The Daily Dig: Drive-In Massacre (1976)

A fun but clunky endeavor, “Drive-In Massacre” could have been a modern-day William Castle flick if it were better executed.

A sword-swinging psycho is terrorizing young patrons of a drive-in theater, and it’s up to a couple of hard-boiled detectives to stop them. Let’s dig into 1976’s DRIVE-IN MASSACRE, directed by Stu Segall!

As I See It

You don’t have to wait long for some gore. The opening scene is capped with a beheading and impalement with, of all things, a sword! Not a very common tool used in slasher films.

Whether you consider Psycho the first slasher or Black Christmas, Drive-In Massacre has to be considered an early entry into the sub-genre as well. It plays with tropes that wouldn’t take hold for a few years. Personally, I think it’s closer to a Giallo than anything, with a heavy focus on the crime/detective elements.

Unfortunately, that is also what makes it rather bland.

A few things that really stood out: the Peeping Tom that looked like Wilson from Home Improvement. The set design on the police precinct, aging the walls to the point of mold, and possibly the worst audio track of any high definition release I’ve ever sat through.

If the ending of this film, contrived to be an immersive experience, was executed better, we’d be talking about this as an absolute cult classic.

Famous Faces

George “Buck” Flower (escaped asylum patient) had a few early roles in exploitation films but entered the genre hall of fame (in my opinion) with bits in John Carpenter’s The Fog and Escape From New York, and his role as Mr. Wallace in Stan Winston’s Pumpkinhead. He also had a recurring role as Red the Bum in Back to the Future and Back to the Future II.

Janus Blythe (credited as Janice Jordan) played Ruby in The Hills Have Eyes and its sequel.

John F. Goff (Detective Leary) was also in John Carpenter’s The Fog in the memorable role of Al Williams, as well as They Live, Alligator, and Maniac Cop.

Of Gratuitous Nature

There is a brief, coy, topless scene which is to be expected when you have teens necking at a drive-in.

Heartthrob

Fifty years on, the ending is toothless, of course, but the potential for a unique theatrical experience was there. Think of a Blair Witch type marketing campaign attached to this film and decades of naivety, and you could have something really uniquely terrifying. It makes one think of ways to utilize such contrived, real-life terror for modern cinema.

Ripe for a Remake

Maybe not the setting or story, but the angle of a real threat being within the theater, where you so vulnerably sit and munch on popcorn, is very intriguing.

Spawns

No progeny to report.

Where to Watch

Severin Films released a Blu-ray in the US, and 88 Films handled a similar UK release a year earlier. You can stream it on Prime Video or Tubi, among multiple other streaming platforms.