American Drive-In (1985) Patel/Shah Film Company/Comedy RT: 92 minutes Rated R (sexual material, nudity, language, drug references, alcohol use) Director: Krishna Shah Screenplay: Krishna Shah and David Ball Music: Paul Sabu Cinematography: Steve Posey Release date: N/A Cast: Emily Longstreth, Pat Kirton, Rhonda Snow, Joel Bennett, John Rice, Allison Heath, Mika, Kevin Miller, Bernie White, Larry Cortinas, Flip Kobler, K.C. Hackman, Danny Nucci, Misty Hall, Buck Carter, Tsutomu Carton, David Donham, Joseph Miletti, Ellen Albertini Dow, Caroline Davis, Joe Marno, Annette Hammes, Billie Jenkins, Deke Anderson, Phil Fondacaro (as “H.G. Golas”), Ingrid Oliu, Jan Rabson, Darren Lance, Alicia Lawhorn, Donna Carelli, Robert Pettersen, V.C. Dupree, Kevin Carr, Deborah Rose. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ***
FULL DISCLOSURE: I don’t know most of the actors in the comedy American Drive-In or the characters they played. I’ll name who I can but that’s all I can promise. Thank you for understanding.
I never heard of American Drive-In until I picked it up at a used DVD store from the bargain shelf about 12 years ago. It sat on my shelf collecting dust until I decided to include it in this week’s grindhouse package. I figured it would be fun to include a cheap teen T&A comedy in the bunch. Well, it’s not exactly a T&A movie in the sense that The Beach Girls or Screwballs is. It’s more like Get Crazy. There’s some T&A to be found but American Drive-In has more than sex on its mind. Also, not all of the characters are teens as you are about to find out. As for it being funny, it is to a point. I’ll circle back to that.
The action takes place over a single summer evening at the City Limits Drive-In Theater. The main characters are Bobbie Ann (Longstreth, Pretty in Pink) and Jack (Kirton), a young couple in love. He’s her “City Boy”; she’s his “Country Girl”. Tonight’s the night he plans to propose to her. Unfortunately, she doesn’t react the way he hoped. It causes a great deal of tension between them. On top of that, a local tough named Sarge (Bennett, Escape from New York) sets his sights on her. He and his gang of hoods spend the night giving the couple a hard time.
That’s as much plot as you’ll get in American Drive-In. That and the subplot about a local politician (Rice) using his two teenage children to try and bust a drug ring supposedly operating out of the theater. The rest of it centers on the crazies who show up to watch a double feature of Hard Rock Zombies 1 & 2. Here they are in no particular order: a young guy trying to make his girlfriend go down on him, a movie nerd critiquing the movie while ignoring his girlfriend’s advances, a trio of troublemaking preteens on bikes, two old ladies (one hard of hearing, of course) who don’t understand the movie, a dirty old man watching a couple have sex in the next car, a prostitute operating out of a trailer, a dork who’s seen the movie so many times he can quote the dialogue verbatim, a tech geek messing with the sound system, a fat family with a huge table of food, a gay couple and one of the stars of Hard Rock Zombies- i.e. Phil Fondacaro- enjoying his own performance a little too much. Throw in a drunken projectionist and you have a recipe for a fun night at the movies.
HOLD ON A MINUTE! Although it may sound like American Drive-In is all laughs and giggles, I should tell you it’s NOT. Remember when I mentioned the gang of hoods giving Bobbie Ann and Jack a hard time? It goes beyond crude remarks and rude behavior. When Jack walks off after an argument, the creeps grab Bobbie Ann and try to rape her in a secluded area. When Jack tries to save her, they beat him severely enough to put him in the ER. Bobbie Ann comes back to the theater with a gun and threatens her assailants. She holds them at gunpoint while the other customers look on in approval. She makes them fight each other to get out of the line of fire. Last one in her sights is the loser. While it’s gratifying to see rapists get what’s coming to them, it feels out of place in American Drive-In and it leaves a slightly sour aftertaste. It’s the only wrong note in an otherwise enjoyable little movie.
American Drive-In, a Turkish production directed by the late Krishna Shah, never played in theaters. It didn’t play on cable either, at least not that I know of. I think I would have seen it. In the 80s, I was a teenager without a social life; I watched a lot of late night movies on cable. I’m sure Cinemax would have showed it regularly during the summer months and I probably would have watched every time. If you take away the unsavory element (i.e. the rape), it’s a perfectly functional little comedy. It has a good many funny bits like when the tech geek replaces the movie’s soundtrack with live audio of the politician’s daughter having sex with her boyfriend. BTW, the geek is played by a young V.C. Dupree who would go on to have his block literally knocked off in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. One of the old ladies is Rapping Granny from The Wedding Singer. In addition, it bears mentioning that Shah also directed Hard Rock Zombies. Talk about self-promotion, right?
American Drive-In also features a multiple car collision, the result of a vindictive prank on Sarge’s gang by the preteens, and plenty of gory scenes from the feature attractions. The diminutive Fondacaro seems to be having fun goofing on his persona. Longstreth is easy enough on the eyes. There’s no point is saying anything about the acting. What you see is what you get. I will say that American Drive-In has a nostalgic feel. Drive-in movies used to be a hub of activity. Now it’s a relic of the past. It’s nice to revisit it. This is why I like American Drive-In. If you can find it, check it out.
