Genre genius Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Dead End Drive-In is rooted in an unexpected bit of realism: that by the 1980s, many drive-ins had to be used for purposes other than screening movies during the day, as the core business had long stopped paying the bills. Now, while rowdy drive-in melancholia was seemingly a Lone Star state of mind, what with the critical movie wisdom of Joe Bob Briggs and Joe Richard Lansdale’s novels The Drive-In: A “B” Movie with Blood and Popcorn, Made in Texas (1988) & The Drive-In 2: Not Just One of Them Sequels (1989), it was Oz that provided us with this outrageous take on the politics of the day. Here, youngsters who don’t (want to) fit in get thrown into a concentration drive-in where they’re fed junk food and movies bourgies deem trashy – a diet that brings out the worst in most, and the best in a select few…
With this little El Cheapo-bastard, a crass culture of cause-free rebellion, refuting established authorities, and prole(tarian) opposition to Neoliberism and Yuppidom had found its perfect incarnation – whose irreverence and street smarts have kept it relevant over the decades.
Olaf Möller