Road Trip to the Drive-in – Coronavirus edition

Well this year has been crap as I’m sure you all know. Normally I have a few road trip posts here on Crappy Movie Reviews. This year not so much. All of my events have been cancelled and I’ve been locked up in my house only leaving for work and to pick up groceries. I’ve even avoided going to the drive-in as the idea of being around people just didn’t appeal to me. Though I’ve been waiting for an event that I couldn’t refuse. This Friday night they hit me with a double feature that I had to see.

Thursday I was checking on the internet and noticed that one of my favorite haunts, The Magic City drive-in was advertising a double feature that made me sit up straight in my chair in excitement. The original Evil Dead and Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn paired up! I love both of these flicks and watch them during my annual horror movie marathon in October. I’ve been antsy, probably due to nothing else happening, to get my creepy on and this seemed like a good way to kick things off. After discussing it with my lovely wife I decided to go… with some additional precautions.

 

Mask up and Sanitize!

After fortifying myself with a tasty burger at a local carhop, luckily my hometown still has such things, I headed off. I arrived at Magic City early in case there was a big crowd. There was a short line to get in, but it wasn’t too bad. The turnout was decent, but it wasn’t too crowded so people could spread out a bit. Given the pandemic that made things a bit more comfortable. I found my spot setup my portable boom box and masked up for a trip to buy some candy. Returning to “old blue” which is what I named my Honda, I sat back and waited for the fun to start. Just as it was getting dark Bruce Campbell's face appeared and the fun commenced.

Now I’m not going to rehash the movies. I’m going to assume that if you are here reading this you have already watched Evil Dead and Evil Dead II. They are legit classics that all real horror fans have taken the time to check out. But if you haven’t and want more information you can check out my reviews here and here. Again, both movies are must watch for anyone interested in horror and horror comedy.

 

You must have a proper setup

Since I’m not going to go into detail on the movies, I thought it would be fun to talk about the experience. I’m of the age that I was old enough to have caught these movies on VHS release but not on the big screen. I did get to see the third entry, Army of Darkness, during its initial theatrical release when I was in college. I’ve also had the chance to see Evil Dead at a special screening called Twelve Hours of Terror. But this is the first time I’ve had the chance to see either of them at the drive-in. I’m a huge nerd so seeing them from the comfort of my own car under the stars was very special. In my mind this is how the movies were meant to be viewed and I never thought that I’d get to see them like this. Needless to say, I was a very happy camper.

I really needed this. I’ve had some fun hanging out with my friends in their backyard cinema watching movies outside, but the rest of this year has sucked. All of my conventions, Cinema Wasteland, Grossfest, and Ghoulardifest have been cancelled. The special screenings I normally attend at the Canton Palace Theater, Stoogefest, the Twilight Zone marathon, and Monster Bash have also been called off. Twelve Hours of Terror which caps off every October for me is also skipping this year. I’ve also heard rumors that some of the venues may not recover so some of these events might never return. That makes me very sad.

I’m so ready for January to roll around and hopefully we can put this pandemic behind us. Until then all we can do is make do with what we have. Thanks to Magic City and the companies who are dusting off some old favorites and giving us fans a chance to check them out at the drive-in. Hopefully I’ll have at least a couple more chances to make another trip out before the weather gets too chilly.

 

 

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer