Recent Viewings, Part 2

[indianasmith]

HALLOWEEN AT AUNT ETHEL'S (2020)  I had actually seen this one before, but it's a classic, cheesy, suspend-all-disbelief-and-roll-with-it bad movie.
Aunt Ethel is a nasty old lady who kills kids on Halloween and bakes them into Halloween candy (apparently her "pickled chocolates" are loved by all).  Why the police have never come after her is explained by "well, she burns the bones and eats the flesh so no body, no evidence."  So three brave teens decide to take Aunt Ethel down once and for all, all while making out and getting nekkid periodically. The finale is . . . well, probably the only original thing in the movie.   In the words of Instagram: "I didn't say this movie was good, I said I liked it!"

[lester1/2jr]

Summer School aka Mag Wheels (1977) - This isn't the Mark Harmon one. If you liked "The Van" (1977) I would definitely recommend this. I sort of liked "The Van" for it's authentic, slice of life portrayal of more innocent days gone by and yadda yadda, but it was more of a time capsule than a movie. This one is written and directed by Bethel Buckalew who directed Sassy Sue and other Something Weird delights. It's more hard drive-in than grindhouse, though.

The "hot new girl in town" immediately p**ses off the lead cool guy's girlfriend and basically starts World War 3 in this ridiculous California beach town. It's a lot of pranks, rivalries, and guy- girl drama occasionally broken up by kids hooking up and smoking pot together. I liked the footage of the skate park and also the gang of lesbians who show up and save the main girl all the time. "Aww man, they're lezzies".

It was seemingly designed to be the opener on a summer drive-in bill and it succeeds at that. As an actual movie, it's a bit of a chore to get through, though. They are in the titular school for about one minute at the very end.

I'll go 3.75 /5

As a background movie, it would be higher.