Drive-in Horrorshow

Like many anthologies some segments are more enjoyable than others. Overall I found it to be fun. I did feel the effects look dated, I was rather surprised by the date made, because it looks like it was made in the 90s. It has that 90s camp feel to it as well. Entertaining though. I did enjoy the drive through set up with the shadow customers.

It feels a bit like Goosebumps, or Creepshow with a lower budget. So it's not quite as good as these, but if these shows are up your street then I think you could have fun with it. I did feel the last one was the weakest one of the segments, which is a shame to end on.

An anthology film with the segments bridged with supposedly humorous antics of ghosts and zombies who visit their own drive-in theater to watch movies about more ghosts and zombies. Why, you ask, do the undead go to a drive-in theater when they don't drive? Wouldn't an indoor theater be more to their liking? And such a drive-in! The film makers apparently had access to an actual drive-in theater but were not allowed to touch the projection equipment. So when it's time to show a film the print magically changes from 35mm to 16mm and an old pre-war Bell & Howell model 138 is switched on. The monster projectionist hasn't actually put the film IN the projector,but he gives the reel a spin and as we zoom in on the reel of 16mm film spinning like crazy the picture is somehow projected out of the big 35mm machine. And they do this goofy act for each of the segments as though the viewers won't notice. The films come in absurdly tiny cans which should hold a preview at most. Nit-picking? Maybe. But if there is one thing a movie maker should know it is what film is like. And these guys obviously don't. They can't act either. The ghost "manager" tries to do a funny/sinister accent as he tries to be a version of "The Cryptkeeper" but he isn't very good and drops his dialect repeatedly. Some of the undead actors don't speak at all so they thrash around trying to be over the top funny but just look silly. The performers in the story segments are so-so at best and none of the stories would scare anybody. I'd like to give these folks something for effort but considering they didn't even try very hard, I won't. I suppose you could sit through this if nothing else was on hand and you were really desperate for entertainment. Recommended only for those die-hard fans who want to see every last horror movie ever made.

"Drive-In Horrorshow" is a low-budget horror anthology made of 5 segments that have nothing in common, except that they all belong to a particular horror sub-genre. These segments are introduced by a ghoulish host that looks straight out of a b&w TV show, which nicely hints at the anachronistic nature of the segments, or rather their desire to encompass all eras of horror movies.

In no particular order, there's the monster movie, the torture movie, the slasher, the urban maniac and some sci-fi with men in black thrown in. This should make for a fun spectacle, but most of the segments go nowhere. The most blatant example is the first bit, "The Pig", which is 10 minutes of a raped girl torturing her tormentor in the bathtub until...he dies. There's no twist. This can also be said of the sci-fi segment, which reads like the 1st 20 minutes of a movie and then cuts. The slasher bit is simply 90 minutes of SOV backwoods slasher condensed in 20 minutes.

Although not original in any way, the "Meat Man" segment at least has endearing performances by the lead kids and some sort of twist, as does "The Closet". You get the feeling that the director simply wanted to pay respect to the many sub-genres of horror, but was simply out of ideas. As a homage, it works in a modest way, but as a movie, there is simply nothing to hold on to.

The grue is omnipresent, though surprisingly no so much in the torture segment. Even with 20 minutes segments, this mostly bored me. There's obviously a lot of heart, but no ideas. Next time, try a script.

Drive-In Horrorshow is especially good if you are in a "mixed" (i.e. horror-fan + horror-adverse) relationship...The shorts are creative and accessible, and show a great sense of humor. The Closet and The Watcher are just plain fun. The Meat Man is a grown-up look at all the crazy horror rumours we'd spread around as kids - this one was my favorite. And then, Fall Apart was horror with a bit of a soul. Socially relevant and terribly foreboding and creepy, with enough gore and stuff too to keep the more horror-fan types happy.

Apparently (according to husband) there are lots of great uses of horror archetypes too, but as a newbie I just thought it was fun and entertaining!

In the tradition of the horror anthologies of "Creepshow" and "Tales from the Crypt" comes this homage to the long lost day of the best way to watch a horror movie. The Drive In Movie Shows. Five tales of terror are brought to you by your host, The Projectionist and his sidekicks: Zombie Frank, Billy Troll, (a mini Lurch) and a teenage axe-victim who are sadly lacking in customers. Each tale has a different take on horror with some more violent than others. People meet grusome and gory deathsin a visual display of very red blood and plasticy gore and gloriously wicked black humour. Whatever your ghoulish pleasure: be it cutting and slashing, cannibalism,monsters, even evil children. This movie has it all. It's not a bad little movie and oh how I love the way its presented. All in all it's not a bad little movie. bcarruthers-76500