No one else’s parents ever made them hide in the trunk or lay down behind the front seats and cover you will a blanket to avoid paying for you?? Maybe because we were so many…
I saw a few horror movies in 1985 or 1986 at a drive-in in Iowa. It was already dying out by that time.
We used to go to a nearby small town drive-in with our daughter when we were at the cottage in the summer. It’s still in operation.
My first drive-in movie was Patton (on its initial release). We were a bit late, so we ended up in the first couple rows of cars. The opening scene is pretty impressive when it’s that large. (Too bad the little window-mounted speaker couldn’t match the visual.)
The management of that particular drive-in had a very good attitude, too. As long as you “kept it in the car,” you could do just about anything you cared to. No BS about bringing your own snacks, drinks, booze, pot, or whatever.
Memories? They still exist. They aren’t as common but they exist.
I remember watching the dark knight in 2008 at the drive in. It was nice. I’d bring a lawn chair and set it up next to my car and watch it like that.
The first few times I went to the movies it was a Disney picture or double feature at the drive in. I remember when I was seven and got to go for the first time. I was thrilled–I’d expected to be left home with a sitter like I’d always been before. I felt so mature.
The picture was The Million Dollar Duck, and I thought it was awesome.
I’m sure I went to a few, but don’t recall any specific memories, other than driving through Ohio in the 1980s and being able to partially see the screen of a drive-in off the highway that showed adult movies. Looking at maps, it would have been somewhere between Columbus and Toledo, maybe off highway 23?
I was a child at the time and it certainly peaked my interest of looking out the window of the car while driving through Ohio at night.
Any Pittsburghers remember The Dependable Drive In? They had [del]mostly[/del] only X rated fare. When I was 17, we got a case of beer and we went to The Dependable. Five minutes after parking, the kid who drove saw his neighbors a few cars over. He freaked. We tried to convince him that they’d be just as embarrassed to be seen there by him, but we end up leaving.
Drive-ins require a substantial amount of land. In most places the land could more profitably be used for something else.
I’m just a few years younger than ThelmaLou, but similar memories. We used to go all the time in the family Corvair. The back seat folded down and all of us kids fit in there. I remember being really little and wearing only my tighty-whities, which was fine as long as I stayed in the car with my pillow and blanket. But if I had to run to the bathroom (barefoot, of course, on the rocky ground) I can remember people hootin’ and hollerin’ at the skinny little kid scampering by in just his underwear.
We would always make popcorn at home to take. I also remember we would always burn one of those mosquito coils (still available!) on the dashboard to keep the bugs away. I can also remember when we were little falling asleep before the show was over. When we got home mom and dad had to roust us enough to get us into the house and in bed.
As we got older, we moved into bigger vehicles (Suburban) and did the back-in maneuver. My parents would bring lawn chairs and sit outside the car, while us kids sat in the back.
As for the movies, the only one I can remember seeing as a little kid is She. It left an impression on me with the lady in flames! Later on, I remember Burt Reynolds type movies. As a high-schooler, my friends and I only went a couple of times that I recall. Eventually, the place descended into playing some XXX movies every so often, which could be seen from the freeway.
Oddly, (to me, anyway) somewhere along the way I developed a real love of cinema, but it’s hard to imagine that it started with drive-in movies?
The next town over still has an active drive-in. Double features on two different screens, so 4 movies. They don’t price by the carload. They show first-run films. Tonight Screen 1 is showing John Wick 3 and The Longshot. Screen 2 is showing Detective Pikachu and Ugly Dolls.
StG
Just before drive-ins died (almost) completely here in Australia back in the late1980’s, I took my then small kids to watch a double-feature, Milo and Otis, and Child’s Play.
Y’know, the movie with Chucky the evil doll? Boy, was I ever mislead about the type of movie THAT was. Yeah, had to leave the drive-in with some slightly traumatized kids.
A Corvair!! Wow!
Gad, thanks for all the memories. 
The number of times I saw Rocky Horror at the Blue Mouse… oh, my goodness. Utah was always my favorite place to see the film because the SLC responses were different from those elsewhere in the country.
Frank N. Furter: “It’s not a crime to give yourself over to absolute pleasure!”
Audience: “It is in Utah!”
Fond recollections of the Redwood, too, though no real standout memories. It was a thing to do on some Friday or Saturday nights. A bunch of teens piling into a car to go spend a few hours being typical teenagers at the drive-in. A good night was when you could find a spot with a speaker that wasn’t blown. The movies were mostly schlock, but we didn’t care. It was a social ritual, to see who was with whom, who was working on being with whom, what everyone was wearing. I don’t remember a single specific film.
My favorite drive-in memory was watching the movie Halloween for the first time with my stepmom in Boise, Idaho. We’d stocked up on snacks at the grocery store and had more junk than a dozen people could manage. Part of the fun.
The movie scared us so bad, we could hardly move when it was over – but we didn’t want to stick around the drive-in on our own, either. We got out of there and talked about the film the whole way home.
Just as we pulled into the driveway, my stepmom asked, “What would you do if you saw Michael Myers right now?”
As I considered my response, we both noticed a station wagon with an emblem on the door driving slowly by. Much shrieking ensued and we hightailed it for the front door. I don’t think our feet even touched the ground.
Michael Myers pranks figured big in my family for years after.
I remember going by drive-ins showing horror movies when I was a kid - I did not appreciate that.
The drive-in where I saw “Star Wars” is a dealership, too - but they left up the screen (at least the last time I checked); I guess it was cheaper to leave it up.
SIGH. Yeah, the memories, whats left of them. I remember there was always a huge line of cars extending out into the road at the Fairview Theater for their drive-in. It’s a Ford dealership now. Broadway Drive-in is a mini-storage. The screen is their sign. I can’t even tell you where the Midway or the other on I can’t remember the name of were anymore. The 3 screen one in Nampa is still there. It was down to one screen for a while. They upgraded to digital projectors a couple years ago, opened a second screen and are supposedly working on bringing the 3rd screen back into service. I’m pretty sure the Parmavu Drive-in is still open. It was a few years ago. All the drive-ins in Idaho are owned by one company now I think.
The Nampa Drive-in shows first run movies and charge per person, but its still cheaper than a regular theater. And there’s just something special about the drive-in theater experience. I’m really glad for the Nampa theater, and there was one in Elizabethtown Kentucky too when I was there, so that I could share that with my kids.
There was a soft-porn drive-in back in West Texas, and we used to sneak in all the time in high school. They were pretty lax about checking IDs. It’s where I watched The Farmer’s Daughters, in which Spalding Gray notoriously fucked a chicken (hopefully just simulated).
Us siblings would hide on the floorboard behind the front seat.
I was very young, but I remember seeing The Blob. I think it was in B&W.
Oh gosh, lawn chairs! Great on hot summer nights–or at other times.
I remember one weekend party up north, with a bunch of friends, when I was in my early twenties. There was a drive-in nearby, and it was showing a movie that my buddy Johnny and I wanted to see. Problem was, that neither of us had our own cars; we had caught rides with others. However, Gary and Annie had a car, and wanted to go to the drive-in, but not necessarily to go to see the movie.
We compromised by putting a couple of lawn chairs in the trunk, along with a cooler of beer. Johnny and I set the chairs in the empty spot next to Gary’s car, with the cooler between us, and the speaker cranked to the max. Gary and Annie steamed up the car windows, and Johnny and I enjoyed the movies.
You pull into a drive-in
And find a place to park
You hop into the backseat
Where you know it’s nice and dark
You’re just about to move in,
Thinkin’ it’s a breeze
There’s a light in your eyes
And then a guy says
“Out of the car, Longhair”
“Louise, you’re comin’ with me
And no more movies”