Welcome to the bar. Pull up a stool and let’s get ready to visit the Drive-In. Before I delve into this post. Let me give credit where it is absolutely due. The above image was from the greatest Horror Apparel site out there, Fright-Rags (Future post about Fright-Rags possible). The art work was created by the incredibly talented Justin Osbourn.
You may look at the title and wonder; who, or what are mutants? Let me explain. For most, this is going to seem like an odd statement; but those of us who know the value of a good cheesy horror movie, or exploitation flick, this is our call to arms.
The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs (and Darcy the mail girl) has created this community of people who are open and excepting of all types. What binds us is a love of Horror and analyzing (possibly over analyzing) our favorite movies.
We call ourselves mutants for many reasons. I’m sure every mutant has their own, but for me it’s how I felt for most of my formative years. I never fit in at school, and was both invisible to the world and the focus of severe bullying all through Middle and High School. In high school I had one foot in the jock world being on the swim team and playing tennis, and the other foot as a nerd and general outcast with social anxiety.
I never felt I belonged anywhere and that is what made me a mutant. Now I’m proud to be different and have found people I have connected with, and become great friends with, even though we have never met face to face. (Appreciation post coming).
As a Mutant we navigate the world of the unusual, the obscure, the macabre, and the Giallo together. We even have our own oath.
Sadly, I saved this picture a long time ago and I don’t remember where I got it. I wish I could give proper credit. If you read this, comment so I can give you credit where it is needed.
So for now, let’s catch up. Season 5 is upon us on the holiest of streaming services, Shudder. We are already 2 weeks in and tonight is week 3. We dealt with the premiere hangover, and survived Walpurgisnacht. Here we are for Cinco de Mayo!!! I can only imagine what’s in store for us tonight.
Let’s check out those Drive-In totals (Taking advantage, no totals just what movies we have seen thus far):
Premiere April 21, 2023
What a celebrity line up of guests!!!
To start we had the musical stylings of the man who composed most of the Lucio Fulci’s sound tracks, Fabio Frizzi. To go with the first movie Zombie, the lead actor playing Peter West, Ian McCulloch stopped by the drive-in. Next up we have Danhausen from the AEW. He was hilarious. The character he projects is just a joy to watch and listen to. On to the next movie “The Beyond” we have Bobcat Goldthwait doing a bit of stand up before talking with Joe Bob. This conversation lead to Goldthwait talking about his involvement in the BIG Foot Community. After Mr. Goldthwait we get the beautiful and talented Peaches Christ (Joshua Grannel) who is one of my top 10 favorite drag queens. Peaches talks about how she met Elvira and got her for a movie Peaches wrote and directed. To round out the night just before we get to the thrilling conclusion of The Beyond, Joe Bob brings out the kind and wonderful Felissa Rose to then be joined by David Dastmalchian.
Now I could do an entire blog post about the amazing Felissa Rose. She is the star of the cult favorite movie Sleep Away Camp, a Mutant in her own right, and super sweet. She may not respond to every Tweet or message but when she sees it in her timeline, she will at least like it and sometimes even respond. She has liked and or commented on some of my posts and it has just made my week. Very few celebrities manage their own social media these days and even fewer actually respond. Felissa is an Angel.
David Dastmalchian has quickly become one of my favorite character actors. I remember first seeing him in one of my favorite movies of all time, The Dark Knight as a thug for the Joker. He had the perfect look (meaning intensity, manorisms, and just creepy factor) for that role in the movie. Then I saw him in Gotham, and became a full fan when he was in the revamp of MacGyver as the infamous Murdoc. From there I try to watch anything he has been in that I am aware of. Looking through IMDB at the moment I realize I missed a few things.
Wow, i went a little crazy with the first episode. I really should have just done a post for it alone but I got busy. I’m easing into this. As a refresher, here are the movies shown in Ep 1 of Season 5:
One thing I learned this episode is, I may not be a fan of wrestling, but I have become a Danhausen fan. As evil as his persona may seem on screen; he can be a kind individual. Danhausen is offering a 30-day FREE trial to Shudder with his code: vLDIDAN30. Sign up and see what the Drive-In is all about. If the Drive-In isn’t your style, the sheer volume of great horror movies Shudder offers will get you hooked from the get go.
Walpurgisnacht April 28, 2023
Personally, I loved last year’s episode. It was so much fun as JB focused on the alcohol spirits imbibed for the occasion. I know Joe Bob was yet again playing a character, and didn’t really run through the woods dancing around naked, but it was great for the show. To his dismay this became a hilarious meme. If you are in need of a good laugh, here it is:
How do you not smile at this? This year’s Walpurgisnacht episode goes deep into the battle between the different types of witches and the witch finder general. Joe Bob and Darcy are on opposing sides and we watch the movies of the week only to wait for the final conflict between Good (Have to side with Darcy on this one), and Evil ( but Joe Bob is so great). The movies shown this week were:
I have to admit I missed this episode live and the chat with my fellow Mutants. I took some much needed quality family time with a game night, but I watched on streaming Monday. I have a tradition of Drive-In Laundry day. I work and do laundry while I re-watch The Las Drive-In because I usually don’t stay awake for the whole show.
It’s been a great 2 episodes and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season has in store for us. This week for Cinco de Mayo, I’m sure us Mutants are in for a lot of fun with Joe Bob and the gang. I would be remiss If i didn’t mention and thank the two Drive-In crew that help make the show great on screen and off. John Brennan and Yuki Nakamura. John does the music for the show with so many cleaver original songs like the Spookies Rap, and Yuki is the production designer on the show and brings a good bit of comic relief from time to time.
Thanks for hanging out with me. Hope to see you at the bar tonight for another exciting installment of The Last-Drive In with Joe Bob Briggs.
Brunner's Bar 
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