Drive - in movies

[Reed Rothchild]

Do you still get drive in movies playing in the good ol' U.S of A? Watching the original Evil Dead  trailers on D.V.D the other day I noticed it was being promoted through the drive in theatre at the time.

        Being a Brit I 've never had the experience of seeing a film this way, and never will, what with the Multiplex trampling all opposition in its path.

[The Burgomaster]

There are still a few drive-in movies here, but most of them have disappeared. When I was a kid, there were at least 6 or 8 drive-in theaters within about 20 miles of my house. Now, I think there are only 2 or 3 remaining in the entire state.

The experience is not the same anymore. When I was a kid, seeing a movie at a drive-in was a real "experience." It had a certain feel to it. I can't really explain it. I'm not sure if it was the greasy food from the concession stand or what . . . but there was a very memorable "feel" to the whole experience. Now, I go to the drive-in about once every three years and it just isn't the same.

Oh, well . . .

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[jmc]

Very few drive-ins left in the States--there is one where I live, but it just shows the same movies as the regular theaters.

[The Burgomaster]

If you want a simulated drive-in experience, get your hands on one of the double-feature DVDs from Something Weird Video. The DVDs are set up like a night at the drive-in. They have coming attractions, public service announcements, cheesy ads for local businesses, ads showing the food you can buy at the concession stand, etc. If you watch both movies and all the extra drive-in stuff, it usually takes about 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

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[raj]

I also imagine the weather in Britian has something to do with the dearth of drive-ins there.  ONe of my fondest childhood memories is going to the drive in to watch a double feature of "Krakatoa, East of Java" and "Ben".

There is a relatively new drive in (last couple of years) near my last stomping grounds of Columbia, SC.  They may start having something like a comeback,  but one of the main difficulties is that they are usually only usable for a few months (anyone want to go to a drive in near Chicago in January) and usually only on Friday & Saturday nights.  (Do you want to go see a double feature on a Monday night, if the sun doesn't go down until 8 pm, so the show doesn't start until 8:30, oh and you have to get up at 6:30 the next morning for work.

Still, yo don't have the overhead of a building to pay for. . .

[Chadzilla]

We have a drive-in here, but I've never been.  Saw lots of stuff in the drive-in back when I was kid - Airplane, Star Wars, Smokey and The Bandit, Piranha, Jaws, The Car, The Fog, etc.  Driving from Hayward to Alameda at night was cool, you'd go past a Drive-in or two and get to see some nifty stuff.

It just isn't the same though.  Or maybe I just grew up.  :-(

[The Burgomaster]

The great thing about going to the drive-in when I was a kid is that, in addition to mainstream movies, the drive-ins often showed great, trashy movies.  I remember seeing:

A triple feature of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, THE HOUSE THAT VANISHED, and THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD

A double feature of THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE and THE OTHER (not to be confused with Nicole Kidman's THE OTHERS)

A double feature of VANISHING POINT and DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY

A double feature of SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT and MOVING VIOLATION (starring Eddie Albert!)

A double feature of SUDDEN TERROR (aka EYEWITNESS) and THE EXORCIST

A double feature of PUPPET ON A CHAIN and NICOLAS AND ALEXANDRA

A double feature of CORKY (with Robert Blake!) and BEN

A triple feature of DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, and GOLDFINGER

A double feature of THE WARRIORS and UP IN SMOKE

A double feature of SLEEPER and EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX . . .

Plus many, many others.

It's amazing . . . I can remember exactly which movies played on double and triple features 25 - 30 years ago, but I can't remember my wedding anniversary . . .

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[Deena]

There used to be a drive in theater in my white trash hometown.  The owners torched it for insurance cash when I was prolly in 3rd grade.  I can only remember being there once and they were showing Gremlins 2.  I don't remember if they ever showed trashy cool movies there, i would assume so, being white trash town and all.  But it, like everything else that would occupy the time that the youth there now use to do drugs and have sex, has long went away.  There is a drive-in about 30 minutes from my town, they only show new releases and stuff.  There is also a drive in here in the college town I live in, they show new flicks too.  

Deena

[onionhead]

I remember seeing The Brood, Boggy Creek, Hell House, The Apple Dumpling Gang et al at the Starlite DriveIn in Tacoma, which is still standing, although the place is now a swap-and-shop with a big community center building in the center.  There was the 112th Street Drive In, long gone.  There goes my youth.  Joe Bob Briggs does a running report on drive-in fatalities on his site.