Well, What Do We Have Here... Vampire Killers

Fright Night
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
Another incredible season at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater came to a close last night with an 80's horror classic.

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

Actor William Ragsdale, who stars in the film as Charley Brewster, and Stephen Geoffreys, who plays his friend and eventual vampire "Evil" Ed Thompson were in attendance to meet fans, take pictures, and sign autographs.  Andrew had his copy of notorious box office bomb Mannequin Two: On The Move signed by Mr. Ragsdale, and I wish I was in line behind him to see his reaction.

Exhumed Films brought a trailer reel of classic vampire films that was shown before the feature.  The trailers included Near Dark, which is one of my all time favorite vampire flicks, as well as Bram Stoker's Dracula, Curse Of The Vampires, Night Of Dark Shadows, Blacula, Dracula's Dog, and a movie that I have never heard of that has moved to the top of my list of things to watch this winter, Dracula Blows His Cool.

 

Fright Night is an interesting horror flick in which a high school senior named Charley (William Ragsdale) who is convinced that his new next door neighbor (Chris Sarandon) is a vampire who is responsible for the death of several women who have gone missing in the community.  He's right, but his obsession annoys his girlfriend played by Amanda Bearse, who is best known for her decade long run as the Bundy's next door neighbor Marcy in Married With Children, and his best friend, "Evil" Ed played by Stephen Geoffreys.

Charley tries and fails to get the police to intervene.  When that doesn't work, his next step is to reach out to a local tv horror host named Peter Vincent, played by legendary actor Roddy McDowall.  Charley's logic is that the television star claims to be a vampire hunter on his program, so surely he must be an actual vampire hunter who would come to his neighborhood to kill a man for him.

This movie is pure 80's cheese with a plot that's so ridiculous that at no point during its runtime are you tempted to take it seriously.  Most of the movie plays out like something that I would have expected to see as a made for tv Halloween special on network television, but with a mild sprinkling of boobs, gore, and language shoehorned in to give it enough edge to get an R rating and hopefully draw in a teenage and young adult audience.  The end result is a fun movie that I wouldn't necessarilly call a "must-see", but if you're having a marathon of cheesy horror flicks from the 1980's, Fright Night should absolutely be in the lineup.

And that's a wrap on the 2024 season at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater.

We have been experiencing drought conditions in Northeast Pennsylvania throughout the second half of October.  As a result, there is a burn ban in Carbon County, which means that the end of the season bonfire had to be cancelled.  The end of the season bonfire is a tradition at the Mahoning, and it would have been especially welcome on a night where my car was showing 34 degrees when we pulled off of the lot.  It was a bit of an anticlimactic way to end the season, but that in no way diminishes what was an incredible year at the drive-in.  Jeff's passing earlier this year was devastating, but the crew found a way to carry on and deliver an incredible season.  The future looks bright for the drive-in, and I'm already counting the days to the 2025 season.