Dear God, I wish I lived closer to it!!!

I appreciate the love, and believe me, I am more passionate about this event than anything and want it to continue for a long time!

If you want your drive-in to do something similar, the best thing to do is just to make contact with them and give them a proposal. It never hurts to ask. When I was trying to get this event off the ground, I contacted a few drive-ins on the East Coast (seeing that I'm in New York) without much success, but the Riverside in Vandergrift, PA quickly responded and were very up for it if we held it after their regular season. Two years later, I know this is the perfect drive-in to do such an event.



Well, you're not THAT far! Not really at all. It's just a matter of planning ahead and making a road trip out of it. Believe me, it's worth it because no one else is doing anything like this anymore (at least at a drive-in) and it's a rare opputinuty to see these films on the big outdoor screen. And as always, we're going to have some wild, vintage trailers, cartoons and the original snack bar/intermission films in between the features.

Last year I think there were people from MA, Mark makes the trip from New Hampshire and I come out from the suberbs of New York. Also, despite taking a loss or barely making even in the past few years (I never really launched this for monetary reasons), I have kept the admission price at $10 to help encourage people to make a vacation out of it, since I know they'll have to spend some dough on gas and a hotel or motel room. Think of it as Disneyland for drive-in movie fanatics!

For whatever reason that reminds me of a line from "The Monkees", when they walk into a haunted house (if I recall):

"Wow, it's a virtual Disneyland for shut-ins!"


Just thought I'd offer that.


I actually do make Monster-Rama my vacation every year. I'm about to start work at a new company in a month or less, and when vacation time came up, I made sure that they were aware that I needed one week in early September for Monster-rama....



Mark

So true, so true! I'm just not a good long distance driver. Even a drive to NH from MA makes me nervous for some reason! I need to get out more!!! Maybe I have become a "shut-In"!!!

The Monster-Rama sounds fun!!!

I came across an article about my local drive in the Rustic and was surprised to learn at the end of last season the owner tried a Tarantino festival (Resevoir Dogs/Pulp Fiction) but they had to cancel due to bad weather. I don't know how I missed the announcement but it is encouraging to read that the owner is trying to run some classics as well. George, maybe you can supply some data to show that what you're doing pulls in a crowd of enthusiastic patrons to convince him that a New England Monster-Rama could be a success? I'd be more than happy to present the evidence to him.

The article is here:
http://www.pbn.com/detail.html?sub_id=05afa5d25742

Drive-In Super Monster-Rama Radio Spot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJR31azjI2Y

New for Monster-Rama 2009: Camping!

This year, The Riverside Drive-In is offering the choice of camping at the Drive In on Friday and Saturday night. The price is $10.00 per person/per night. The price for camping is separate from the admission price. With this we offer breakfast and use of the restrooms all night long. We cannot offer showers, but you are welcome to bring towels and washrags to wash in the restrooms. www.riversidedrivein.com

That's pretty cool and generous.

For some that might be a dream come true...LIVING at the Drive-In!

Not that the event isn't cool enough to begin with, but that is an incredible idea that I can't help but think will draw in more people who otherwise wouldn't go because they didn't want to shell out the money for a hotel! I'd certainly consider doing that. Hopefully there won't be some unruly people who take advantage of the offer and then make such a mess/scene that they end up regretting making the offer.

Thus far the Monster-rama crowds have been very respectful of the Riverside and very appreciative that they put on this kind of show. Hopefully that behavior and outlook will continue as the show grows.

That's nice to know. It would be such a shame to see someone actually put the effort into throwing something like this, only to have it ruined by bad behavior. It's good to know that there are plenty of people out there who appreciate this kind of programming.

A large indicator of how appreciative the crowds are (and how much they can't believe they're getting the chance to see these films on the big screen) is the number of camera flashes you see going off during the trailers, folks snapping pictures of monsters and madmen on the giant outdoor screen.

Only one week away from what ESplatter calls, "The Greatest Horror Movie Event of the Year!" (how can I not repeat such a quote?). So fill up the car with gas and point it towards Vandergrift!

Can't wait! This is what I do for my vacation every year, and I'm actually looking very forward to the long drive, where a fellow SFS producer and I will hold "high level meetings" on the way down.

I'll be bringing along a short stack of the Spooktacular III flyers to hand out, drawn by Sean Hartters. They're pretty sweet.

Looking forward to two nights of Drive-In bliss, and hope to see some fellow CDFers there!

Sometimes I think Mark is the only one in the world supporting my efforts Betcha there won't be one other CDFer there!