If you've heard of Cheezy Flicks Entertainment, then it should come as no surprise to you that Drive-in Massacre, a 1976 lo-budget horror flick filmed "entirely in bloodcurdling GORE-COLOR" isn't actually a good film.

In fact, it's a bad film. Drive-In Massacre was one of those films that carried those hilarious labels - Do you remember them? It read "Drive-In Massacre has been deemed by an independent film board to be too terrifying for viewing by the average theatre patron. For this reason, it is suggested that those of you with severe emotional disorders or chronic coronary dysfunction NOT see this movie. The risk is entirely yours."

I love that.

In Drive-In Massacre, a restless crowd and a cheezy double feature lead to two brutal killings at a drive-in. Detectives Koch (Bruce Kimball) and O'Leary (John Goff as Jake Barnes) manage to assemble a rather motley crew of suspects including the usual - a bigot, a voyeur, a janitor, the projectionist and, just to make sure we have one true psycho in the bunch, a deranged knife thrower.

Running a mere 69 minutes, Drive-In Massacre is being re-released in all its glory by those fantastic folks at Cheezy Flicks, purveyors of oldies, baddies and B-movies galore. While the film itself may be a baddie, it's packaging is not as Cheezy Flicks does a terrific job of cleaning up films and giving them packaging that is worth the cost of a film but also remains faithful to the cheezy spirit of the original production.

The film itself starts off gory and quite a bit of fun with quite a bit of potential for taking advantage of the drive-in setting, a setting that has always struck this film critic as the perfect setting for a horor flick or, for that matter, a cinematic serial killer. But, after the killings take place Drive-In Massacre settles down into more of a police procedural...admittedly, a quirky and offbeat police procedural. The ending? It may very well have been a tad shocking in 1976, though probably not since 1974 had given us the far more horrifying Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Still, just like the ole' Criterion Collection there are certain folks who simply adore low-budget and indie horror and will be excited beyond words at the quality packaging that Cheezy Flicks has given Drive-In Massacre. If this is you, then you most definitely will already know what to expect and won't be disappointed.

For more information, visit the Cheezy Flicks website!

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic