When was the last time you went to a drive-in theater?

Cafe Society
1

I went to a drive-in last night for the first time in about 15 years. Yes, they still exist, and it was just as much fun as it always was. It was the Milford Drive-In Theater, in Milford, New Hampshire, a two screener that was showing a double feature(!) for $20 a car. We put the dog, a sack of munchies, and a cooler full of soda in the car, and drove 50 miles just for the experience.

It was opening night for Transformers (second feature, Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer), so we went early to get a good spot, and arrived at about 6:30PM, and there were a couple dozen cars there already. We bought some burgers and dogs at the snack bar, which was actually pretty good, with reasonable prices compared to a cineplex. As the movie didn’t start until 9:00PM, we killed timed walking the dog in the nearby woods, or reading and listening to the car radio.

By 8:00PM the lot was already pretty full, with about 100 cars for each screen. Many people had brought along lawn chairs which they set up in front of their cars. SUV’s and pickups parked along the back, tailgates pointed toward the screen, with whole families within equipped with pillows and blankets. I saw more than one poker game break out while waiting for dusk to fall. The were lots of little kids running around, frisbees flew, and in the grassy area in front of the screen an impromptu baseball game was underway. Our 96lb. husky was excited to be around so many people, and she revelled in all the attention she got as we walked around the lot.

When it was finally dark enough, they began with cheesy announcements that looked to be authentic films from the 50’s & 60’s (You can smoke in the comfort of your car!), and a couple of trailers for upcoming attractions. The sound was good, as the old window speaker has been displaced by stereo FM sound broadcast to your car radio system. The screen was large, though a bit worn, but once the movie started, I didn’t notice it.

Everone was well behaved during the movie; I didn’t see any headlights come on, and no problem with cell phones or crying babies. We could relax in power reclining seats, adjust the volume if necessary, get out and walk to the snack bar or restroom (clean!) without disturbing anyone. You caould hear the audience laughing at the funny parts, and cheering when the villain gets it, so the experience is the same in that respect.

Is it the perfect way to view all movies? No, it is not as dark as a theater, and you have to wear mosquito repellent if you have the windows open on a warm night. You don’t get Dolby sound, and it is a longer walk to the bathrooms. But it is a different way to enjoy a movie, with a lot of unique fun that you won’t find anywhere else.

Anybody else like the drive-in?

2

45 years ago. I believe they were playing a Doris Day and Rock Hudson movie.

Which we weren’t watching.

3

The last movie I didn’t see at a drive-in was I believe Red Dragon, at the Redwood Drive-in in Salt Lake Cuty, Utah. That would be October of 2002.

4

Last Saturday night. The Sunset drive-in in nearby Colchester has four screens, each one with a double feature (so if you don’t like the second movie on your screen, you can go to another one.) I saw Live Free or Die Hard and 28 Weeks Later. I might go again soon to see Transformers, cause seeing it on a huge screen would be awesome.

5

Driveins were THE best entertainment value in my youthful years. Makeout city; the passion pit. The one I went to most was near a bar that had a BBQ hut out back. We would get rib plates from the hut and beer (with fake IDs) from the bar, then go to the drivein early.

That drivein was torn down long ago for a modern shopping mall.

There still is a small drivein theater nearby, the Skyway, that gets a surprisingly large crowd in the summer from tourists. They have been in operation for over 57 years.

I could tell you stories…

6

Never been to one. I sat on the lawn at a movie showing on the side of a park district building once, but that’s the closest I’ve gotten. I’m 32.

7

I knew there were still a handful of drive-in theaters left in the US, but I’m surprised to read that they show first-run films. In the last years of the drive-ins in this part of the country, southern US in the 70’s, drive-ins only ran second and third-run fare.

8

It’s been long enough ago that I’ll have to guess exactly when and what I saw last. I do know that there are drive-ins in Tennessee rural areas that are still in operation and showing relatively recent films. But the last one I can really remember seeing was in the late 60’s or early 70’s and may have been either a Raquel Welsh thing called Fathom or the Tony Curtis Boston Strangler. Most of the drive-ins in the Nashville vicinity have been demolished and replaced with parking lots, strip malls, etc. There were as many as ten in their heyday within easy driving distance.

An amusing side question would be: “What’s the best movie you saw for the first time at a drive-in?” And even on that question I’d have to do some serious remembering. Maybe High Noon when it was a new release in the 50’s.

9

I first saw Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at a drive-in. Ditto Jaws and The Sting.

10

The last one I can remember was The Four Musketeers (1974).

11
  1. Star Wars.
12

We went to the drive-in a lot, in Seattle in the 70’s – mostly the Duwamish but sometimes the Midway.

I don’t remember for sure, but the last movie we saw might have been The Wild Bunch.

We saw Night of the Living Dead at a drive-in. Is there a more perfect drive-in movie?

13

Watched Disturbia at the Vali-Hi this April. It was the first weekend they were open for the summer season and it was packed. From what I’ve read, it’s one of the three drive-ins left in this state. A select few of the parking spaces still have the speaker boxes. You get a triple feature for 7 bucks.

14

I’m pretty sure that was “Pillow Talk.”

I haven’t been to the drive-in in decades, but my friend goes a couple times a month.

15

Wow. It’s fun, but it’s more fun if you’re a horny teenager and you sneak in in the trunk of your friend’s '63 Pontiac Catalina (which holds three to four teenagers comfortably).

The last movie I saw at the drive-in was “The Black Stallion”. To my horror, Kid Kalhoun pointed out the fact that he could see “I Spit On Your Grave” playing on the other screen. :eek:

16

It had to be about 10 years ago…I saw a double feature of Waterworld and Apollo 13. Unfortunatly, they should Waterworld first, so I had to sit through it to get to the other. If they had shown Apollo 13 first, I think we would have been gone about 10 minutes into Waterworld!

17

I saw Batman at the Fiesta 4 drive-in (RIP) in Pico Rivera, CA. The place later became a swap meet, and a new Krikorian multiplex opened on the site last year.

I remember the Fiesta 4 as the place where I leaned out the back of the station wagon to see Heavy Metal on the screen across the way while the rest of the family was facing forward and watching Savannah Smiles.

18

The last time had to have been 1975. I can’t even remember what the movie was.

19

I haven’t been since I was a kid, so 25 years ago. I remember that the drive-in was where we saw “The Warriors” (come out and play-ee-ay).

But there is still a drive-in up here, in Fairlee, VT, which is pretty popular. They get second-run but not too long after the opening weekend. I will have to try it sometime.

And my parents in Fort Collins enjoy a drive-in that has two screens, so two different double-features to choose from! First-run, and $5 a person.

20

About a month ago: it was a double feature of Shrek the Third and Ocean’s Thirteen.

There are two drive-ins within reasonable distance, the Malta Drive-in and the Jericho Drive-in. Malta is a bit better kept up, but Jericho is a bit nearer. We make it a point to go to them whenever we can.