Hello and welcome to Horror Drive-In. Yes, another horror related website. Just what the world needs, eh?
I hope to do something slightly different here. I want to focus on horror fiction, yes, but also film. With an emphasis on independent productions. It?s an exciting time for burgeoning filmmakers. Digital technology has made it possible for anyone with a computer and appropriate software to edit and get a movie on DVD. Sturgeon?s Law will apply, as always, but the gems that can be found are often worth the search.
Back after the so-called horror fiction boom went bust, a lot of readers were upset and many went to other genres. However, some did something different. When the mass market publishers turned their backs on us, they took matters into their own hands. Small press publishers began popping up. It was a shaky start for some and many bit the dust along the way. Yet, the ones that provided good service and used smart judgment in what they published have flourished.
Horror films are big again. Tickets are selling and seats in theaters are filling up. Yet the true fans of horror are largely disappointed (to say the least) by the majority of the films that were released. For the most part, they are too slickly produced and had generic actors in ridiculously contrived situations. The gore factor is usually compromised as well.
Wait?in the old days, when splatter fans rejoiced over movies like Friday the 13th and its many sequels and imitations, there were generic actors. Ridiculously contrived situations. Shitty effects. What?s the difference?
There is a big difference, I think. Big budgets ruined the charm (if you can call it that) of horror films. There?s something pleasing about watching a low budget horror movie. It takes me back to simpler days. Me and a car full of buds packed in with a case or two of beer at the drive in. I?m old enough to have been there for the tail end of the great drive in era in America. It was a magic time and it?s difficult to accurately describe it to younger folks. I spent many of the happiest hours of my late youth in outdoor theaters and I never had a bad time. Oh, we saw plenty of bad movies, but the spirit of the drive in made it all not only worthwhile, but almost?magic.
Yes, there are still drive in theaters and God bless every owner that struggles to keep them alive. They are the exception rather than the rule these days, and they are no longer the forbidden passion pits of old. Today?s drive ins generally bring in the family crowds. But they are there, hulking cathedrals that honor the gods of car chases. Buxom women. Deranged lunatics. Scaly monsters with zippers down the back. Juvenile delinquents. Dope, booze and bad girls. The Holy Communion is too-sweet soda pop and salty popcorn. Bad pizza and soggy cabbage rolls. Blistering hot dogs and overpriced candy. I miss it with all my heart.
Getting back to horror movies past and present, there has generally been one prevailing criticism about them. The writing. A decent script can make a modestly budgeted motion picture into a minor classic. As I said, there are a lot of indie filmmakers out there and while many of them have a good eye for photography and a feel for working their performers, they are not writers. Not really. One thing I hope to do is try to keep a balance of features about fiction writers and indie filmmakers and draw them both to the forum.. Hollywood has failed us. Just the way New York publishers failed us years ago. There are dozens of writers out there with a lot of good material and there are independent filmmakers out there looking for projects to make. There may not be a lot of money in these kinds of productions, but what writer doesn?t want to see his or her work on a screen? There have been some low budget movies made from horror novels and stories. King has his many dollar babies out there and there was a so-so, but well-intended movie made from F. Paul Wilson?s Midnight Mass. Lee?s Header. Kealan Patrick Burke and Harry Shannon are involved in small movie productions. At present I?ve seen no episodes of Masters of Horror, but the feedback I?ve gotten has been mixed, at best. At least some real writers from within the genre have been involved. Horror?s biggest hope at the movies is currently Richard Chizmar?s Chesapeake Films. It?s not enough. Maybe the genre can start to go off into a different direction with more low/no budget filmmakers doing projects from our favorite writers. The time is now. The future is here. What are we waiting for?
—Mark Sieber
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