Drive-In Theater: Difference between revisions

'''The Fall:''' Drive-ins gradually declined for a number of reasons. The real estate they used became too valuable to "waste" on a business which could operate for only a few hours a day, a few months a year, and even then was subject to bad weather. Meanwhile, audiences began turning to cable TV and [[Home Video Tropes|home video]] for their movie fix, or hitting up the then-new concept of the multiplex theater. Some drive-ins responded by changing their emphasis from family fare to the [[Darker and Edgier|increasingly violent and sexually explicit]] exploitation and [[Horror Tropes|horror]] films that were, ironically, the successors to the 1950s [[B-Movie|B Movies]]. (A few drive-ins even showed outright pornography.) Another common tactic was for drive-ins to add multiple screens. Some rented their land during the day to other businesses, such as flea markets—or managed such businesses themselves. Especially in urban areas, the vast expanses of land necessary for a drive-in became too expensive to maintain, and the land was sold for redevelopment because it just wasn't financially feasible to keep it open. Therefore, many drive-ins were forced to close between [[The Seventies]] and the [[Turn of the Millennium]]. In many cases, the land was even turned over to build a shiny new multiplex theater. It seemed that the drive-in was headed for extinction—or was it?

 

 

During [[intermission]]s, drive-ins traditionally show [[Advertising Tropes|advertisements]] for the snack bar, as well as [[Public Service Announcement|public service announcements]], ads for local merchants, safety messages and reminders of when the next movie is going to start ("10 minutes to showtime!"). These peppy, often animated ads have a following of their own; many are available on DVD compilations and in the Internet Archive's [http://www.archive.org/details/DriveInMovieAds Moving Image Archive].

 

{{examples}}

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* ''[[Tales Of The Starlight Drive In]]'', an award-winning graphic novel written by Michael Sangiacomo, is an anthology of stories set at a single drive-in over 53 years.

* An issue of ''[[Hsu and Chan]]'' had the characters head off to a drive-in and getting caught up in a money making scheme of an old movie anniversary.

 

== Film ==

* A character is forced to watch the deaths of his friends in a decayed drive-in in ''The Nightmares on Elm Street: Freddy Krueger's Seven Sweetest Dreams'' story "Asleep at the Wheel".

 

* One of these appeared in an episode of ''[[The Adventures of Pete and Pete]]'' where older Pete and {{spoiler|Ellen}} go on a date.

* The bad guys on ''[[Chuck]]'' had their base in an old drive-in.

* The ''[[Mission: Impossible (TV series)||Mission Impossible]]'' episode "The Psychic" begins with Briggs receiving his assignment at a drive-in.

* An episode of ''[[Family Matters]]'' took place at a drive-in and focused on the dates of Laura, Steve, and Waldo. The latter of which didn't even come in a car, rather Maxine and he just walk in with folding chairs and coolers.

 

== Music ==

* The multiplayer map "Drive-In" from ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops|Call of Duty Black Ops]]'' is set in an [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|abandoned drive-in]]. Besides having an arcade with [[Easter Egg|Call of Duty: World At War]] games, the old movie screen has a chunk torn out of it to make an effective sniping post.

* One of the levels in ''[[Twisted Metal Black]]'' is a drive-in theatre. A well placed missile can destroy the screen.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Settings]]

[[Category:Useful Notes/The United States]]

[[Category:Nightlife Index]]