Remembering drive-in movies

[KJJ]

For those who never experienced a movie at an old 1970s drive-in, especially in a small town, it was like being parked in a cow pasture in front of a towering screen with the smell of automotive exhaust filling the air. You could hear the ground crunching as you drove over what became a passion pit once it got dark and the movie started. It wasn’t uncommon to see someone pop out of a car trunk who was too cheap to pay the $1.25 admission. By the time I had a car the drive-in where I lived was attracting mostly teenagers and young adults who were more interested in drinking, socializing and making out than watching a movie. It was never about the movie for some. A date at the drive-in provided an excuse to bring along pillows, a blanket and even an air mattress. Most of the movies weren’t family friendly, resulting in a lot of kids being introduced to nudity in movies for the first time. Many were raunchy, low budget R-rated flicks with laughable titles like Invasion of the Blood Farmers and When Women had Tails. The good old days!

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I liked it because most had a double feature.
You sat through the "B" film first before getting to the feature presentation

On occasion the B movie would turn out better than the feature presentation.

I was still pretty young during that time so no drive in dates for me.

I also remember my cousin lived in a little housing area that was walking distance from the drive in
We would take a little radio and sit on the hill to watch the movie. They had the speakers you could put in your car windows but this one also set up so you could turn to a specific am station to get the audio

 

[dsturgeon]

I liked it because most had a double feature.
You sat through the "B" film first before getting to the feature presentation

On occasion the B movie would turn out better than the feature presentation.

I was still pretty young during that time so no drive in dates for me.

I also remember my cousin lived in a little housing area that was walking distance from the drive in
We would take a little radio and sit on the hill to watch the movie. They had the speakers you could put in your car windows but this one also set up so you could turn to a specific am station to get the audio

The pirating movie gateway drug. I am sure it led to a drawer full off recorded vhs movies, burned dvd binders, and pirated digital downloads

It is a tough habit to break

 

[Runwildboys]

I liked it because most had a double feature.
You sat through the "B" film first before getting to the feature presentation

On occasion the B movie would turn out better than the feature presentation.

I was still pretty young during that time so no drive in dates for me.

I also remember my cousin lived in a little housing area that was walking distance from the drive in
We would take a little radio and sit on the hill to watch the movie. They had the speakers you could put in your car windows but this one also set up so you could turn to a specific am station to get the audio

There's one near me with 3 different screens, so if you don't like the second movie, you can drive around to a different section to watch your choice of the other two. Hopefully, you don't miss much of the beginning of it.

 

[Roadtrip635]

When I was a kid my parents took me and a friend to the local Drive-In and watched "Fists of Fury". They had a little picnic area near the front with some speakers, me and my buddy hung out there mimicking all of Bruce Lee's moves it was pretty awesome.

 

[Runwildboys]

When I was a kid my parents took me and a friend to the local Drive-In and watched "Fists of Fury". They had a little picnic area near the front with some speakers, me and my buddy hung out there mimicking all of Bruce Lee's moves it was pretty awesome.

Ooh, that'd be a great drive-in movie!

 

[Roadtrip635]

Ooh, that'd be a great drive-in movie!

It was! Hooked on Bruce Lee after that, instead of playing "cowboys and indians" or "war" after that we played "Bruce Lee"....lol

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

When I went to grad school they had a drive in theater in San Luis Obispo. It was awesome. They upped their concession food game and kept the prices cheap. My wife would come and visit me on the weekend and we watched more than a few movies during my time there. I like the fact you simply tune in via the radio versus putting that old can in the window, lool.

 

[The Fonz]

missed those days i hardly watch the movies always busy playing around

 

[Corso]

For those who never experienced a movie at an old 1970s drive-in, especially in a small town, it was like being parked in a cow pasture in front of a towering screen with the smell of automotive exhaust filling the air. You could hear the ground crunching as you drove over what became a passion pit once it got dark and the movie started. It wasn’t uncommon to see someone pop out of a car trunk who was too cheap to pay the $1.25 admission. By the time I had a car the drive-in where I lived was attracting mostly teenagers and young adults who were more interested in drinking, socializing and making out than watching a movie. It was never about the movie for some. A date at the drive-in provided an excuse to bring along pillows, a blanket and even an air mattress. Most of the movies weren’t family friendly, resulting in a lot of kids being introduced to nudity in movies for the first time. Many were raunchy, low budget R-rated flicks with laughable titles like Invasion of the Blood Farmers and When Women had Tails. The good old days!

Dude. And I just changed my avi to Joe Bob Briggs...
You are a saint.

 

[Corso]

I liked it because most had a double feature.
You sat through the "B" film first before getting to the feature presentation

On occasion the B movie would turn out better than the feature presentation.

I was still pretty young during that time so no drive in dates for me.

I also remember my cousin lived in a little housing area that was walking distance from the drive in
We would take a little radio and sit on the hill to watch the movie. They had the speakers you could put in your car windows but this one also set up so you could turn to a specific am station to get the audio

My first Drive-In was Herpes Boy and I honestly questioned my life at that point.
At least I had a grin ear-to-ear when I did the questioning so there's that.

 

[Creeper]

I remember those cheap speaker boxes that you'd hang from your half open window. Some didn't work so you'd see people pull into a spot. try the speaker them pull out to find another spot. It was a ritual.

When my kids were younger we would dress the in their PJs and take them to a drive in. It was good to have them in our car where they couldn't disrupt the show for anyone else. Then they would fall asleep in the car on the way home and it was easy to get them down for the night when we got home. We saw ET with them in a drive in.

 

[KJJ]

I remember those cheap speaker boxes that you'd hang from your half open window. Some didn't work so you'd see people pull into a spot. try the speaker them pull out to find another spot. It was a ritual.

When my kids were younger we would dress the in their PJs and take them to a drive in. It was good to have them in our car where they couldn't disrupt the show for anyone else. Then they would fall asleep in the car on the way home and it was easy to get them down for the night when we got home. We saw ET with them in a drive in.

The audio on the speakers we had at our drive-in would sometimes sound like a transmission from outer space. My dad forgot to take the speaker out of the window once and started driving off and almost pulled it out of the ground. The entire drive-in parking lot was dirt and grass. When you walked to the concession area you would get stickers in your pants. It was literally a cow pasture with all humps and bumps.

 

[DallasEast]

The entire drive-in parking lot was dirt and grass.

That was what my local drive-in theater looked like. I was very nervous the first time I drove to it. I had just gotten my driver's license. There were no lines drawn for parking. My date told me, "Just park parallel to the other car beside that pole with a speaker, stupid."

I did feel stupid. I almost drove into the pole, lol.

 

[KJJ]

That was what my local drive-in theater looked like. I was very nervous the first time I drove to it. I had just gotten my driver's license. There were no lines drawn for parking. My date told me, "Just park parallel to the other car beside that pole with a speaker, stupid."

I did feel stupid. I almost drove into the pole, lol.

I grew up in a small rural area with less than 2000 people. Our drive-in was built in 1967. Everything was poorly constructed when it first opened and the movie screen almost fell down during one showing due to heavy winds. The stands the speakers were hooked on weren’t embedded into the ground very good and some were tipping over when people would pull on them, so they had to close the theater for a few weeks to smooth over some of the kinks. Some nights the picture quality was comparable to a Give-A- Show projector. Lol Rarely did they show a quality movie. I remember seeing this one when I was a teenager. It was a knock off of One million BC with Raquel Welch. They don’t make movies much worse than this.

 

[Rockport]

For those who never experienced a movie at an old 1970s drive-in, especially in a small town, it was like being parked in a cow pasture in front of a towering screen with the smell of automotive exhaust filling the air. You could hear the ground crunching as you drove over what became a passion pit once it got dark and the movie started. It wasn’t uncommon to see someone pop out of a car trunk who was too cheap to pay the $1.25 admission. By the time I had a car the drive-in where I lived was attracting mostly teenagers and young adults who were more interested in drinking, socializing and making out than watching a movie. It was never about the movie for some. A date at the drive-in provided an excuse to bring along pillows, a blanket and even an air mattress. Most of the movies weren’t family friendly, resulting in a lot of kids being introduced to nudity in movies for the first time. Many were raunchy, low budget R-rated flicks with laughable titles like Invasion of the Blood Farmers and When Women had Tails. The good old days!

That was me.

 

[darthseinfeld]

For those who never experienced a movie at an old 1970s drive-in, especially in a small town, it was like being parked in a cow pasture in front of a towering screen with the smell of automotive exhaust filling the air. You could hear the ground crunching as you drove over what became a passion pit once it got dark and the movie started. It wasn’t uncommon to see someone pop out of a car trunk who was too cheap to pay the $1.25 admission. By the time I had a car the drive-in where I lived was attracting mostly teenagers and young adults who were more interested in drinking, socializing and making out than watching a movie. It was never about the movie for some. A date at the drive-in provided an excuse to bring along pillows, a blanket and even an air mattress. Most of the movies weren’t family friendly, resulting in a lot of kids being introduced to nudity in movies for the first time. Many were raunchy, low budget R-rated flicks with laughable titles like Invasion of the Blood Farmers and When Women had Tails. The good old days!

We still have them here in WNY. Very popular actually

 

[DanteEXT]

We still have some here in my state. We went to DST some years ago, which sucks since it does not get dark until nearly 10 pm during summer. I haven't been in a while.

I remember going as a kid with my family. I remember seeing The Jungle Book in the late 70s and likely falling asleep during a Zorro movie starring Guy Williams (it might have been the same night, I am not sure). I only remember the Zorro thing because I recognized him as Professor John Robinson of Lost in Space.

 

[Runwildboys]

One thing that sucked about the experience was the bathroom trough. You had to be desperate to walk all the way to the concession stand, trying to watch the movie and hear it from different speakers as you went along, then get inside and stand between other guys to pee, with no dividers.

 

[JIMMYBUFFETT]

My wife's family is from Lamesa TX. home of the Sky-Vue Drive-In from 1948-2015 when a kitchen fire permanently closed them down. While I enjoyed an occasional movie there, the snack bar was where it was at. This place was so amazing they even had a patent on one of their dishes called a Chihuahua. It was two tostada shells with pimento cheese smeared across one then topped with a chili like meat sauce, chopped cabbage, and topped with the second tostada shell. We'd go when we were in town to get those and the jalapeno corn fritters and skip the movie.

When I was growing up I lived right behind a Drive-In. You could clearly see the screen from both our living room and my parent's bedroom. I can remember seeing my first naked chick watching Brooke Shields in The Blue Lagoon when I was 7 years old. The Urban Cowboy, The Shining, Flash Gordon, Any Which Way You Can, and Return To The 36th Chamber were all movies I remember silently watching peeking through the blinds when my parents weren't watching.