Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Bride and the Beast (1958)

Poster for The Bride and the Beast (1958)The Bride and the Beast (1958) by #AdrianWeiss
Co-written by
#EdwardDWoodJr
w/
#CharlotteAustin #LanceFuller

A newlywed in Africa reveals, through hypnosis, a previous link to her husband’s pet gorilla.

“Human prey of a giant gorilla on her wedding night!”

“Please Don’t Tell What Happens To The Bride!”

#Horror #EdWood
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I would have liked to work at a video store. I mean back when I was a teenager, or young adult. I got my first job (not counting a paper route) when I was 16, and it was in a restaurant. At first, I mainly washed dishes, cleaned tables, and swept and mopped the floors. Eventually, I worked my way up to operating the cash register and cooking. After two or three years I switched restaurants, and continued cooking. It was while I was working at a third restaurant, that I finally hit the wall. I was tired of getting cut and burned and going home smelling like grease and smoke. I was also tired of the abusive behaviour of my bosses. Nowadays, they would call that third restaurant a “toxic work environment” – and it really was.

By chance, that horrible place was right across the parking lot from a Jumbo Video store. I used to rent movies there all the time. It was great because it was open 24 hours. No matter what time of night you had the urge to watch an obscure slasher film, or cheap action movie, you could be sure to find one there. I may have talked about this place before…

Store front of Jumbo Video at night.

 

One day after work, I was waking home past Jumbo Video when I noticed a sign in the window: Help Wanted. It was like a bolt of lightning hit me. I hated my current job. Why not work at a video store? Continue reading

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Killer Shrews (1959)

Poster for The Killer Shrews (1959)The Killer Shrews (1959) by #RayKellogg
w/
#JamesBest #IngridGoude

A maniacal scientist transforms tiny shrews into giant, man-killing beasts.

“Ravaging beasts feed on human flesh!”

“They had to eat 3 times their body weight each day… OR STARVE!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

When I was a kid, I watched The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-1985) every Friday night. I suppose it wasn’t far off from being an early version of a  Friday Night at the Home Drive-in. There’s something about that show that feels like each episode in a mini-drive-in movie. The kind about cool cars and moonshine and corrupt Southern sheriffs. I suppose Macon County Line (1974) and Jackson County Jail (1976) might be examples of a sort. In any case, I loved watching the Dukes outwit Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane week after week. I thought the two actors who portrayed those lovable villains – Sorrell Booke and James Best – were a brilliant comedy team, like Abbott and Constello or Bert and Ernie (I was a kid, remember). I enjoyed watching their comedic mishaps as much as Bo and Luke’s victories – maybe more. Continue reading

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959)

Poster for Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959)Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959) by #WilliamJHoleJr
w/
#JodyFair #RussBender

Hot rods, monsters and rock’n’roll… a gang of greasers hole up in a haunted mansion after getting evicted from their clubhouse.

“The Hot Rod Gang meets the…GHOST of DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW”

#Horror #DragRacing
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I’ve always heard (and read) that Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959) isn’t very good, so I avoided watching it for many years. Last week I decided that I should really give it a go, because you just never know…

Well, it turns out that sometimes you DO know.

I suppose it’s not all THAT bad, but it’s definitely not good. Not a lost classic of late 1950s horror cinema. Not even a super fun so-bad-it’s-good movie. Sure, it has a few moments of entertainment value, but not quite enough to make it very memorable. It’s only been a week and I’m already struggling to recall what exactly happened in it. Let me stretch back in my mind and see what stands out tor me… Continue reading

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Return of the Fly (1958)

Return of the Fly (1958) by #EdwardBernds
w/
#VincentPrice #BrettHalsey #DanielleDeMetz

Philippe Delambre, the now-adult son of “The Fly”, does some transportation experimentation of his own.

“The horror is back!”

“Out of the World of Atomic Mutation It Rises
– With the Dread Curse of the Father Upon It!”

#Horror #SciFi
#TheFly
#NotQuiteClassicCinema

I wrote about The Fly (1958) a while back, and I admitted that I was somewhat unsure if I should be calling it #NotQuiteClassicCinema. I know I’ve struggled with that before. I hate for people to think I’m calling a movie “bad” or implying that I don’t like it. Nothing could be further from the case (in most situations). I’m basically paying homage to the old TV show that introduced me to these old monster movies, Not Quite Classic Theatre. Still, many oil the movies I write about would never get confused for actual classics (The Beast of Yucca Flats, anyone?). The Fly (1958), however, would and should. I think I said something like this: Continue reading