Still Standing

Drive-In Theatre
Originally uploaded by Gulliver16

Best thing about this ancient ozoner in Ontario, Canada? It's still open for business!

Hidden Pines

Day 239/365 - Sunset at the Drive In
Originally uploaded by Great Beyond

Discovered an old drive-in theater just down the road from the log cabin we stayed at last weekend. Hidden behind the pine trees, the rusted back-side of the screen was just peaking through the tops of a row of mighty tree tops, causing me to exclaim in disbelief: "Is that a drive-in?" as we were driving by.

Later I walked down the road (and admittedly ignored the No Trespassing signs) to check it out. A cozy little ozoner, I have pictures of what's left of the Pines Drive-In Theatre in Dixon, IL that I'll try to get up soon.

Superior 71

Drove past this beauty on the way home from South Dakota. We had actually taken a wrong turn and cruised by completely by accident. Just outside of Superior, IA, it was hours until showtime - and we had another three hours (on top of the six we just drove) ahead of us - so we couldn't hang around for a double-bill. Still, took the time to wander around a bit and check out the lay of the land.

A beautiful little drive-in - I'd love to go back some day! For those in the area, I encourage you to support this gem and spend generously at their concession stand!

http://www.superior71drivein.com/

Stay Tuned

Survived a week long log cabin vacation deep in the woods of South Dakota. Thought I'd take this time to announce that major changes can be expected at both the Hallowzing site and Drive-In of the Dead - hopefully before the year is out. You may have noticed that both sites have basically been inactive for the past few months, and there has been some politics involved in that that I'm hoping to sort out so that both sites can be regularly updated. Thanks for your patience!

Stay tuned...

Back From The Dead

I'm back! After a long sabbatical away from the blog and the websites, I have at last returned to the dark world of the Drive-In. It hasn't been a vacation. I have spent the last several months giving my full attention to my first novel (which, curiously, isn't related to horror in any way, shape, or form). Now that the book is done, I've found there is simply too much news in the world of haunting for me to ignore any longer. Stay tuned for updates concerning some old friends like: Midnight Syndicate, Stephen King, Rob Zombie, Tim Burton, Edgar Allan Poe, Transylvania Television and more!

Going Attractions

Here's a worthy cause that would be cool to see made. It's called GOING ATTRACTIONS:
The Definitive Story of the American Drive-in Movie Theatre.

Do you have an interest in drive-in movie theatres? Well, you can make a contribution to complete a documentary about them! The producers of GOING ATTRACTIONS are attempting to raise what they call 'finishing funds' to help complete the film using a crowd-funding service called Kickstarter.

For a $25 contribution you will receive a 'special thanks' credit in the film. For $50 you can also reserve an advance copy of the DVD. For $100 you'll get the DVD and a t-shirt. Proceeds will go towards completing the film, and they're already 10% of the way towards their total goal of $10,000!

Please help spread the word to people who might want to get involved!

Click here for the Kickstarter link to learn more:
Drive-in Fundraising Link - Kickstarter

Wapello Monolith

Drive-In in Wapello, IA
Originally uploaded by bliss627

"How obvious—how necessary—was that mathematical ratio of its sides, the quadratic sequence 1:4:9! And how naive to have imagined that the series ended at this point, in only three dimensions!"

-Arthur C. Clarke

Back

behind the silver screen
Originally uploaded by t knouff

After a much-needed vacation I'm back at the blog. Sorry for the lack of updates in the past week...I pretty much avoided all technology for the past seven days. But now we're back on the horror gravy train - and I'll start out July by saying that you should be looking for some cool news and updates in the weeks ahead!

Waiting

waiting for the drive-in movie to start
Originally uploaded by jessamyn

There's just something really creepy about this picture...

Legion

Are we geeking out over this? Why yes we are! Our faux trailer for the imaginary slasher film 'GARAGE SALE' is the featured video over at Midnight Syndicate's LEGIONS OF THE NIGHT!

How cool is that?

http://www.midnightsyndicate.com/links.htm

Welcome

We hope you'll help us welcome our newest employee here at Drive-In of the Dead. CookieMonster hails from Austin, TX and is as big as a movie buff and horror hound as you can get. I've know Cook since high school, yet I can honestly say I didn't see this coming (while uproariously funny, he seemed kind of clean cut back then...) Well, I suppose he's still somewhat responsible now that we're all grown up - and I know he'll do a bang-up job here at the Drive-In. This is an exciting chapter for us and I'm looking forward to all the gnarly reviews (his first review is now up, the 'Grindhouse' exploitation flick: 'Hobo With A Shotgun!') and groovy extras he'll bring to the place. Now I better sign off before his head swells so much it explodes ala 'Scanners.' Besides, it's time to put him to work putting the speakers back on their poles. Then he has to sweep out the Snack Bar, learn how to thread film in the projection booth...

Ozoner

Drive-In Playground
Originally uploaded by Scott.Webb

This is a great picture - but what's up with the sky? I'm no climatologist, but that CAN'T be good for us...

Terry's Ghost

Terry Drive-In
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

The overgrown drive-in in Terry, Montana. A beautiful photo of a classic ozoner.

GARAGE SALE

It's finally here! After four months of work, Drive-In of the Dead's first film (well, the fake trailer for it anyway...) is finally here! GARAGE SALE is its name, and it is our little tribute to all those great slashers from the 80's that we grew up with. It's with a tremendous sense of relief that I finally get to say it's finished, for this has been a troubled production to say the least. I started work on this back in February with the hope that Spring would be right around the corner. It didn't quite happen that way. Instead, we're only a couple of weeks removed from snow covering everything and the temperature is STILL dipping below freezing mid way through May!

Shot on my little hand-held camera, our faux trailer for GARAGE SALE was edited on Microsoft's crappy MovieMaker program (I don't recommend it). We have since upgraded to an Apple and will be making all of our future productions in Adobe Final Cut Pro. In the end, the basic features of the program somewhat benefited the look of our movie, since we were going for a dated, vintage look that was a throw-back to movies of the late 70's and early 80's. To help achieve this effect I used a red filter in many shots as well as an aging filter that put in film grain in post production.

But what really sells GARAGE SALE is the music. Set to the tune of 'Veiled Hunter' by the incomparable Midnight Syndicate, this song can be found on their album 'The 13th Hour.' We can't say enough about this band - and this trailer is just as much dedicated to them as it is to the slashers of our youth. We strongly encourage you to visit their website: www.midnightsyndicate.com to pick up your own copy of the album!

Well, mother nature aside, assembling the trailer for GARAGE SALE has been a great learning experience for me - and I tip my twisted psycho mask to all the filmmakers who are able to put together a full length feature film. It isn't easy! Anyway - I hope you enjoy watching GARAGE SALE as much as I enjoyed making it. It was made with a lot of respect and admiration for the horror genre and for Midnight Syndicate!

Stop on by...we're open for business!

http://www.driveinofthedead.com

Coming Soon

Gemini

Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Gemini Drive-In (10,746)
Originally uploaded by eleatherberry

The beautiful Gemini Drive-In in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Tex

Twin Ranch Drive-In Movie Theater, Cleveland, Texas 0804090901BW
Originally uploaded by accent on eclectic

Waiting for that show to start at the Twin Ranch Drive-In Movie in Cleveland, Texas. I wonder what plays on that ghost screen when the sun goes down?

Blood Red Sky

Drive-in
Originally uploaded by darrikk2002

A striking shot - no info on where this was taken.

Back Yard

Inaccessible Out of use Grove Drive-In theater movie screen
Originally uploaded by ⓣⓨⓁⓔⓡ～＊

Imagine having THIS view out your back window!

State Line

Tennessee, Elizabethton, State Line Drive-In Movie (10,713)
Originally uploaded by eleatherberry

The screen looks pretty rough at the State Line Drive-In in Elizabethton, TN - but 'Ratatouille' is a fairly recent movie, so maybe this old boy is still operational. Either way, that red and yellow 'arrow' sign is pretty amazing.