AMERICAN DRIVE-IN

title: AMERICAN DRIVE-IN
year: 1985
cast: Emily Longstreth, Joel Bennett, Patrick Kirton, Danny Nucci
rating: ***1/2

An eclectic bouquet of characters, from geeks to sluts to thugs to nuts, go to a drive-in where there’s a horror movie playing, which, centering on a midget and an axe-wielding psycho, is as interesting as the real thing. This is a funny, and completely entertaining, experience you can literally call a drive-in flick. Starring the gorgeous Emily Longstreth, neatly balancing good girl, annoyed girlfriend and damsel in distress as a gang of thugs (led by scene-stealing Joel Bennett), who followed her and a wimpy boyfriend into the theater, attempt to get her alone: but she's tough as nails. Other characters include a would-be mayor, his horny daughter and curious son, two old ladies and a car-load of sexed-up vixens, to name just a few. The non-stop interplay between all the participants, leading to a pandemonium-style climax, flows terrifically in this underrated cult film that deserves a bigger following.