the browse page it will bring you to a forum post with further information on the release, and in most cases a cover image and screencaps.

A few other noteworthy features of this tracker are:

• Roll-over cover view on the browse page
  
• Aid System - you can gift upload credit to a deserving user

APPEARANCE

Different parts of the site use a different layout. Basically there is the "tracker" view and the "forum" view, but both are intertwined and it can get a little confusing since the menus change. There are a few themes to choose from, but all they do is change the colors of the forums. All screenshots below were taken using the Cobalt theme.

HOME PAGE



Nothing spectacular about the home page - a few stat graphs randomly posted there. :)



STATS



CATEGORIES



BROWSE



MOVIE PAGE

When you click on one of the torrents, it brings you to a forum post with further information about the release, along with the torrent download and a link for the peer list.



PEER LIST

This is the page you see when you click on the "peer list" link in the release description.




PILL OF THE MONTH (AKA FREELEECH)

This is a newly "remodeled" feature - formerly know as "Picks" and now as "Pills". There is a special section of the forum called the "Secret Pharmacy" where you can view current and previous monthly picks which give you 100% download refund. There is also a quick link on the top of the torrent page that allows you to view all current Pills. This feature is also used to help revive older torrents that have no seeders.








FORUMS

The forums are relatively active - some sections more than others - but the general mood (including staff) is relaxed and friendly... if perhaps a bit eccentric.



IRC

IRC seems to be a little deserted, but it's there.



FAQ

There doesn't seem to be a specific rules page, but ratio requirements are included in the FAQ.



INVITES



DONATIONS

Donations are requested every quarter to cover expenses.

PERSONAL OPINIONS

Content: 7/10
I found it difficult to rate this tracker on content, because there is a decent amount that would be hard to find elsewhere. However, the content selection is no where near as vast as Karagarga for instance. While many of the very old torrents are dead, you can easily request a reseed by simply starting the download. This will automatically pop it into the reseed list of anybody who uploaded it or completed a full download of the file.

Speed: 8.5/10
I have found speeds to be excellent on the files I have downloaded, though occasionally you will stumble upon something that drags a little bit. Most newer torrents have at least 2 seeders.

Community: 9/10

I feel that since the tracker already has such a focus on the forum, the community is encouraged to participate and interact. The members are a close-nit group of obscure movie fans and everybody is friendly and helpful for the most part. IRC has been dead every time I join, but perhaps it is active at other times of the day?

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Comments/suggestions on ways to improve this review are welcome :)

Very nice Review Ela,

I just thought I would add that at first I thought the content was horrible but its because I was doing a search in the main search field "torrents". There is another search field (where the content I was trying to find was) in the Forums section & doesn't list the content very well by your search parameters (yes even using special synthax characters). So the Site Does have very good amount of old nonmainstream content, but I do have to humbly disagree about the Forum activity & friendliness. When I joined most forum sections I saw where spread out with about a month or more between, not days, or hours, which is no big deal but there are a few in there that are unbeleivably mean towards others (specifically a couple higher ups bashing very angrily & degrading new users & others). Maybe I wondered into serveral wrong threads repeatedly lol, but I haven't ever seen anything that bad on TI or on any other private tracker just thought it was very supprising & should be noted.

I should note (after the last statement) that the staff seem very cool & professional there from what I've seen so far & it might just be cultural differences in the forums. So In my opinion, if you love nonstream movies & don't want to get involved in the forums & don't mind having marginally more trouble seeding then other movie trackers S-C is probably right for you because their content is very good when you learn their search quirks. Just have patience on getting some ratio, or download only pill movies right away when posted (very limited selection of those).

Deleted by me :D