Universal Monster Mash VIII
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
The Universal Monster Mash weekend is one of my favorite annual events at the drive-in. First of all, I love classic horror movies. More importantly, our entire front row group loves them too, so this is one of the few events that bring us all together on the lot at the same time. This year's event is especially significant for me because the screening of Calling Dr. Death on Friday night marked my 500th movie at the Mahoning Drive In Theater.
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
The Universal Monster Mash weekend is one of my favorite annual events at the drive-in. First of all, I love classic horror movies. More importantly, our entire front row group loves them too, so this is one of the few events that bring us all together on the lot at the same time. This year's event is especially significant for me because the screening of Calling Dr. Death on Friday night marked my 500th movie at the Mahoning Drive In Theater.
My friend Tom gave me this awesome drawing to commemorate the occasion, and he and his wife Jen brought a Stock's pound cake up from Philadelphia to share with our group. They, and their son Jackson, are one of the coolest families I've ever met and I'm proud to call them our friends.
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| Show banner designed by Andrew Kern |
We've had odd temperatures in Northeast PA recently. It seems like we're getting highs in the 70's during the week, but it has been getting frigid over the weekends, especially when the sun went down. Thankfully it didn't rain all weekend and there was only a minimal amount of wind, so we layered up and used our new battery-powered electric blankets to stay warm enough to sit outside for the movies.
The red and black thing that you can see hanging off of the string on my hoodie in the picture of my wife and I is this awesome little stuffed Dracula that Jackson gave to me as a present for my 500th movie at the Mahoning. He's a good dude, and infinitely more mature than I was at his age. Hell, he's probably more mature than I am in my mid 40's.
There was a costume contest on both nights of Universal Monster Mash. Ben and I decided after the August 18th screening of The Blues Brothers that we were on a mission from god to show up in October as Dan Aykroyd (Ben) and John Belushi (me) from the film. He forgot his white shirt and I forgot to shave, but I think we did alright.
Night One - Friday, October 25
There was a screening of a 35mm print of the 1995 Mickey Mouse cartoon Runaway Brain prior to the first feature-length film on Friday night. They played this animated short a few times at shows that we've been in attendance for over the years. It's always a welcome sight, especially for a family friendly horror flick. If you haven't seen it before, it's definitely worth seeking out. It's a horror comedy short that's a bit out of character for Mickey and Minnie in which a mad scientist swaps Mickey's brain with a monster that he has created in his laboratory. The artwork and the humor here is a lot closer to what you'll see on Looney Tunes than a classic Disney cartoon.
The first movie of Friday night was the granddaddy of all Universal Studios monster films; the 1931 film Dracula. We saw this on the big screen at the Mahoning for the first time during Universal Monster Mash on September 17th, 2021. It absolutely blew me away the first time that I saw it, and it had exactly the same effect on me this past weekend. This movie premiered 93 years ago. Ninety-three years! That's six years before my grandfather was born, and it still draws a paying crowd and holds their attention today. How many other things from the early 1930's can affect people this strongly in 2024.
For as historic of a film as Dracula is, the next movie to hit the big screen was a treasure that was first viewed by an audience on March 18th, 1910 - the 16 minute Edison Studios silent horror adaptation of Frankenstein. This movie premiered 21 years before Dracula. Hell, it premiered four years before the MLB debut of Babe Ruth and the start of the first World War.
There was a screening of a 35mm print of the 1995 Mickey Mouse cartoon Runaway Brain prior to the first feature-length film on Friday night. They played this animated short a few times at shows that we've been in attendance for over the years. It's always a welcome sight, especially for a family friendly horror flick. If you haven't seen it before, it's definitely worth seeking out. It's a horror comedy short that's a bit out of character for Mickey and Minnie in which a mad scientist swaps Mickey's brain with a monster that he has created in his laboratory. The artwork and the humor here is a lot closer to what you'll see on Looney Tunes than a classic Disney cartoon.
The first movie of Friday night was the granddaddy of all Universal Studios monster films; the 1931 film Dracula. We saw this on the big screen at the Mahoning for the first time during Universal Monster Mash on September 17th, 2021. It absolutely blew me away the first time that I saw it, and it had exactly the same effect on me this past weekend. This movie premiered 93 years ago. Ninety-three years! That's six years before my grandfather was born, and it still draws a paying crowd and holds their attention today. How many other things from the early 1930's can affect people this strongly in 2024.
For as historic of a film as Dracula is, the next movie to hit the big screen was a treasure that was first viewed by an audience on March 18th, 1910 - the 16 minute Edison Studios silent horror adaptation of Frankenstein. This movie premiered 21 years before Dracula. Hell, it premiered four years before the MLB debut of Babe Ruth and the start of the first World War.
This was thought to be a lost film for many years before it became public knowledge in the 1970's that a deteriorated copy had been discovered by a film collector in Wisconsin. The film was restored and released again to the public in 2010 and has been studied by film students and fans ever since. The version we got to see was tinted and scored by J. Searle Dawley and is available on the Internet Archive if you're interested in seeing it. It's a fascinating piece of film history that sticks a lot closer to the source material than any other version of the Frankenstein story that I've ever seen on screen before.
The second Universal Studios monster film that was screened from a 35mm print on Friday night was the 1941 gothic horror that our friend Carrie was looking forward to seeing the most over the weekend; The Wolf Man. The cast is a who's who of horror legends, including Lon Chaney Jr, Claude Rains, and Bela Lugosi. This was my first time seeing it, and it was incredible!
The second intermission of Friday night included the screening of a 35mm print of the 1946 Tom & Jerry short Trap Happy. This is the first time I've ever gotten to see this cartoon play at the Mahoning. It features Tom & Jerry co-creator and Hanna Barbara co-founder William Hanna as the voice of Tom and the legendary June Foray as the voice of Jerry. In this cartoon, Tom gets fed up with chasing Jerry, so he hired an exterminator to do the job for him. The exterminator turns out to be a different cat, and it isn't long before this new cat begins to get fed up with his fellow feline.
The last movie of Friday night was the 1943 Lon Chaney Jr murder mystery Calling Dr Death. I had never heard of this flick before this weekend. It was a bit of a change of pace from the Universal monster films, but it's a very enjoyable film that reminded me quite a bit of the old Alfred Hitchcock Presents show that I used to watch on Nick At Nite when I was a kid.
The first film on Saturday night was the 1931 Boris Karloff classic, Frankenstein. We saw this at the Mahoning for the first time two years ago at Monster Mash VI. I'm glad that they screened it again because the experience back in 2022 was spoiled by a group of jerks at the end of the front row near the exit who were so loud and obnoxious that you could hear them over the movie. This time around, we were settled into our spot in the front row surrounded by our friends and a respectful audience who sat back and enjoyed the movie with us. The only time I heard anyone in the crowd get loud was someone who shouted "weeeee" at the scene when Frankenstein's monster throws the little girl into the lake, and that was pretty damn funny!
The second Universal Studios monster film that was screened from a 35mm print on Friday night was the 1941 gothic horror that our friend Carrie was looking forward to seeing the most over the weekend; The Wolf Man. The cast is a who's who of horror legends, including Lon Chaney Jr, Claude Rains, and Bela Lugosi. This was my first time seeing it, and it was incredible!
If you count Frankenstein (1910) as a movie, then The Wolf Man would be my 500th movie that I've gotten to see at the Mahoning. Part of me wants to count it because it was considered a feature-length film at the time it was released, but it's only 16 minutes long. I haven't counted any of the animated shorts or other things that fall short of being a feature-length film like Trailer Trauma II, but this one feels different to me. I guess it seems kind of silly to spend as much time as I have thinking about this, but I'm nothing if not a list-maker, and I want to make sure the list is accurate. I think I'm ultimately going to go ahead and include Frankenstein (1910) on the list. Whether I include it on the list or not, my 500th movie was during Night One of Monster Mash VIII, so I guess it doesn't throw off the count too much either way.
The second intermission of Friday night included the screening of a 35mm print of the 1946 Tom & Jerry short Trap Happy. This is the first time I've ever gotten to see this cartoon play at the Mahoning. It features Tom & Jerry co-creator and Hanna Barbara co-founder William Hanna as the voice of Tom and the legendary June Foray as the voice of Jerry. In this cartoon, Tom gets fed up with chasing Jerry, so he hired an exterminator to do the job for him. The exterminator turns out to be a different cat, and it isn't long before this new cat begins to get fed up with his fellow feline.
The last movie of Friday night was the 1943 Lon Chaney Jr murder mystery Calling Dr Death. I had never heard of this flick before this weekend. It was a bit of a change of pace from the Universal monster films, but it's a very enjoyable film that reminded me quite a bit of the old Alfred Hitchcock Presents show that I used to watch on Nick At Nite when I was a kid.
Night Two - Saturday, October 26
Saturday night on the big screen kicked off with a 35mm screening of a 1943 Tom & Jerry short called The Lonesome Mouse. This is the first time that I've seen this cartoon at all, and to say that it would be considered problematic in 2024 would be an understatement. In fact, it was controversial when it was first released with the Mammy character prompting protests from the NAACP in the 40's. For what it's worth, this print was loaned to the Mahoning by a friend of the drive-in who is an African American, so there was no ignorance or ill intentions behind the selection of this cartoon. It's a part of animation history that reveals an uncomfortable truth about this country, and the fact that we cringe when we see stereotypes like this is a sign that we're moving in the right direction.
Saturday night on the big screen kicked off with a 35mm screening of a 1943 Tom & Jerry short called The Lonesome Mouse. This is the first time that I've seen this cartoon at all, and to say that it would be considered problematic in 2024 would be an understatement. In fact, it was controversial when it was first released with the Mammy character prompting protests from the NAACP in the 40's. For what it's worth, this print was loaned to the Mahoning by a friend of the drive-in who is an African American, so there was no ignorance or ill intentions behind the selection of this cartoon. It's a part of animation history that reveals an uncomfortable truth about this country, and the fact that we cringe when we see stereotypes like this is a sign that we're moving in the right direction.
Another interesting aspect of this short is the fact that it involves extensive spoken dialogue between Tom and Jerry. I don't think I'd ever seen a Tom & Jerry cartoon in which the cat and mouse have as many speaking lines as this. Both characters were voiced by William Hanna, who took heed of the NAACP protests and retired the Mammy character for good as a result.
The plot of the cartoon is that Jerry manages to succeed in getting Tom kicked out of the house, but he soon finds that he has become lonely without the cat chasing him around. The cat and mouse work together to trick Mammy into believing that Tom is keeping the house free from mice so that he can come back to live in the house.
The first film on Saturday night was the 1931 Boris Karloff classic, Frankenstein. We saw this at the Mahoning for the first time two years ago at Monster Mash VI. I'm glad that they screened it again because the experience back in 2022 was spoiled by a group of jerks at the end of the front row near the exit who were so loud and obnoxious that you could hear them over the movie. This time around, we were settled into our spot in the front row surrounded by our friends and a respectful audience who sat back and enjoyed the movie with us. The only time I heard anyone in the crowd get loud was someone who shouted "weeeee" at the scene when Frankenstein's monster throws the little girl into the lake, and that was pretty damn funny!
During the first intermission, Rob screened another 35mm animated short that was new to the big screen at the Mahoning. It was a 1966 Paramount cartoon called The Defiant Giant starring a character named Honey Halfwitch that I have never heard of before this very moment. The little witch starred in 13 cartoons from 1965 to 1967 and was voiced by Lamb Chop creator and puppeteer Shari Lewis.
In this cartoon, Honey helps George The Giant overcome the bullying of an even larger giant. George was voiced by Bob McFadden, who would go on to voice Snarf and other characters that appeared in ThunderCats, SilverHawks, and many other cartoons throughout the 60's, 70's, and 80's.
The second film of Saturday night is my favorite of all of the Universal monster films, the 1935 classic Bride Of Frankenstein. Seeing this projected from 35mm on the Cinemascope screen at the Mahoning is one of the highlights of the season for me. I especially love Uma O'Connor absolutely hamming it up for every second that she's on the screen at the start of the film. She plays a housekeeper named Minnie who discovers that Frankenstein's Monster is not dead. No one takes her seriously, so she pretty much says "to hell with them" and allows the events of the movie to unfold; freakin legend!
They screened a surreal 1982 Georges Schwizgebel animated short called Le Ravissement de Frank N. Stein between the second and third feature length films of Saturday night. I wish I had been paying closer attention to it when it was on screen. It had gotten pretty cold on Saturday night, so I was packing up our chairs and other things in the car during the second intermission so that we could watch the third movie from the warmth of the car, so I was distracted while I was watching this. It feels like an old first-person shooter PC game, like Wolfenstein 3-D. According to IMBD, the cartoon puts you in the shoes of the Frankenstein Monster, and you see through the monster's eyes as he wakes up in the laboratory and moves from room to room. I'm going to have to watch this again soon to get the full effect. What I did see looked pretty cool.
The last movie of Universal Monster Mash VIII was the 1942 supernatural murder mystery Night Monster. Like it's Friday night counterpart, Calling Dr Death, this movie felt like an extra long episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I don't mean that as a negative in any way. It's a suspense-filled flick about a triple amputee who is at the center of a series of unexplained murders, and a movie that I'd recommend to any fan of mystery, suspense, or horror.
And that's a wrap on Monster Mash VIII. I'm writing this recap on Tuesday, so the drive-in has already closed for the winter, but I've got one more night to go.
