Drive-In Massacre – 1976 – Surprisingly Good!

I really commend 88 Films for bringing these cult slashers to the public. It’s also obvious that the genre existed before John Carpenter made it famous in 1978 with his masterpiece Halloween. In this case, there might not be a masked killer and this is not a ‘boogeyman’ flick. I think those came later with franchises like Friday the 13th and Halloween. It is about an unknown killer though and no one is safe. Drive-In Massacre produces some suspense, some really dumb characters, and some surprisingly good acting skills.

The film takes place in a drive-in cinema. It’s also the place where Drive-In Massacre was meant to be seen. You can, of course, enjoy it anyway since it has some great moments. There’s some great gore and there are some funny scenes as well. When the cops are on a stakeout for instance. One of them is dressed up as a woman and no one even notices that he’s a man. Even less that he’s actually one of the cops investigating the rampage killings.

I would also compare this to the gialli scene. Not because the suspense is there, or the atmosphere that is usually present in a giallo. No, because of the funny characters. They are so out there and not only wooden and two-dimensional, they are hilarious as well. And As I said before, quite nicely acted.

I like this movie. I thought it was great fun to watch. It’s not a typical slasher in the true meaning of the word. Of course, the setting of a slasher can be anywhere. It can take place in the city, in a suburb, at a summer camp, and in a drive-in theatre. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the killings are nice and that there’s some terror to it. Anyone can be killed at any given moment. No one is safe, even though you might develop some sort of sixth sense when you have seen a few similar movies. But can you guess the killer? I dare you!