After Sunset: The Life & Times of the Drive-In Theater (1995) (V)

Director:

Jon Bokenkamp

Writers:

Jon Bokenkamp (writer) &
Tony Carenzo (writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A video documentary/road trip that celebrates the drive-in movie theater's impact on the United States...

Plot Keywords:

Americana | Drive In Theater | Movie Theater | Interview | History

Cast

Jon Bokenkamp	...	Himself / Narrator
Matt Kenagy	...	Himself
Valerian Bennett	...	Himself
Tony Carenzo	...	Himself
John Carpenter	...	Himself
John Bloom	...	Himself / Joe Bob Briggs (as Joe Bob Briggs)
Michael Wallis	...	Himself
Samuel Z. Arkoff	...	Himself
Bob Simpson	...	Himself

Runtime:

45 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Amarillo, Texas, USA

Company:

Highway Twenty Productions

Movie Connections:

References Black Beauty (1946)

Less Road Trip, More Drive-In please!

From this documentary's title you expect a history of the drive-in theatre. You just get a little bit of that, mostly old drive in pictures that I am sure they got off of John (Joe Bob Briggs) Bloom's office walls. A few interviews with drive-in owners flesh out what it must be like to run a modern drive-in. John Carpenter is interviewed although by the time his career began the heyday of the drive-in was already passed, so why is here there? They would have done much better interviewing AIP's Samuel Z. Arkoff, film auteur David Friedman or Pop historian Johnny Legend. I have to conclude that the interview they got ( beside perhaps John Bloom ) were with people they knew or had easy connections with. They claim to have been on this 4000+ mile road trip looking for drive-ins. I have to ask where is the movie that accounts for all that mileage? They should have found a lot more interesting people beside gnarly gas station attendants and taking a break to watch one of the film-maker try to eat a 4lb steak. In a short movie like this, this kind of stuff takes up way too much valuable time. The film-makers would have come off looking better if they had attempted to simply make a movie about Roadside Attractions or Route 66, with Drive-ins as a sidenote. As it is, you are bound to be disappointed by scenes of abandoned drive-ins and college boys driving around with a jerky camera. There are over 900 operating drive-ins in the US, a better movie could have been made. Recommended if you are into the Drive-In subculture, but do not expect much.