Movies: Drive-In Massacre

Movie theaters have been hit hard by the pandemic, especially small venues like Movies of Lake Worth. It's one of my folks' preferred destinations for seeing arthouse flicks, and they've been trying to limp along by selling concessions at free drive-in screenings of old movies in the parking lot. That's what led local horror movie club Shock A Rama to show the public domain B-movie, "Drive-In Massacre":

It's a terrible movie, a piece of low-budget cheese that barely hits feature film length despite interminable conversation scenes. The plot involves a series of serial killings at a California drive-in theater; the killer is hunted by a hilariously incompetent duo of police detectives. "Drive-In Massacre" would be a prime MST3K flick, since the special effects never rise about student film level and the chase and shootout scenes are less exciting than your average car commercial.

All that being said, the film gained something by being viewed late at night in a dimly lit parking lot, with a bag of popcorn and my tinny handcrank radio supplying the in-car soundtrack. A drive-in creates some natural distance between you and the movie, allowing your attention to wander to the audience outside and the people milling to and fro. In that respect, the screening was an unqualified success.

Rating: 4/10 (8/10 for the experience)