The first night of the 2011 Drive-In Super Monster-Rama was an absolute blast! Read my look back at the first night here:
2011 Drive-In Super Monster-Rama: Night One. Could night two top it? Well, in at least one way it did. The excessive amount of incredible horror entertainment and wonderful 35mm film prints were certainly on par with night one. The main difference was that the second night had
no rain! There were two short episodes of precipitation the first night (toward the end of "The Last Man on Earth" and the end of "Island of the Doomed"). Not a washout by any means (and obviously nothing the drive-in or George Reis had any control over), but if I
had to find something negative to say that would probably be it. The second night looked like it might be worse at first. When we pulled up to the gate, dark clouds were taking over the sky and we heard a few distant (and not so distant) rolls of thunder. When we parked the car and started to mingle with our fellow drive-in fans it started to sprinkle a bit. But then it stopped well before the projector started to run, and not another drop fell the entire night!
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The official Monster-Rama advertiement, which shows the movies featured on the second night:
THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN, COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE and I, MONSTER
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From what I can tell, the second night also had what had to be a record--or close to a record--crowd. I can't imagine George Reis or the Riverside Drive-In complaining about the turnout! For it's fifth anniversary the Monster-Rama showed just how much of an institution it has become.
One thing I forgot to mention in my look at the first night was that I brought my drive-in speaker down with me again this year. After re-wiring it so it could plug into a 1/8" jack I brought it along to Pennsylvania last year, but for some reason I couldn't get my radio to tune in the Riverside's frequency. I was going to leave the speaker at home this year, but dragged it along again. I'm so glad I did, because it actually worked perfectly this year! I hung it on the back of my chair and listened to all of those old movies, trailers, shorts and intermission ads through an actual old drive-in movie speaker! What a great little added touch to a great weekend of entertainment! Here's a piece I wrote about my drive-in speaker:
Resurrecting the Past: Drive-In Theater Speaker.
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Listening to the sounds of the drive-in through an actual old drive-in speaker!
(Photo taken by Max Cheney of the blog The Drunken Severed Head)
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In the interest of keeping this blog as short as possible (which it won't be anyway), I'll skip the rest of the background information on the Drive-In Super Monster-Rama. All of that can be found in my other blogs on the topic as well as at the website for
DVD Drive-In. Here's a snapshot (or a hundred) at what the second night looked like through the lens of my camera:
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Uncle Charley's Sausage Company
A landmark on Rt.66 indicating that you're only a few minutes from the Riverside Drive-In
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| The Riverside's sign with Saturday's films posted |
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| Max Cheney, aka The Drunken Severed Head provided a lot of pre-show entertainment while we waited for the gates to open. Not only did he hand out pre-Halloween treats to everyone, he also threw a frisbee to everybody (whether they were expecting it or not!) |
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Max was also a font of wonderful horror information,
and we were honored to have him sit with us throughout the show! |
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The good folks from Creepy Classics were back for the second night of course!
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And I just had to post a few more photos of the Riverside's pinball machines
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| Vintage Bally Evel Knievel pinball machine |
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Vintage Bally Lost World pinball machine
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| The clouds came and went throughout the night, but the rain mercifully held off! |
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There were a couple unanticipated bonuses at the Monster-Rama--
First, bats could be seen flying all over the drive-in's grounds while people mingled before darkness fell each night... |
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...And this spider web added a spooky touch in the projector room window--
Luckily the quality of the films projected through the web didn't suffer in the least! |
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Saturday's date was September 10, and by the time the show ended on Sunday morning it was the tenth anniversary of 9/11--
A moment of silence to start the show was followed by the traditional playing of the National Anthem |
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Then it was time to start the marathon of drive in fun!
Here's an ad for Rico's Nachos |
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| And the classic PIC mosquito coil ad |
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| "A pleasant aroma for you...but not for them!" |
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| A romantic night at the drive-in calls for... |
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| ...Chilly Dilly Pickles! |
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We'd be seeing a lot of monsters during the show,
but this ad warned us about the monster known as Pay TV! |
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Save Free TV!
Guess this battle ultimately wasn't very successful |
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| Welcome to the Theatre! |
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| And now it's time for some Coming Attractions! |
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ESCAPE FROM L.A.
Probably the newest trailer shown either night |
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| THE INCREDIBLE 2-HEADED TRANSPLANT |
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| LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH |
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| FRIGHT |
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| GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE |
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| Now, THAT, my friends is a warning! |
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| GARDEN OF THE DEAD |
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NIGHT OF THE LEPUS
What has to be one of the most misleading movie trailers of all time. I can only imagine how many people went to see the movie based on this trailer only to be shocked to discover that the monsters were giant...bunny rabbits! |
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| VAULT OF HORROR... |
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| ...From Cinerama Releasing |
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| GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS |
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| ...Featuring "Dynamic Violence!", "Savage Action!" and "Spectacular Thrills!" |
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I can't help but post a bunch of photos from this trailer--
after all, it is... |
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| ...GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS |
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| NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD |
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| THE RAVEN |
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| ...Starring Monster-Rama favorite, Vincent Price! |
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| BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE |
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| Where can you see "A Man Devoured By A Killer Beast"?... |
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| ..."In Blood-Curdling Color And Panavision"? |
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| ...Why, in the BLACK ZOO, of course! |
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| Terror Strikes! In... |
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| KONGA |
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THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF
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| THE DEVIL'S PARTNER |
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| BLACK SUNDAY |
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BLACK SUNDAY...
Not to be confused with last night's first movie, BLACK SABBATH |
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| A film with a FOURTH dimension? |
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A 4th dimension AND it's going to be the year's most talked about picture?
What could it be? |
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| It's TERROR IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE |
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| Shifting gears with a UPA cartoon |
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| UPA presents Mr. Magoo in... |
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| MAGOO MEETS BOING-BOING |
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| Sort of a cross-promotional kind of thing for the two cartoons I guess |
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| And Mr. Magoo ends up being a hero (naturally)! |
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| Funky UPA logo |
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The End
And, now it's time for our first feature of the night... |
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| American International Pictures presents... |
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| Vincent Price in... |
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| THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES |
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After the movie was the first Intermission of the night--
Refreshment Time! |
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| Popcorn, Ice Cream, Candy, Soda... |
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| And a Temptaste Bar-B-Q Sandwich |
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| Don't forget the Hot Dogs |
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| More Intermission goodness! |
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| How about a Fish-Wich? |
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| Or how about a Kentuck Barbecue... |
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| On a bun? What fun! |
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| Unfortunately, these weren't available at the refreshment stand--oh well. |
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| But they did have Delicious Pizza... |
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| ...To satisfy your moment of hunger! |
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| A Hot Dog with a banjo! |
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| And what, pray tell, is this object? |
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| Why, it's a Flavos Shrimp Roll of course! |
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| And, if you haven't had enough phallic-shaped snack foods yet... |
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| ...Why not go for a Chilly Dilly Pickle? |
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| PIC again--this time in Black and White |
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| The Countdown Clock says it's three minutes till showtime! |
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| Time flies when you're having fun |
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| Two Minutes... |
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| One Minute... |
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Time for more trailers!
BEAST OF THE YELLOW NIGHT,
which was part of a classic drive-in double feature paired with... |
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| CREATURE WITH THE BLUE HAND |
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| NIGHT OF THE COBRA WOMAN |
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| ...Which was filmed in Slitherama, of course! |
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Here's another double feature of--
WOMEN OF BLOODY TERROR
and... |
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| NIGHT OF BLOODY HORROR |
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And they'd even help pay for your funeral if you died while watching these films.
How thoughtful! |
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So go see WOMEN OF BLOODY TERROR and NIGHT OF BLOODY TERROR
for a bloody good time!
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| RAW MEAT |
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| SUGAR HILL |
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| Hey, if it's from American International it HAS to be good right? |
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| COMPUTER KILLERS, aka HORROR HOSPITAL |
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| With a name like COMPUTER KILLERS it's gotta be good, right? |
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| Time for the second feature film of the long night... |
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| American International Presents-- |
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| Vincent Price (again) in... |
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| DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN |
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| Time for another Intermission! |
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| Two Minutes until... |
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| More trailers! |
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| HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS |
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| GUESS WHAT HAPPENED TO COUNT DRACULA |
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| CURSE OF THE VAMPIRES |
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| Which was filmed at the "Real Tombs of Horror!" |
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CURSE OF THE VAMPIRES sounds pretty good, doesn't it?
Wonder if it lives up to the trailer... |
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And, a preview for yet another double feature--
BLOOD SUCKERS
and... |
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| BLOOD THIRST |
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| DEATHMASTER |
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We were lucky enough to not get any thunder during the show,
but apparently there is some in... |
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| OLD DRACULA |
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| SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM |
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| The final short subject of the show features The Three Stooges in... |
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| LOCO BOY MAKES GOOD |
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Which was followed by the third feature of the night:
THE LOVES OF COUNT IORGA, VAMPIRE
aka... |
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| COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE |
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Count Yorga was followed by the final Intermission of the night
(or morning as it were) |
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| Ice Cream |
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| Popcorn |
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| Yep, it's Intermission Time! |
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| All your favorite snacks! |
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Not too much time before the snack bar closes!
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| This guy got his! |
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Yep, it's still Intermission Time!
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| One Minute till... |
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| More trailers! |
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| Here's Peter Cushing--not in TOP SECRET, but in... |
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| THE CREEPING FLESH |
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| NOTHING BUT THE NIGHT |
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| THE BEAST MUST DIE |
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| ARABIAN ADVENTURE |
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And then it was time for the final movie of the night and the show...
An Amicus Production of... |
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| I, MONSTER |
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I couldn't get a good shot, but Mother Nature added one final nice touch
(in addition to the lack of rain, the bats and the spider web)--
the full moon seen through wispy clouds around 4:00 AM |
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THE END
...of the film, of the night, and of the Drive-In Super Monster-Rama for another year |
It was another great show. My friends made an interesting observation about how much entertainment is packed into each of these shows. Obviously there are a TON of great intermission and drive-in ads, shorts and trailers between the films, but the films are the heart of the show. While eight movies spread out over two nights seems like a lot in itself, it's amazing to think that over the course of the five years of the Drive-In Super Monster-Rama no less than FORTY feature films have been shown! All I can say is WOW!
HOPE TO SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
Both nights I remember hearing distant thunder and feared more rain was coming just over the hill. But at some point I realized what I was hearing was not thunder but the massive pin action coming from that nearby bowling alley.
ReplyDeleteIt absolutley poured in Monroeville on Saturday, so much so I feared the evening would be scuttled if not drowned. *whew*
It was pretty sketchy looking indeed! I was sure that there'd be a lot more rain than we got during the show. It was so cool to be able to sit outside throughout ALL of the second night! And, yes, that "bowling alley thunder" is becoming a bit of a tradition in itself at the Monster-Rama! I thought the same thing when I went for the first time last year.
ReplyDeleteThe second night I noticed flashes in the sky and thought it was lightning, and heard accompanying booming noises. I thought the booms sounded odd though, and after a while I realized we were seeing the light from a distant fireworks display, somewhat softened by the cloud cover. It was a special treat when the fireworks finale happened, as it gave a multi-colored strobe light effect behind the screen during the climax of PHIBES.
ReplyDeleteYou know what, with SO much to recap I completely forgot about that interesting light/sound show! Thanks for reminding me Mark! That ranks right up there with the emergency (air raid?) sirens that went off in the distance at last year's show around 2:00 AM on a rainy night.
ReplyDeleteThis is so incredible. As a dilligent DvdDrive-in follower for several years I can only express how awesome this looks. If I was to go to the US, i'd make this a definite stopover in the calendar. Just awesome stuff.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you realise how rare & spectacular this all is. I'm prgramming a Halloween night with 35mm prints of Night of the Living Dead & The Blob remake. We'll show laods of trailers that we've collected as well. Unfortunatley these films don't really exist on 35mm down here in Australia anymore & the shipping on winning a print in the USA on eBay is astronomical, averaging around US$500 just to ship to Australia. Damn you USPS for removing International Surface Mail. Love the blog & am envious of what all you guys do.
That is just awesome. I live in San Francisco and our indoor horror events have dwindled to near zero. I miss the drive-ins as ours have all closed. The films shown at your festival are spectacular. I really wish I had been there as well!
ReplyDeleteGen, reading your posts was like re-living the event. Great times. Thanks for then write-ups. I'll be posting my final one on DSMR 5 soon!
ReplyDeleteGlen, I've finally posted on the event, at this link:
ReplyDeletehttp://universalmonsterarmy.com/blog/?p=359
Thought you might like to see some more Drive-In Super Monster-Rama images and commentary.
Enjoyed hanging out with you and the Saturday Fright Special gang very much!
Max