After Sunset: The Life & Times of the Drive-In Theater

Twisted

September 2016 •English

In Thorold, Ontario in the summer of 1996, a movie legend was made when a real-life tornado hit a drive-in theatre during a screening of Twister. But how much truth really lies inside this tale of life (or weather) imitating art?

The Broken Altar

March 2013 •English

[19:30 | 35mm (1.85) | Stereo Sound | 2013] The Broken Altar is a portrait of open-air theaters documented under the strange light of day, emptied of the once present hum of human voices, radioed-in soundtracks and tires on gravel. Scripting the landscape and exploring the residue of a cinematic history, The Broken Altar forms a sculptural treatment of the architectural artifacts of these abandoned and barren spaces: speaker boxes rise from tall grass like grave markers and the screens themselves are monumental, sepulchral in their peeling whiteness.

At the Drive-In

October 2017 •English

Unable to purchase a $50,000 digital projector, a group of film fanatics in rural Pennsylvania fight to keep a dying drive-in theater alive by screening only vintage 35mm film prints and working entirely for free.

Back to the Drive-in

August 2022 •English

A feature-length documentary that goes behind the scenes to get to know the families who own and operate drive-in theaters.

Drive In Movie Intermission Ads - Volume One

January 2016 •English

A collection of Drive In Movie Intermission ads from the 1950's - 1960's.

Pandemic Tour Belako

September 2021 •Spanish

Under the Stars

October 2022 •French

Paying tribute to some of America's only surviving drive-ins – and those who keep them running – this heartfelt documentary captures efforts to preserve these nostalgic theaters in small-towns across the country.

Vineland

October 2009 •English

A short experimental documentary is filmed at the last drive-in movie theater in Los Angeles, located in a desolate area called the City of Industry. Floating within a backdrop of smokestacks, beacon towers and passing trains, dislocated Hollywood images filled with apocalyptic angst are re-framed and reflected through car windows and mirrors as the displacement of the radio broadcast soundtrack collides with the projections upon and surrounding the multiple screens. In VINELAND, the nocturnal landscape is seen as a border zone aglow with dreamlike illusions revealing overlapping realities at the intersection of nostalgia and alienation.

Drive-In Movie Memories

August 2001 •English

A nostalgic, informative history of drive-in movie theaters, featuring extensive archival photographs and interviews with Leonard Maltin, John Bloom, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Barry Corbin and many others... Drive-In Movie Memories is a film celebration of America's greatest icon of youth, freedom and the automobile. What began as an auto parts owner's business venture to make some easy money accidentally became a magical place where romance, fun and a sense of community flourished. This film chronicles the drive-in's birth and development, its phenomenal popularity with audiences of all ages, its tragic decline, and its inevitable comeback as a classic form of Americana.

Dead of Night

August 1974 •English

Grief-stricken suburban parents refuse to accept the news that their son Andy has been killed in Vietnam, but when he returns home soon after, something may be horribly wrong.

Almost Twenty

November 2021 •English

A young woman passes an emotional night in the city.

Drive In

March 2024 •Italian

Nightmare at Shadow Woods

March 1987 •English

Twins Todd and Terry seem like sweet boys -- that is, until one of them takes an axe to the face of a fellow patron at the local drive-in.

Bikini Drive-In

April 1995 •English

Kim Taylor inherits her grandfather's drive-in theatre. She must raise $25,000 over one weekend or the bank will take the property from her. She also has to deal with pesky capitalist J.B. Winston.

Fantasm Comes Again

December 1977 •English

Libbie is assigned to her paper's sexual advice column, "Dear Collete". She is taking over the job of Harry a crusty old journalist who shows her the pro's and cons of the job while running on a tight deadline to get the column finished for the morning's paper. During the course of the evening they reply to a wide variety of sexual experiences submitted by the readers, some these include, sex in a threesome at a drive-in theatre, sex in a gymnasium, and sex in a library where the "Silence Please" sign gives the male librarian an advantage over the female readers.

Drive-In Massacre

December 1976 •English

Two police detectives try to catch a serial killer who is stalking a rural California drive-in theater, randomly killing people with a sword.

Targets

August 1968 •English

An aging horror-movie icon's fate intersects with that of a seemingly ordinary young man on a psychotic shooting spree around Los Angeles.

Weirdsville

October 2007 •English

A pair of slackers get in way over their heads when they try to dump the body of a dead girlfriend in the basement of a drive-in movie theater where a satanic cult performs ritual sacrifices.

The Day After Halloween

August 2022 •English

Two lifelong buddies must unravel the circumstances that led to a corpse in their bathtub in the wake of a Halloween party.

Dead End Drive-In

August 1986 •English

In the future, a health nut and his tag-along girlfriend become trapped in a drive-in theater that has become a concentration camp for outcast youths.