This weekend was one of my favorite annual events at the drive-in, and my fifth consecutive year that I've been in attendance for it.
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Schlock-O-Rama is a celebration of films that were primarily shown in small independent theaters and drive-in theaters when they were first released. The genre of these films include horror, sci-fi, action, kung fu, and exploitation films that have become synonymous with the drive-in theater experience in the second half of the 20th century.
The first film of Schlock-O-Rama IX was The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires, which was released in the United States under the title The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula. This 1974 kung fu flick was a joint production of Hammer Films and Shaw Bros.
This is the story of the evil monk Kah (Chan Shen) who travels to Transylvania in the early 1800's to summon Dracula (John Forbes-Robertson) to travel to China with him to restore the Seven Golden Vampires to power. He agrees, but Dracula must posses Kah's body to leave his castle and travel, so Chan Shen plays the role of Dracula throughout most of the film. The plot jumps a hundred years to find Professor Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) with his son Leyland (Robin Stewart) at Chungking University where he's giving a lecture on the Seven Golden Vampires and the village that they control. After the lecture, he is approached by Hsi Ching (David Chiang) who is the grandson of a farmer who killed one of the Seven Golden Vampires. Ching confirms the location of the village and asks Van Helsing to accompany his brothers and his sister on a mission to the village to defeat the rest of the vampires. A wealthy widow named Vanessa Buren (Julie Ege), who's life was saved by the Hsi family, agrees to finance their journey on the condition that she accompany the group, and off they go to engage in a kung-fu war with the vampires.
This film was an excellent way to kick off the weekend. It's a lot of fun, and it defines what Shlock-O-Rama is all about. It found its way to the United States in 1979 where it was shown mostly in grindhouse and drive-in theaters and has gone on to become a cult classic. I'm sorry to say that I wasn't able to find it streaming anywhere at the moment, but if you like horror and kung fu, this is one to keep your eyes open for.
Next up was the 1976 blaxploitation horror film Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde, which was re-released in the United States under the alternate title Decision For Doom. This is the story of Dr. Henry Pride (Bernie Casey), who is an African American doctor who is working on experimental medication that can restore a damaged liver. He tests the medication on himself which results in his transformation into a violent white man with superhuman strength.
I have conflicted feelings when it comes to the blaxploitation genre. There are a few of them that I just can't get behind; specifically the ones that lean into negative stereotypes. The example that immediately comes to mind is Super Soul Brother, which I saw at the Mahoning last year for AGFA Triple Ripper III. This film has virtually no African American characters that aren't portrayed in an ignorant manner so it's not funny or interesting to me in the slightest. It's just blatantly racist crap that they were able to get away with because the actors are black. On the other hand, there are blaxploitation flicks like Blacula and Abby that are fantastic.
I'm happy to say that Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde falls in the Blacula camp. It's an excellent flick that adds an interesting twist on the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde story. Bernie Casey delivers a great performance as both halves of his personality. The NFL veteran has an impressive resume in Hollywood. I know him best for his roles as U.N. Jefferson in Revenge Of The Nerds, and Bill & Ted's history teacher Mr. Ryan in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. It's available to stream on Tubi, and I highly recommend it if you want to dive into the genre.
Friday night's third film was a black and white Italian horror that premiered in 1960 as Seddok: L'erede di Satana, which translates to Seddok: The Heir of Satan. The movie was re-titled Atom Age Vampire when it was dubbed into English and released in the United States three years later, which is an odd choice since the movie has nothing to do with vampires. Now that I come to think of it, the "Atom Age" part of the title doesn't make much sense either.
The first two minutes of the movie are a breakup scene. Pierre is about to ship out to sea, and he breaks up with his girlfriend Jeanette because she won't quit her job as an entertainer. The research that I've done online say that she's a stripper, but there's nothing in the American cut of this film which makes that clear. Jeanette drives away in tears and swerved off of an embankment to avoid hitting another car. The accident leaves her with a massive scar on half of her face and neck. Jeanette is tricked by a woman named Monique to leave the hospital and to go to Professor Alberto Levin's home so that he can treat her with his miracle serum called Derma 28 which can restore her beauty. The treatment works and Alberto becomes obsessed with her. It turns out that the effects of Derma 28 are short lived, and Alberto finds that he must kill other women to obtain the glands that he needs to continue producing Derma 28 for Jeanette.
The whole movie plays out like an old soap opera with melodramatic dialogue from nearly everyone in the cast. It's not the kind of movie that I'd recommend to most modern horror fans, but it's exactly the kind of film that I like to see at Schlock-O-Rama. It's a fun, schlocky flick short runtime and it's in a style that adds variety to the event. This one's also on Tubi if you're curious.
The final movie of the first night of Schlock-O-Rama IX was the 1971 horror / biker flick Werewolves On Wheels. This is the story of a biker gang called The Devil's Advocates who are taken in by a group of people who appear to be monks. The monks give food to the bikers, but we soon learn that these monks aren't what they seem to be and their motives are sinister. The title does give away some of the plot, but it takes more twists and turns than I expected. Check it out on Tubi.
This was a great way to cap off Friday night, and I'm happy to say that I was able to stay awake for the whole thing. I had to nap earlier in the day and watch most of this film standing in front of my car to keep from nodding off, but I made it. The movie ended almost exactly at 4:00 am and I had just enough left in me to drive home and collapse in bed.
The movies started a little earlier in the evening on Saturday since it ran so late the night before. However, as you can see from the title card for The Devil's Rain, it was dark enough to project a bright and vivid picture.
Saturday night's second movie was Greydon Clark's 1977 horror sexploitation flick Satan's Cheerleaders. There's far less nudity in this film than you might be expecting from the title, but
Next up was the 1982 horror sequel Piranha II: The Spawning. This movie is technically the directorial debut of James Cameron, but it's been widely reported that he worked for only two weeks on the film before he either quit or was fired, depending on which side of the story you hear. In either case, the producers kept his name on the film as its director, much to The Terminator director's dismay.
The final film of Schlock-O-Rama this year was the 1979 independent horror film Bog, starring the great Aldo Ray. It's a creature feature about a prehistoric sea creature that lives in a rural blog. It begins to feed on fishermen and anyone else who comes into its territory.
And that's a wrap on Schlock-O-Rama IX. This continues to be one of my favorite, if not my very favorite weekend on the Mahoning calendar. It's either this or VHS fest, both of which feature films that have a similar vibe to them. If you can only make it to the Mahoning for one weekend a year and you want a true drive-in experience, this is the event that I'd recommend that you attend. It's the closest any of us are likely to ever get to a true drive-in experience from the second half of the 20th century.
The movies started a little earlier in the evening on Saturday since it ran so late the night before. However, as you can see from the title card for The Devil's Rain, it was dark enough to project a bright and vivid picture.
The Devil's Rain was the movie that I was looking forward to seeing the most this weekend. My friend Mike saw it before, and he sold it to me as a film where you get to see Ernest Borgnine melting for ten minutes. He wasn't exaggerating one bit. Cary had to run to the restroom, but she didn't want to miss the end of the film. After about five minutes of the scene in question, she said "Oh fuck, just die already". Mike chuckled and let her know that the scene was only at the halfway point.
This movie is memorable for several reasons other than the long and drawn out fate of Jonathan Corbis and his followers. The production team hired the founder of The Church of Satan, Anton LaVey to serve as the technical advisor for the film. He and his partner Diane appear in the film as well. This film also marks the big screen debut of John Travolta who played a member of Corbis' Satanic cult in a minor role. Actress Joan Prather, who played Julie Preston, introduced Travolta to Scientology during filming.
In addition to Borgnine, Travolta, and Prather, the film features the great William Shatner as Mark Preston, a Christian man who is forced to become a member of the Corbis cult, and Eddie Albert as a psychic researcher. Albert is probably best remembered for his starring role as Oliver Douglas in the classic series Green Acres. The film also features Ida Lupino, who has the distinction of being the only woman to direct an episode of The Twilight Zone (The Masks) and the only Twilight Zone director who also starred in an episode (The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine).
Like most of the films shown on Friday night, The Devil's Rain is available to stream on Tubi, and I highly recommend it to any fan of horror movies. It's a wild ride!
Saturday night's second movie was Greydon Clark's 1977 horror sexploitation flick Satan's Cheerleaders. There's far less nudity in this film than you might be expecting from the title, but
this film is still the very definition of 70's schlock. Most of the acting is terrible and the story is ludicrous, but it's a hell of a lot of fun to watch! It's the story of a high school cheerleading squad and their good-natured but absolutely clueless coach. The ladies are kidnapped by a Satanic cult led by a Sheriff and his wife in the hopes that they can use one of them as a virgin sacrifice, but things don't go according to plan. Check it out on Tubi.
Next up was the 1982 horror sequel Piranha II: The Spawning. This movie is technically the directorial debut of James Cameron, but it's been widely reported that he worked for only two weeks on the film before he either quit or was fired, depending on which side of the story you hear. In either case, the producers kept his name on the film as its director, much to The Terminator director's dismay.
My wife was familiar with this film because she watched it with her grandmother when she was a little girl. She accurately described this movie to me by saying "this time, they can fly". That pretty much says it all. The movie is pure schlocky goodness from start to finish, featuring man-eating fish who were described by Tim Healey's book The World's Worst Movies as "haddock with dentures".
This is one of only two films from Schlock-O-Rama IX that isn't currently available on Tubi. You can rent it from a few streaming services though, and it's fairly inexpensive and easy to find on DVD or Bluray. It's so stupid fun that I'd consider it to be a must-watch.
The final film of Schlock-O-Rama this year was the 1979 independent horror film Bog, starring the great Aldo Ray. It's a creature feature about a prehistoric sea creature that lives in a rural blog. It begins to feed on fishermen and anyone else who comes into its territory.
If I were to rank all of the films of Schlock-O-Rama IX from favorite to least favorite, this one would be at the bottom of my list. Most of the first three quarters of the film are people having conversations about the bog monster either in offices or on the telephone (or both). It's still fun to watch and a worthy inclusion in the lineup for this weekend though. You can check it out on Tubi.
Like the first night, I was able to stay awake for all four films. I think I may have drifted off for about five minutes during Piranha II, but that's it. Saturday night ended after 3:00 am, and I'm happy to have made it through all eight films.
And that's a wrap on Schlock-O-Rama IX. This continues to be one of my favorite, if not my very favorite weekend on the Mahoning calendar. It's either this or VHS fest, both of which feature films that have a similar vibe to them. If you can only make it to the Mahoning for one weekend a year and you want a true drive-in experience, this is the event that I'd recommend that you attend. It's the closest any of us are likely to ever get to a true drive-in experience from the second half of the 20th century.
