Once again, the great city of Austin managed to pull off a retro experience. This time, the drive-in movie. I met a few meetup friends at the urban drive-in movie for a double Halloween feature: “Scream” and “Freaks.”
We were the first ones there; so we moved all the comfy reclining lawn chairs to the prime spot in the parking lot in front of the screen.
I brought a small boxed red wine, which turned out to be too cheap to be drinkable. Yet the food I brought totally hit the spot. Just behind the lawn chairs were some picnic tables where we ate our dinner before the sun went down.
I was impressed at the projectionist’s set up. There were speakers all around the parking lot. Believe it or not, my sensitive ears were just fine with the volume. Of course, I had my earplugs just in case. (Actually, I never leave home without them!)
Even though I brought my own food, there was a concessions trailer on the edge of the parking lot.
As a budding germaphobe, I was concerned with a mere two porta potties. Initially, I thought I’d just hold it for three hours. I changed my mind, thinking if I hit it before the crowds arrived, perhaps it would be so gross or would at least have toilet paper. In the end, I don’t know how often those porta potties were cleaned. I just washed my hands and tried not to dwell on it.
As the sun set and some cars arrived, I loved the atmosphere of the drive-in.
Before the movie, instead of watching previews, old ads were played. I forgot all about the health ads they used to show about getting a check up. Equally amusing was the Dixie cup-sized soft drinks and apparently Blacks, Hispanics and Asians didn’t exist.
I normally avoid scary movies, but since I’d already seen parts of “Scream”, it wasn’t too bad. Yet “Freaks” wasn’t scary at all–at least not to modern audiences. This classic movie had been banned since most of the cast were people born with physical disabilities. Yet, as another moviegoer and I discussed, back in those days, if someone with such disabilities weren’t associated with a circus or the movies, then life would have been very bleak. As slow-moving as “Freaks” was, I’m so happy it was about an hour long. The movie was over around 11:30. I nearly turned into a pumpkin.