“In the state of Washington, under a near constant cover of clouds and rain, there’s a small town named Forks. Population, 3,120 people. This is where I’m moving.” That’s what Bella Swan said when her mother hooked up with a minor league baseball pitcher and she ended up going across the country to live with her dad. As Bella prepared to move in, she felt only despair and a marked lack of joy. I completely understand how she felt and I was only traveling by car and ferry to see the town that the Twilight books and movies were based in.

Here’s something I learned as I was researching my trip — after I took it, mind you. While Twilight and its sequels are set in the town, not a single scene was filmed there. Nope, most of the movies were filmed in Oregon and some parts of Washington. Not in Forks. Zillow.com even called the Forks Chamber of Commerce to verify this and learned that yes, not one scene was shot in the town.

That’s probably because the location is very remote. And Washington state doesn’t make it easy for people to film there, with no tax breaks or incentives, which is why the filmmakers mostly shot in Oregon, Vancouver and Louisiana.

But Sam, tell us about Forks.

You got it.

Forks is located in Clallam County in the Olympic Peninsula and was incorporated on August 28, 1945. It’s a small town — around 3,500 people — and gets its name because it is quite literally near the forks in the Quillayute, Bogachiel, Calawah, and Sol Duc rivers.

Prior to what the internet told me was the town’s boom in tourism — more of that later — most people in the town are employed by the two jails and from sport fishing.

So you may wonder, how did I find myself on a ferry bound for the home of Edward, Bella and Jacob? Well, I love my wife. And I indulge her. And her aunt had suggested this. And soon, we’d be enjoying “27 minutes of our lives that we’d never get back,” to quote Becca.

First off, the Forks High School looks nothing like the place where Edward saved Bella from that car, nor where they were lab partners. No, instead it’s a small school filled with teens that scowl instead of glow. After all, Twilight’s author Stephenie Meyer never visited Forks when writing any of the books.

Across the street, we noticed Leppell’s Flowers & Gifts, which was run by a nice-seeming older couple. As they were working on the concrete in front, we had to head around the back and go through an alley and a hidden door to find the store that some call Twilight Central. That’s when we noticed this tour bus!

We didn’t look into the tour and after spending just a bit of time looking at the scrapbook supplies, we bid the store farewell. Perhaps it’s just as well, as this amazing Yelp review did the store no favors.

We drove through the town some more, saw Bella’s truck (which probably wasn’t the one used in the movie), went in two more Twilight themed gift shops and then headed out of town to Thriftway/Forks Outfitters. For being in the midst of some of the greatest coffee in the world, we had the best coffee drinks of our entire trip at their cafe! And get this — a Twilight menu! That’s how you do business!

They had used Twilight movies and an actual rental store within this general store that seems to answer every need of the folks in Forks. Even better, their deli offers some choices for the discriminating Twilight fan, made of course with high quality Kretschmar deli meats and cheeses:

Why doesn’t Jacob get a panini? Where is Bella’s BLT? I have so many questions and once you’re in Forks, you never get any answers.

At least Becca got this lighter, which will keep her smoking for years after she has planned to quit:

On the way out of town and back to the ferry, an overall three-hour-plus trip, we stopped to get gas and caffeine. That’s when I met Forks, WA local favorite Barry, who had on no shirt and a jacket as he careened around the store, screaming at people that he was about to go to the casino (One Eyed Jacks?) and do some drugs. After that, he followed an employee outside who was about to cry and told her he was sorry about her sister, but some people have it coming. Barry seemed like a real pip.

Goodbye, Forks! Thank you for showing us the place that inspired a movie that no one has really cared about since 2012. I kid — most of the people in town seemed genuinely nice and totally not about to kill us as we wandered their theme stores, ala Captain Spaulding from House of 1000 Corpses.

Want to learn more about Forks? Sure you do! Check out their official site!

BONUS: Listen to Sam bitch up a storm about watching Twilight on a past episode of our podcast:

Want a recap on every Bigfoot movie we watched?

Check out this list on Letterboxd!

Thanks for joining us all week! Don’t forget to buy Phil Hall’s book The Weirdest Movie Ever Made!

On October 20, 1967, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin emerged from a North California forest with a little less than one minute of silent, grainy and shaky 16mm footage that they claimed offered irrefutable proof of the existence of Sasquatch. Neither man had any previous experience in filmmaking or zoology, yet presented their remarkable footage as the first motion picture confirmation that Bigfoot is real.

Not everyone was convinced that the Patterson-Gimlin film was genuine. There was a lot of strangeness behind the film’s creation and plenty of rumors, such as the story of an Academy Award-winning make-up artist’s alleged role in the footage.

In The Weirdest Movie Ever Made, film journalist Phil Hall reveals how the Patterson and Gimlin supposedly wound up in the right place at the right time with their camera, how they got their movie into the hands of scientists and the path that it took to become an integral part of pop culture.

I loved how this book details all the ins and outs of how two cowboys somehow stumbled — or cunningly created — the footage. There’s a lot to learn here, such as how Patterson made an unsuccessful effort a year before the filming to secure the copyright for the word Bigfoot, how Gimlin was cut out of the profits and the lost film Bigfoot: America’s Abominable Snowman, a four-walled piece of exploitation magic that brought Patterson out amongst the public to tell his story.

Hall fills the book with asides on Bigfoot’s influence on culture, the history of cryptozoology, Bigfoot instances and encounters over the past 50 years and brief reviews of the many Sasquatch appearances in film and television. He leaves no stone unturned, giving as much ink to expected films like The Legend of Boggy Creek and Harry and the Hendersons as he does to lesser-known fare like Cry Wilderness and The Geek, a pornographic recounting of a Bigfoot attack.

There’s even a section on John Chambers, the Academy Award-winning special effects artist who worked on the original Planet of the Apes and the man who John Landis claimed created the Bigfoot suit in the Patterson-Gimlin film.

Hall writes the book in a breeze, fun style that makes page turning a pleasure. And I really enjoyed the chapter where several critics, scholars, and creative artists gave their views on the footage, including Troy Howarth (So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films and Splintered Visions: The Films of Lucio Fulci).

The book stops short of revealing the author’s true opinion as to the truth of the footage, although you can infer that he’s a skeptic. Whether or not you believe it yourself, you have to agree that it’s an amazing bit of filmmaking and that one minute has garnered way more debate and fame than movies made with more budget and pedigree.

You can grab the book at Bearmanor Media and come back tomorrow to read an exclusive interview with the author!

After watching The Last Drive-In all last weekend (look for more about that soon), I debated what I would show if I had to pick my dream drive-in line up to show. And now I wonder, readers, what would you pick?

You get 2 nights with 4 movies each, along with 8 trailers per night (if you want the extra credit). Here’s what I’d show:

NIGHT 1 – In a world gone wild..

Trailers include: The Pink Angels, Teenage Mother, The Baby, I Don’t Want to Be Born, The Tenth Victim, The Apple, Skidoo

Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Danger: Diabolik

Flash Gordon

NIGHT 2: After the end of the world…

Trailers include: Zombi 2, The House by the Cemetery, God Told Me To, Lisa and the Devil, Maniac, The Devil’s Rain!, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Holy Mountain

1990: The Bronx Warriors

Escape from the Bronx

Warriors of the Wasteland

Endgame

I’m excited to see your lineups! I’ll share some of the best ones!

Before you get to the salesy blurb, this is my favorite project every time we do one. There’s some art from me inside, including some Deadly Spawn stickers that you can only get if you order RIGHT NOW.

DIA #12 is just slithering with fantastic content, a lot of which leans heavily toward ravenous monsters that eat you alive. No, I’m not talking about your wireless phone company or your cable provider, I’m talking about THE DEADLY SPAWN, that 1983 indie horror flick about alien spores that fall to Earth and immediately start eating people. And the more they eat, the bigger they grow! Director Douglas McKeown talks to us about his role in creating this low budget masterpiece.

Jack Neubeck may be better known for his work in the theater, but we’re so excited to present an interview with him regarding his appearance in cult faves INVASION OF THE BLOOD FARMERS (1972) and SHRIEK OF THE MUTILATED (1974). Jack talks to us about his experiences making these two cartoonishly grisly pics, as well as his memories of working with cult filmmakers Michael and Roberta Findlay.

Bret McCormick is a lifelong film fan who achieved what has got to be every monster kid’s goal; after making his own scary movies on Super 8, he worked his way up to working for B-movie icon Roger Corman, as well as making numerous contacts with independent filmmakers like S.F. Brownrigg, Robert A. Burns, and Larry Buchanan. Bret has written a new book called TEXAS SCHLOCK, that is part memoir, part commentary, and a vital document about regional filmmaking. Bret talks to us about his book, as well as his own 1986 ultra low budget gorefest THE ABOMINATION.

We’ve also got plenty of commentary ourselves. J.H. Rood has a profile of American serial killer Ed Gein, who inspired some grisly cinematic flickers. Sam Panico has a major crush on CATHY’S CURSE, and Victor C. Leroi discusses Tobe Hooper’s THE FUNHOUSE as part of his Video Nasty series. Lana Revok writes about Manson TV docudrama HELTER SKELTER, and newcomer Roger Braden highlights ALONE IN THE DARK and PSYCHIC KILLER as two must-watch movies. Dustin Fallon takes on WITHOUT WARNING, that 1980 alien-on-earth movie that is really sort of like a FRIDAY THE 13th film, with an alien instead of a mad slasher.

And of course, all of these are accompanied by the pulpy newsprint ads that you love to see in DIA! Hearken back to that era where you got your vital info about what was at the movies by picking up the local newspaper, and you were frequently greeted by sleazy adverts that promised all sorts of gruesome thrills.

Each issue of DRIVE-IN ASYLUM comes with a 4×6 matte print of a random vintage movie ad, and we’ve also got some fantastic die-cut DEADLY SPAWN stickers, too — but the number of SPAWN stickers is limited, so order early to be sure you get one!

5.5 x 8.5, black and white (some pages are printed on colored paper), 52 pages.

Grab yours now!

We shared a review of the movie last week, referring to it as “an interesting film — that’s maybe not for everyone as it’s pretty intense — but definitely worth checking out.” So how do you check it out? Great question.

The filmmakers were kind enough to let me know that before the movie comes out on July 3, there will be a pre-order sale on iTunes.

Even better, they shared an exclusive NSFW clip for the film that you can watch right here on YouTube.

Check it out and let me know what you think of the film!