USA UP ALL NIGHT: American Drive-In (1985)

EDITOR’S NOTE: American Drive-In was on USA Up All Night on February 23 and 24, August 31 and November 17, 1990 and May 31 and December 14, 1991.

Krishna Shah made Hard Rock Zombies, which was supposed to be the movie within this movie, which is a movie all about a drive-in, in case you couldn’t figure that out from the title. The film moves from car to car, with each one telling a different story that all adds up to a very low-end version of American Graffiti.

That may not prepare you for the fact that the movie is also about a country girl who continually gets near-assaulted by some greasers and her boyfriend gets put in the hospital but the tonal shifts in this movie are all over the place, so humor intertwines with a female revenge movie and none of it really adds up.

Also, Hard Rock Zombies basically plays in real-time, so since I already saw it, this felt like being forced to watch that movie all over again.

I’m not mad that I bought this movie nor that I’ve endured it. Emily Longstreth, who plays the country girl named Bobbie Ann, was also in Star CrystalHardbodies, Gimme an FPretty In PinkPrivate Resort and Wired to Kill, which is a B&S About Movies all-star list if I’ve ever written one. Speaking of great resumes, another actress who was in this, Mika, is also in CandymanHard HuntedGirls Just Want to Have Fun and Sword of Heaven.