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Sunday, August 27, 2006
Just a short while ago, my family and I got back from a trip to the drive in. We drove about 200 miles to get there. Though I'm a lifelong drive in theater afficionado, it had been nearly twenty years since I've been to one. There are none very close to where we live.
The drive was nice and we arrived several hours early. We checked in to our prepaid room (Expedia) and my wife Tanya took our daughters, Europa and India, for a swim at the motor lodge pool while I showered and rested up with a book. The gates to the drive in open two hours before the show began, and we got there a half an hour before that. The owner took our money and let us in.
Allow me to backtrack for a minute or two. The Starlight Drive-In, in Durham, NC, was built approximately 40 years ago. It had its ups and downs, but managed to survive the bust that took most of the drive in theaters with it. Then a few years ago, the screen burned down and it looked like the end. However, the community and the owner managed to get a new screen erected last year and it is back in operation, to a newly appreciative audience.
Of course I was the first one in. I'm obsessive that way. We chose the spot that looked the best and we all explored the place. It's gorgeous, as these things go and the screen is in immaculate condition, of course.
As the cars began to arrive, I felt an overwhelming sense of community there. Everyone seemed to have genuine smiles on their faces and it seemed as if magic was in the air. More than magic...perhaps spirituality.
You can laugh, but I'm 100% serious. I'm not a religious person, but I've always felt that the drive in was a hallowed ground. Other than kneeling at the alter of the printed word, it is the closest equivalent to church that I've ever gone to. If there is a reward after this life of suffering, I hope that mine is at an eternal drive in, where the beer is always cold, the friends are warm and plentiful and the movies run nonstop.
It really did feel like a brother and sisterhood there. Just across from us two bluegrass musicians supplied entertainment with a guitar and fiddle (while their lady friend did a clog dance on a piece of plywood). A large group of students had a picnic, with tons of food and coolers filled with beer. People brought their dates, their dogs, their kids and everyone had a wonderful time.
The snack bar was kind of unique. It doubled as a gun and ammunition shop! Yes, along with the handmade burgers and hot dogs and popcorn and stuff, you could purchase weaponry. That's not a bad idea, especially seeing as how Talledega Nights is playing there next week. That movie and its star would be perfect for target practice.
The kids had fun at the playground and even our 14 year old Europa, who normally is too worldly and sophisticated for such things, yelled and played and ran around.
The movie. Snakes on a Plane and I gotta tell you that I loved it. Sure, it's stupid and the dialogue is cliched, the characters are stereotypes and the situations are ridiculously contrived. But it is stupid in a fun sort of way and it owes a huge debt to people like William Castle, Roger Corman, Bert I. Gordon and Samuel Z. Arkoff. We all laughed at the right places and rooted for the good guys and audience members cheered when Samuel Jackson said the classic line, "I am sick and tired of these MOTHERFUCKING SNAKES on this MOTHERFUCKING PLANE!".
It was a perfect night and I'm glad that my friend (and the excellent writer) Mark Rainey and his wife made the trip and we discussed exploitation films as we waited for the show to begin.
I drove home both happy and sad. The experience was perfect, yes, but I wish I could be like the people that were there last night. I had the impression that most were Starlight regulars. I'd be there every damned week if I lived nearby. We plan to go back, maybe in October. Horror movies are usually making the rounds then and it should be delightfully cool on such a night. The perfect ambiance for a horror show.
Magic? Spiritual? Religious? Maybe that's a big stretch for many of you, but I mean it. There really is something special about being out there and watching that huge screen. In the company of all those cars and friendly strangers.
If there is a drive in theater near you and you don't support it, shame on you. It doesn't matter that they play the same crap that the other theaters play. It's different out there, under the stars. If you attend on a regular basis, I bet you'll start to see the same faces and you'll start to get to know the people that frequent it. It's kind of hard not to, especially when you have kids and they play together.
In the end, The Starlight is wonderful place and if you live near it, please go when you can. I spoke to the owner and while business is good, progress is inevitable. It might not be such a long time before he'll have no choice but to cave in to developers' offers. Offers like that tend to become demands. Good old progress.
Just about everyone I talk to around here in Hampton Roads misses the drive ins. Yet attendance was sparce at the end before they closed down. People wanted to stay home and watch movies on their VCRs. Home video is great, but nothing can and ever will compare to pulling up on that gravelly surface and parking the car and settling back to experience the magic in the open night air.
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Friday, August 25, 2006
The Twilight Zone means a lot of things to a lot of people. Many equate the name with some of the best televised drama and fantasy to ever grace the small screen. Others think of it as a showcase for boogeyman Rod Serling. Still others consider the show an ivory tower of California Sorcerers like Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, etc. Then there are those that fondly recall the 1980's revival of the show. These are all fine sentiments.
Me, I think of The Twilight Zone and one thing comes first and foremost in my mind. The magazine of the same name as the classic show, which ran in the 1980's. I loved that zine with all my heart and I learned so much about the genre from editor T.E.D. Klein and later Tappan King. As well as the diverse writers whose words graced the pages.
Today I was in a comic book shop and I found three issues of Night Cry Magazine for sale at an obscenely low price. I'm sure that I own them somewhere, but I picked them up anyway and I've been reading through them. The ones I got were the Spring, Summer and Fall issues from 1986.
How can I convey the love, the passion, the thrill I had from being a fan in those days? I loved that period of horror writing better than any other. I had been a science fiction fan for ages, but in the previous few years I had gradually been switching gears to become a full fledged horror fanatic.
It was a great time in my own life as well. After years of being ridiculously impoverished, I had a place of my own, even if I still couldn't afford a car. There was a mall across the street and the B. Dalton carried Twilight Zone and Night Cry, as well as others I dug like The Horror Show. There were also two theaters with 8 choices of movies to see at any given time. It was a wonderful time to be a horror movie fan too. Things like The Fly, The LOST Boys, Night of the Creeps, Evil Dead 2 and many, many others were coming out all the time, and they showcased traditional special makeup effects. I'll always love the movies of these period for that; even the ones that aren't all that great.
The Twilight Zone covered film and fiction, as well as interviews, news and reviews in more or less equal parts. I discovered so many new talents back then in its pages. Skipp and Spector were riding high, and rightly so. They (among others) took the field by storm and went to places few dreamed about before that. Others in the list included David Schow, Ray Garton, Joe Lansdale, Chet Williamson and Richard Christian Matheson. It was great the way these upstarts shared space with established pros like Robert Bloch and Ray Russell. Something for every taste.
The issues of Night Cry I got today brought back such a flood of memories. Remember Thomas E. Sanders AKA: Nippawanock? To tell you the truth, I do now, but I had forgotten him. A young guy named Gary A. Braunbeck was in the Fall 1986 issue of Night Cry. So was Bloch, A.R. Morlan, Dean Koontz, John Maclay and Avram Davidson. J.K. Potter supplied the stunning art. The other issues had fiction by William F. Nolan, Jay Sheckley, Richard Wilson, Ray Russell, J.N. Williamson and of course, Skipp, Spector and Schow.
One night in 1989 I was at a party. We all indulged a bit too much and I honestly didn't have a lot of fun. Everyone flopped on the floor and I woke early, feeling lonely and depressed. I thought about how I didn't have a hell of a lot in common with most of the people I knew and that I was spending too much time out and not even having much of a good time. I came home the next day and, still hungover, I walked to the mall. There was the new issue of Twilight Zone and I happily grabbed it. The cover featured a sinister clown's face on it and it had a Charles Beaumont story in it. I read it and felt so much at home in its pages. I felt that I really wasn't all that alone in this world. There really were people like me out there and I wasn't really that much of a misfit. I couldn't wait for the next issue and you know what? It never came. That June 1989 issue sat on the shelf for about 6 months and it finally disappeared. The Twilight Zone Magazine had folded and I had no idea that it was coming.
I got over it. Most of us tend to persevere. But I missed it acutely then as I do now. The horror genre has gone in some incredible places since then. It hit heights and depths in the 90's and beyond that few imagined when Twilight Zone and Night Cry were being published. I never dreamed that I'd actually get to know many of the field's brightest talents and that I would have a miniscule influence on it. I was content to be a fan and I miss those days with all my heart. I grow melancholy at times, such as today when I read those old copies of Night Cry, but life is change and we can't ever go back. That's okay, I still have my memories and my old books and magazines and you know what? There are still a lot of exciting things going down in horror today and I have no doubt, in the future.
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Sunday, August 13, 2006
I've only been back from Horrorfind '06 for a few hours. It was, as always, a great time. I'd like to name everyone that I hung out with, but I just know that I'd miss a few and besides, it would take up all my server space.
I come from a family that really isn't all that close. I've been a loner most of my life and though I have had a great many friends that I care about, I'm not an especially social person. I see people at work and some old friends now and then, but it's all too rare these days. The word, community, has always been just a word. Family has meant my own wife and children.
The people in the horror fiction community...the writers, the readers, the artists, the publishers...these people are all too imperfect. Not a one of us is without fault and the plain fact is, we can get on each other's nerves at times. I called it a community, but family is really a lot more accurate. Never in my life prior to the last few years have I really felt like I was a part of something larger than myself. It all started, for me, with The Gorezone Book Forum, but it intensified at Shocklines. Some people in the community/family are obviously closer than others and we all damned sure do not agree on politics or anything else, but there is such a sense of fellowship, a bond that we all share something that is bigger and more consuming than any mere hobby. This (the horror genre) is what we are. It's like a religion. In the vast majority of cases, we accept one another and we forgive each others' shortcomings and the mistakes we make. The stuff that makes us human.
Being at Horrorfind '06 was overwhelming. So many friends. So many honestly kind faces. So many good souls. Crazy, sure, but wonderfully so. As I said before, I'm not all that much of a social person and it really began to overwhelm me. Tanya, India and I took off rather early this morning, with no farewells. I've never been much good at goodbyes, but I already miss everyone desperately.
I said that I couldn't name everyone and I can't, but I feel that I have to make a few call-outs.
Tom Monteleone. Thomas F. Monteleone, or perhaps just Padrone. A few relatively short years and I go from a fan of the man's work to a friend, and on to something more. Brothers. Tom is a brilliant man and a genuinely warm and decent human being.
Matt and Deena Warner threw an awesome party last night, in honor of the release of Matt's new novel, Eyes Everywhere. Folks, if you love great fiction, buy this motherfucker. And like Tom, Matt and Deena are among the best friends I've ever had. You simply won't find better people anywhere. But when cretins from upstairs crashed the party, things went downhill. It was pretty funny and surreal though and several of us got a lot of laughs out of watching imbeciles go nuts.
http://www.horrordrive-in.com/serendipity/index.php?/archives/29-Eyes-Everywhere,-by-Matthew-Warner.html
You movie fans know of Synapse Films, right? I partied down with the guys that run it and they do the best movie transfers out there. At enormous cost they painstakingly restore movies to the most pristine prints imaginable. They carry a little something for everyone and if you love, care about film preservation, you need to support these people. I like most of the distributors out there, but too many drop movies on us that look and sound like shit. Plus, these guys are huge horror fiction fanatics. Who knew?
http://www.synapse-films.com
Jimster51 aka: Jim Marshall. This guy is an astounding human being and he brings big boxes of great books to the con and gives them away! And I'm not talkin' about recent used Leisure paperbacks either. I got some choice Ray Russell books from the man and even a treasure called Red Skelton's Favorite Ghost Stories. Jim is insanely kind and well-read. With dozens of stories about famed SF/Horror writers at his disposal. Thanks man. You really are the best.
God, I could go on and on. Beth and Sarah, Al (a dark fascination) and Blooky Blook, Jim Moore (whose bear hugs come dangerously close to breaking bones), Nick Grabowski, Paul Melniczek, Steve Lukac and Drew Williams (who were EVERYWHERE, all the time), My pals Val and Diane, Bill Carl, KelliWithAnI (also with the nicest smile at the convention), Norman Prentiss, Catwoman, Fran Friel (just about the NICEST person I met this weekend), Richard Chizmar, Brian Freeman, Brian Keene (we are ALL his puppets) and his lovely wife Cassie, Andre Duza (who I saw for only a few moments. Andre, if you read this, I wanna talk MOVIES!), Allen Richards/b-independent (one of my oldest and best friends), Mark Rainey and his beautiful daughter (glad that we all got to know her better this year!), MATT SCHWARTZ!!!!!, John Skipp (the coolest and happiest guy in the genre. bar fucking NONE), Erik and Laurie Alk (Love you guys!), Ron Dickie, My Man Mark Justice, TomoJoe, Nanci K and her absent husband (sorry he couldn't make it!), Meghan Fatras, Brian Hatcher, Mike Laimo, Jesus Gonzalez, John Urbancik, m.j.euringer and of course, Nikki.
And an extra special thanks and an I'm Sorry to Petra and her husband (whose name escapes me, but he was really nice). I meant to entertain you and introduce you to more people, but everything was always happening at once. See you next year?
I'm forgetting a bunch of people. I know. In ten minutes I'll think of some of my best friends. I really am very tired.
The con. It seems like attendance was down this year. I hope it doesn't fall apart. This con is good for all of us. Movie fans are often reminded that there are books out there and they buy things at the dealer's room when they normally might not. I think part of the problem might be with the guests. It seems like (mostly) the usual suspects. Romero is GREAT, but he's been there before. Same with Lumley. New blood could only help.
Oh and about the readings. Everyone please accept my apologies, but I really hate readings. It's not my thing and I feel trapped sitting there. I normally love to see Monteleone's but we really had to get on the road early today.
And man, the drinking. Endless beers and drinks and parties. I had a world class hangover on Saturday and even though I slept til Noon, I was in bad shape and had to go back to the room and rest. The hotel is huge too and walking back and forth to the room was murder. I must have done it fifty times this weekend and I feel every one.
I want to offer a huge thanks to everyone. My friends, the attendees (who were almost all wonderful people), the hotel staff and the Horrorfind team. It's a great show and I wouldn't miss it for anything.
Oh, one more thing. So many people had so many nice things to say about Horror Drive-In and I cannot thank them enough for that. ALL of the credit to the look and design of the site goes to Deena Warner. If you like this site and are thinking af starting your own up, please consider obtaining her services.
http://www.deenawarner.net/
As for the written content here, all the blame falls on my own shoulders.
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Wednesday, August 09, 2006
I'm not that old. Yes, I was born in 1961 and it's a pretty sure bet that I've lived more than I'll have yet to live in my life. I don't think I'm over the hill yet. But I find myself being offended by most newer comedies that are intended for young people. Like any other old fart, I go on about the good old days, when quality went into movies.
For me, way too many comedies from the last decade or so rely way too much on over the top sexual situations, endless grossout situations and characters that are stereotypes. I call it going the cheap route. Forget character and drama and human emotion, give 'em a gag a minute. That said, I enjoy the first three American Pie films, even though they go the low road of sickening situations and ridiculously exaggerated sexual exploits. At least the creators of these movies attempted to give us real characters, with a minimum of depth and individuality. They aren't classics, but I enjoy them.
Last night I watched an example of everything that doesn't work for me in a comedy. Broken Lizard's Club Dread is a slasher parody that takes place on a tropical paradise of an island. Nonstop hijinks occur. You know the drill by now: Unbelievably obnoxious characters, ridiculous cultural stereotypes and desperate attempts to get a laugh in every single frame of the film. So much so that I found it tiresome to sit through. I'll admit that Bill Paxton (one of my favorite actors) was funny as a Jimmy Buffet-inspired aging rocker, but that shtick grew old rather quickly. The gore scenes were actually pretty good, especially one wince-inducing moment when an oversexed camper reaches for something to hold onto at the edge of a cliff and she grabs a knife. Her hand slides down it as she falls to her doom. Ouch.
Yes, I'm a fan of slasher films and I do realize that most of them are fairly weak in the character department. But the betters ones at least portray young people in a somewhat realistic fashion. How can you give a shit when some obnoxious prick or an airheaded bimbo gets greased?
Does the problem lie within myself? Am I too old and uncool to get the new types of youthful comedy? Maybe. However, I look back at movies I loved and continue to love today. Meatballs for instance. Yes, it's a juvenile camp movie, with sex jokes galore. Yet Meatballs has a lot of good things in it. The real themes are friendship, perseverance and a sense of fair play. It also demonstrates the importance of making sure there is fun and lunacy in our lives. Or the classic John Hughes movies. But I've gone into my love of those movies before here at the Drive In.
I was a bit disturbed about the notion that I was getting out of touch. I mean, I love John Waters and all manner of trashy flicks. But that's old school stuff. Is it even relevant today?
Then I thought back some more. I remembered some movies from my generation that I absolutely abhorred. Tripe like Airplane! and Police Academy display the same kind of throw-in-everything-including-the-kitchen-sink techniques that Club Dread and its ilk use. I guess those movies were prototypes of things to come.
In my opinion, comedy is much more effective if the viewer has time to relax between the jokes. Trying to exhaust us into laughing every second ruins the effect. Things are funnier when they are derived from real life, not from some gross exaggeration of reality.
When I think that I might be getting over the hill, I remind myself that I like Eli Roth movies and if that's not a sign of immaturity, I don't know what is.
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