Join us... The Skyway Drive-In 7-10-20

I was scrolling around on Facebook and ran across this double feature of Evil Dead / Zombie playing at the Skyway Drive-In weeks back on social media. I'm like "Oh boy, that has to be seen at the Drive-In". The Skyway is a good hour and ten minutes away from home but nothing was going to stop us from watching these 2 fantastic films on the big screen. The 90+ degree weather doesn't faze us, it was the threats of storms and rain over the weekend and we were not sure if we want to be in the middle of a downpour trying to watch these films. Friday came around and I was scrolling around Facebook and saw a post about the weather clearing up for the evening, after checking several sources, We decided to road trip out to the Drive-In! all we needed was to bring some Judas Priest CDs and hit the road...

Skyway Marquee 

We were just about there when we came upon a traffic light with no power, thinking nothing of it until we arrived. There were rows of cars and some familiar faces from Cinema Wasteland (Art Ettinger, Brian Huey, Mike Watt and Amy Lynn) outside conversing with each other. I get out to chat with some of the Wastelanders. They were telling me the power is out in the area and they were waiting around to see if power comes back on soon. I tried to chat up with some folks but I had a hard time comprehending what some of the folks were saying with most everyone wearing masks. So I kept my conversations short and friendly and went back to the car to wait a while. Eventually, the owner of the drive-in (I believe he is) was saying the power company told them it be close to 11 pm when the power would be on, so I'm thinking "That's a bit of a long wait and what if it never comes on at all?" I could come back as my tickets were redeemable. Now some of these folks traveled from far away, Cincinnati OH, Pennsylvania, and even West Virginia license plate was spotted and that would suck if they had to go back...

Anyways we pulled out and headed back home... within 5 minutes or so after getting on the highway... all the street lights were coming to life! I'm like "11 o'clock my ass! we are going back!" lo and behold it was open for business!

Grindhouse Releasing, The Evil Dead... Join Us...

We set up our lawn chairs, boombox, tuned in to the Drive-In Airwaves, and ready to watch this masterpiece! The weather was perfect, after having storms all day, the sky was pretty clear with stars and the air was perfect with a cool crisp.

The Book of the Dead... Necronomicon

The Evil Dead, great flick... I can't say how many times I've watched it, but it was a first time for Angie and me to see it at the Drive-In and it was a thrill! The intermission reel was playing drive-in quizzes and facts so we went off to the concession stands and ordered cheese sticks and drinks. I found the food prices to be very reasonable!

Drive-In History time...

After finishing our food, we decided to pack up the boombox and chairs and watch the second flick from the comfort of the car... Once again, tuning into the Drive-in airwaves...

Lucio Fulci's ZOMBIE

Zombie - Great flick, great gore, and some crazy scenes like Zombie Vs. Shark, the famous injury to eye scene, oh yeah! Even better... We finally saw this on the Big Screen!

Eye-popping graphics! OUCH!

We are going to eat you...

Another good time at a Drive-In, remember folks if you love these films and never had a chance to experience them at a drive-in, I say do not hesitate, check your local listings (or not so local), and see what they are playing... If you find something, do not hesitate to make a trip out. Who knows how long they will play classics flicks all summer before the new big-budget films take over. We can only hope they will continue these classics from here on out... they can have my money as long as it keeps going...  By the way, I also heard that Grindhouse releasing is putting together a package for PIECES, another great flick, one that I actually saw a long time ago along with Don't Look in the Basement on a date night in the '80s... you can let your local Drive-In know that you want to see this and send them the link from the Grindhouse Releasing's Facebook page... Mr. Fright out...

Skyway Marquee at night.

Beware the moon, lads... A night at the Lynn Drive-In 7-2-20

Thursday, July 2nd was the last day that Lynn Drive-In was showing this classic pairing of Fast Times at Ridgemont High & An American Werewolf in London. It has been a fairly hot day out, but that wasn't going to stop us as it was also the only day Angie, J.D. and I could all go see these flicks on the Big Screen together, so that worked out perfect. We left a bit early to get a good spot on the field and we brought our lawn chairs, skeeter spray, snack foods, water, and a boom box to tune into Lynn's airwaves.

The Marquee at Lynn Drive-In

Lynn Drive-in is the oldest Drive-in here in Ohio and the second oldest in the world. It opened in 1937 as Boyers Auto Theater before changing owners. They changed the name to Lynn after their daughter in the mid-'50s. Movies played on a single screen until 1967 when they added a second screen and it became a twin drive-in. Although FM Stereo transmitters were installed in 1996, the original speakers are still out on the field and some still work.

(I wouldn't mind having a set of Drive-in speakers as a display set or a conversation piece here at the Media Crypt), now that we settled down and set up, we went off to the concession stand to see what was available, but we didn't buy anything...

Signs on the Concession booth. 

We are all seated in our chairs and talking away about movies and what classic pairings that we would love to see happen at any other drive-ins in the coming days. As the sun is winding down, it is starting cool off a bit... Just waiting for darkness to arrive...

Sun is waning... waiting for darkness...

The first feature is Fast Times at Ridgemont High, this is a great flick, I have always enjoyed watching this film over the years on cable T.V. or on some sort of physical media. This is the first time we all watched this classic teen sex comedy on the Big Screen.

When this was over, there were no Intermission reels or anything, the screen was left blank till the next feature was up...

Opening Feature...

The second feature is An American Werewolf in London, a long time favorite of mine. I saw this film along with my good friend Shawn Gingerich when it came out at the movie theater and many other times when it was on cable T.V. and own it on various media formats. This is the first time I am seeing it at a Drive-In. Now folks, if you are reading this and have "NEVER SEEN THIS FILM"... pull your thumb out of your ass and go watch it however you can! David Naughton and Jenny Agutter are great in this movie. The special FX done by Rick Baker is amazing, this has possibly the best werewolf transformation scene ever, the effects still holds up well today!

Second Feature of the night... Beware the Moon!

It was a perfect night under the stars... the evening was a nice temperature after a hot day, the sky was clear and you could see the constellations. I tried to get a picture of the Big Dipper but the phone camera just wasn't cutting it.  In closing... no matter how easy it is to watch a film at home whether you can stream it or own a copy... there is nothing like getting away spending a few bucks and watching classics like these on the big screen under the stars with some of your loved ones or friends... even though there are new big-budget films waiting to be played, I still hope Drive-ins will continue to play classics throughout the year... and where ever the classics are playing, I will be planning to hit them up. If anyone wants to chat about drive-in experiences, Just message me here.

Mr.Fright

The Marquee at night.

First Drive-In of the year! 6-22-20

It was a pretty warm day out and the whole family was at home. While sitting around and working on the upcoming Midnight Magazine I was thinking this is a good night to hit the drive-in, after all I could use a break, and on top of that we all been talking about the various classic movies that will be playing this year, most notably JAWS.  Now I am getting excited because I have never seen JAWS on the big screen and I just had to go! and even more fun is Jurrasic Park is the second billing and a lot of you know I love dinosaurs... so its a no brainer to go see this double feature! I get on the computer to look for the drive-ins around us, from what I find out, the closest ones are only open on Friday and Saturday... so I started looking for the next closest and we decided to hit the road to The MIDWAY TWIN DRIVE-IN in Ravenna/Kent only a 45-minute drive from us.

The Billboard as we reach the destination...

 We left early to ensure us a good parking spot and in case there would be a large capacity of folks, it seems like we were only the second vehicle to arrive! We also had plenty of good parking choices, and for those who want to know about the social distancing, I say it went well, cars had to park one whole spot away from each other, this was a bonus as there is plenty of room to even sit outside if you wanted too.

The sign above the ticket booth...

After parking, we began to talk with each other while we had some time on our hands. Finally, the screen comes to life with old Drive-In trivia and an old black and white cartoon ad for PIC Mosquito Repellent that I really liked.

A mosquito lighting up a PIC repellent and about to die...

After the Various trivia and old ads of Popcorn, Hot dogs and etc... The movie begins...

Feature #1 - JAWS

I was excited like a little kid! I cranked up the Drive-in frequency on my stereo and  I was so ready for the JAWS big screen experience!

Quint is having a little shark problem...

I saw this movie over the years on television and the various media formats, VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, etc... Finally, it was a thrill to experience JAWS on the big screen! Angie and JD were just as thrilled as I was. Various old concession food ads were playing at the intermission, Popcorn, Hot dogs, Ice Cream, you name it! 

Quirky looking character during a popcorn commercial...

We all had some Drive in grub, Angie and I had hot dogs with mustard and deep-fried pickle spears while JD was content with a big ole bag of good ole buttered popcorn.

The Intermission is over, and Jurassic Park begins...

Feature #2 - Jurassic Park...

This is another film that we did not catch at the Theatre or Drive-In so yes, this is going to be another thrilling watch for us, especially for me as I have been a fan of Dinosaurs growing up. ROAR!!!

Yikes! The T-Rex is loose!!!

After the movies were over, we left the lot and headed back home. This was a great night, even though it was late and I was a little tired from all the excitement, I was still mentally perked up from watching all these big monsters on the big screen and was grinning with satisfaction the whole drive home... We will be trying to catch up to as many classic flicks that will be playing at the many drive-ins this summer, I even heard the Evil Dead is one of them... I just cannot wait to take off and do this under the stars again...

Mr. Fright