Drive-In Massacre (Severin Blu-ray Review)

Blu-ray Distributed By: Severin Films / March 14, 2017

It was one of the few true slasher movies to pre-date HALLOWEEN and FRIDAY THE 13^th, and remains the closest you’ll ever come to an actual seedy ‘70s drive-in experience: It’s a hot summer night in Southern California and the local passion pit is packed with patrons. But when a sword-wielding psycho begins carving up customers, it’ll unspool a grubby cavalcade of creepy carnies, peeping perverts, graphic decapitations and an ending you have to see/hear to believe. John F. Goff (THE FOG), Bruce Kimball (LOVE CAMP 7) and co-writer George ‘Buck’ Flower (BACK TO THE FUTURE) star in this nasty slab of ‘70s sleaze directed by adult film & episodic television veteran Stu Segall (INSATIABLE), now packed with all-new Special Features and restored from the original camera negative recently discovered in the ruins of the Sky View Drive-In near Oxnard!

Special Features:

Audio Commentary with Director Stu Segall
Drive-In Days: Interview with Star/Co-Writer John F. Goff
Norm Sheridan Recalls Drive-In Massacre
Making the Massacre: Interview with Director Stu Segall
Theatrical Trailer
Reverse Cover Art
HIDDEN EASTER EGG – Trailer for sleazy 70s comedy, CB Hustlers

Jamie: (3 / 5)

Jimbo: (3 / 5)

Hidden Treasure/Dumpster Fire?

Jamie’s Take (3 / 5)

Drive-In Massacre is by far a bad movie. It’s cheap, it’s poorly acted, it looks like crap, the plot is basic and boring…yet I still enjoyed this movie. Maybe it’s the 70’s nostalgia of the drive-in or the fact this is a pre-Halloween slasher film that had some fake blood. I don’t know. There is a certain charm this movie has which causes me to appreciate these budding film makers trying their hand at making a film. Drive-In Massacre though is not for everyone. If the title of the movie turns you off, then yeah this movie may not be for you.

The film plays it off like this is a true story, much like The Legend of Boggy Creek or The Town That Dreaded Sundown as we see cars piling in to a drive-in on a hot summer August night. As children play on the playground and people hop in and out of their cars, a young couple makes out in a car until the young man reaches out for the car speaker and is decapitated by a sword. Screaming but yet not moving out of the car, the woman is stabbed through the throat and falls out of the car dead.

Now normally the drive-in would be shut down, most likely for the season but no, the sleazy owner Austin Johnson (Robert E. Pearson from Beyond the Valley of the Ultra Vixens) must remain open for business. As two police detectives (John F. Goff and Bruce Kimball) interrogate Austin, they start to gather clues as to who the killer may be. Is it Germy, the simpleton who helps clean up around the drive-in? Is it pervert Orville who likes to watch couples make it at the drive-in as he plays with his mushroom noggin? Or is it Austin himself?

Although a very short 74 minutes, Drive-In Massacre screeches to a halt whenever the action is outside of the drive-in. In fact, most of the scenes take place at the police department (an obvious cheap set) or in an empty warehouse, anywhere but the drive-in. Maybe the film makers couldn’t shoot at the drive-in for very long but I wish this film had more drive-in sequences. Thankfully the movie does offer up some 70’s boobers and graphic violence. While the kills may seem a bit cheesy with the fake paint looking blood, I happened to enjoy some of the graphic kills that were done in camera. I wish there was more of these scenes and less of the two overweight cops bumbling about looking for clues or talking to suspects.

Now the film’s climax is rather odd as the police think they have the suspect (George Buck Flowers from Touch Me ) cornered in a warehouse with a young girl being held hostage. This is where the film takes such a weird twist that it doesn’t make sense as it’s an abrupt addition to the story, leaving the viewer wondering what he / she missed. But it doesn’t end there as the police go back to the drive-in and witness a murder silhouetted on the drive-in screen. This strange cop-out ending is irritating and rather cheap which had me wondering what was director Segall’s intentions with this film and what were the writers thinking?

The explanation is within the amazing audio commentary by Stu Segall, director of the sub-par Drive-In Massacre. Segall had just finished wrapping up his sex comedy C.B. Hustlers and had a few extra days to shoot and some extra cans of film stock and decided to make Drive-In Massacre. Segall is rather honest and even admits to the film’s short-comings; “Wish I could re-shoot that.” “I dodged a bullet there.” My favorite, when asked on his thoughts about the film he stuttered and said, “It is what it is.” Segall talks about his career making adult films which I found fascinating and even more entertaining than the movie itself. Another tidbit is how actor Pearson woke up one morning, years after making Drive-In Massacre and was struck with blindness. It’s a great listen and well worth the price of the blu ray alone.

But I am jumping ahead of myself. How does Severin’s transfer look? Well, pretty amazing. The first time I saw Drive-In Massacre was on the old 2007 Cheezy Flicks release and the picture was so dark and murky, it was impossible to see anything. Severin’s blu ray is quite decent, given the fact the film source is in rough condition at times with film splices and debris still noticeable. The colors are bright during the daylight sequences and even the night sequences are tolerable. At least one can see what he / she is watching. The music and sound effects are much louder than the audio but that is because of the poor sound recording at the time the film was shot. Severin does their best at maintaining a quality soundtrack and for the most part the 2.0 mono track is ok.

There are some great interviews on the disc such as one with co-star and co-writer John F. Goff who discusses the making of the film and his career and friendship with George Buck Flowers. There is a lengthy interview with Norm Sheridan who now looks like a grandpa talking about his role as Orville. Segall gets an interview but it’s too short and his commentary is where the fun, interesting stories are at. Rounding out the special features is the trailer and I found an Easter Egg (in “special features” click on one the features to the left and a poster pops up) of a trailer for Segall’s C.B. Hustlers which looks like a far more entertaining feature, capturing the C.B. craze and filling the film with ample amounts of nudity. Severin may have dropped the ball in not releasing C.B. Hunters as a double feature with Drive-In Massacre.

While it doesn’t hold a candle to some of the more famous slasher films of that period, Drive-In Massacre is fun when the action takes place at its central location. It’s nice to see how drive-in’s used to (and should) look. With just being 74 minutes, Drive-In Massacre is worth a rental at the very least.

Jimbo’s Take (3 / 5)

Drive-In Massacre is a film that is intended to be seen at the drive-in. I’m fortunate to have a drive-in near my house. Sadly, it is one of those 5-screen modern drive-ins with a full bar and gourmet food. I don’t mean to complain. Any drive-in is better than no drive-in. But long gone are the days of 42nd street sleaze made specifically for an outdoor movie experience. I also feel an urge to complain about drive-in etiquette with modern movie goers, but I’m already straying far off point so I’ll bite my tongue.

As I was saying, much of Drive-In Massacre‘s schtick is dependent on being at the drive-in. To truly appreciate it’s camp value, you have to put your frame of mind in the outdoor, open environment. Since it’s unlikely Drive-In Massacre will be making a resurgence at your outdoor theater, we’ll just have to play make believe. Or, if you have the resources to do so, make this an outdoor movie event in your backyard.

As a horror film, Drive-In Massacre is a complete and utter failure. There’s no tension, it’s clunky, and there’s no defined villain or conflict. As Jamie mentions, we have a series of murders at the drive-in, and detectives try to identify a killer. It’s as simple as scripts get. But this isn’t surprising since the script was written in a week. Principle photography lasted only four (albeit very long) days. And the Director says on the disc’s interview that he is not a “film buff” and credits The Exorcist for aiding in his distaste for horror movies. Then why the hell was he making a horror movie?!

Yet, I still very much like it. At a very trim 74 minutes, it breezes by pretty quickly. So quickly, in fact, that one key scene near the end of the film had to be shot after principle photography just to pad the run time. You can probably tell which scene as there is a pretty stark tonal and pacing shift.

Regardless, I find the cast of characters to be interesting and performed well enough. I think my favorite character is the theater manager who is described by one of the detectives as a “perfect asshole”. The death scenes are inventive even if you can tell budget resources were limited. The effects may be cheap, but there’s something creative and resourceful about them that resonates with me.

I want to echo Jamie’s comments about rooting for the filmmaking team. I think that’s part of this film’s overall charm. You can just tell this team was passionate about what they were doing. At the same time, they knew they were making drive-in schlock. At no point do they seem to be misguided enough to presume they are making a horror classic.

As for the ending, I like it a lot. Jamie feels it was a cop-out but I found it to be 100% appropriate for the tone and sensibilities of Drive-In Massacre. Just like the “added scene”, the ending for Drive-In Massacre was an afterthought in the script process. I’ll agree that the ending is unconventional, but that’s why I think it is so perfect.

Drive-In Massacre may not be effective as a horror film, but it’s short, campy, and hilariously bad. My suggestion: gather your friends, get the barbecue grill lit, break out the lawn chairs, and if you can find yourself a copy of CB Hustlers on DVD, you’ll have a perfect drive-in double feature party.