Drive-In HorrorShow (2009)

Review by Josh Felty



There's something magnetic about a drive-in movie place. The outdoors at night, carloads of sweaty families, automobiles illuminated in the wavering projector light. In other words, the perfect recipe for a maelstrom of thoughts and emotions. Including that word that starts with the letter 'f'...

Fear.

Drive-In Horror Show is a compilation of just such fear-enducing lore, a powerful throwback to the 1970's exploitation double-features that used to play weekend after weekend at just such establishments. You can practically taste the popcorn and extrasweet soda syrup. Everything starts with a brief prologue detailing an apocalyptic nuclear event, all in classic sci-fi B-movie style, and the opening of the horror show drive-in under the guidance of The Projectionist. This guy's got the voice of Vincent Price, the look of Tor Johnson, and the unprecedented task of playing blood-and-guts horror for eternity.

This compilation, in the spirit of Creepshow or last year's Trick 'r Treat, shines as a fine example of what the best horror short filmmaking has to offer. Drive-In HorrorShow consists of five such outstanding shorts:

"Pig" A dual-actor affair concerning a violent, torturous encounter between a predatory frat-boy and his unsuspecting female Rohypnol victim. Let's just say this is probably every female's morbid fantasy, and while simple at its heart, is a powerful alternative to much of the so-called "torture porn" out there on the mainstream.

"The Closet" Every kid has a monster in their closet, including Jamie, who finds his family more trouble than their worth. Jamie's monster comes to life with a few simple requests, all of which are answered in due time. This one's truly a charming little film with some neat effects, including some very impressive B-movie type puppetry for the creature that can make all your dreams come true with the gnashing of teeth.

"Fall Apart" I was most impressed by this send-up of the zombie/virus outbreak genre mostly because it was an unflinching, first-person account of a horrible mutated infection...from a doctor's point of view. We're not just given a bloodbath (that comes later) though. This one contains themes of love regained, bedside manner, and good old-fashioned suspense that really leaves you wanting more in the end. I'm not gonna give away the ending, but I will say this: impressive practical make-up/gore effects.

"The Meat Man" Growing up, it seems you hear every sort of urban legend. From the old man who collects cans to the mysterious kid at the back of the bus with a bad leg, there's a sordid and often blood-splattered backstory that gets spun every which way in the hands of children. "The Meat Man" is just such a story, essentially about a serial killer who collects his victims' leg meat and wraps it in butcher paper and string. This one features two young brothers, Tommy and Oakley, who start piecing together some rather ironic pieces to the whole Meat Man puzzle and come to some startling conclusions.

"The Watcher" Ah, the classic camping trip gone horribly wrong flick. If you've seen one, you've seen 'em all. Kids go into woods, pursued by an unseen indigenous (and bloodthirsty) killer, kids roll around in the pup-tents, and heads roll. We've seen it a thousand times, yet interestingly, The Watcher is a gutsy exploitation romp that drives home that classic "pre-marital sex and drug abuse" warning most slasher films have long forgot.

In all honesty, Drive-In Horror Show will appeal to just about any movie fan, especially horror buffs. What you have is all the trappings of the classic drive-in exploitation fare combined with loads of suspense and dark humor. I loved how every short progressively got better and better. The stories resonate very well and the pace throughout all the shorts seem consistent, the sign of not only sharp writing but very intuitive editing. And the middle parts with The Projectionist and all his little ghoulish assistants were witty and appropriately sinister. It also appears much of these shorts were shot on 16mm, also an appropriate choice considering the throwback nature of the anthology altogether. There's that grainy look in all of the flicks and very few digital effects that would take you out of that grindhouse sort of look.

Check out our music review for the soundtrack to this compilation, which features some equally eclectic music styles. After seeing this, you're gonna want to give the soundtrack a spin, for sure. We even got a copy on vinyl! I even dropped by the official website for the anthology at www.driveinhorrorshow.com and checked out much of the production/post-production process; if you wanna know how to break into indie filmmaking, this could be your primer folks! An interesting side note, some of the special effects were done by Rob Fitz, director of the stellar "God of Vampires" (which this reviewer has seen and penned his thoughts on).

I suggest everyone pick up a copy of this set of films, if for no other reason than to kick back with a bowl full of popcorn and have a few laughs and scares. You won't be disappointed, I assure you, as what goes bump in the night may be nothing more than the neighbors messing around next-door.

At least that's what we hope that noise is...