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:

Drive In Theater | Retrospective | Nostalgia | Movie Theater | Interview

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

Directed by
Jon Bokenkamp

Writing credits
Jon Bokenkamp		(writer) &
Tony Carenzo		(writer)

Produced by
Jon Bokenkamp	....	producer
Tony Carenzo	....	producer
Roni Eguia Menendez	....	associate producer (as Roni Eguia)
Henry Jan	....	producer

Cinematography by
Valerian Bennett

Film Editing by
Jon Bokenkamp
Roni Eguia Menendez		(as Roni Eguia)

Music Department
Adam Kay	....	music editor
Kurt Kuenne	....	composer: additional music

Production Companies

• Highway Twenty Productions
• Moonshadow Entertainment

Distributors

• Janson Media (2005) (USA) (DVD)

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 I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)

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.