Notes from The Last Drive-In: S1E2
Welcome again, Drive-In Mutants, to the second week of Drive-In recaps we call “Notes from The Last Drive-In.” As before, we’re covering each double-feature that makes up an episode of Shudder‘s original series The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs. We cover some of Joe Bob’s observations, the films themselves, and then provide the Haunted MTL review for each movie.
So, let’s go!
Q (The Winged Serpent) (1982)
We can’t start the recap without noting the memorial to Larry Cohen (July 15, 1936 – March 23, 2019) at the start of the episode. Larry Cohen was a huge figure in independent horror and many of his films are bound to make for great future episodes of The Last Drive-In. Cohen was a brilliant writer, director, and producer and the world of horror has really lost a great icon. Joe Bob has a great deal to say about Larry Cohen throughout the episode.
In Joe Bob’s words, Q, also known as Q – The Winged Serpent, is “the best movie in history about a flying-type lizard.” This film, directed by Larry Cohen, is a strong 4 star drive-in film. Among some of the notable elements Joe Bob talks about during the breaks are the network of old school, tough guy actors Larry Cohen worked with, including Michael Moriarty. We were also regaled with stories of Cohen’s existing friendship with David Carradine (R.I.P.) back in the army as entertainers. Most importantly, however, we learn that Larry Cohen gave no fucks, such as actually firing automatic weapons off the Chrysler Building during the shoot for Q, and even flying a goddamn helicopter between the World Trade Center towers.
Q, released in 1982, is a fantasy horror film about New York City under siege from a deadly, winged lizard that hunts for humans during the day. The film stars Michael Moriarty, David Carradine, and Richard Roundtree. Moriarty is particularly fantastic in the film, and the scene where he extorts the city for the location of Q’s nest is a magnetic performance. It is also unique to have a horror film that takes place near entirely in daylight.
As for the Haunted MTL rating, Q is a 4 star film, hands down. The film is great in its own right with many amazing moments and a certain streak of self-awareness that can be found in a number of Cohen’s films. It is not perfect, after all, few movies are. The ritual sacrifice subplot, for example, is laughably bad and has little impact on the overall film beyond a small twist for the ending. Jimmy Quinn’s piano scene is also just strange. What makes Q such a great movie are the little things, such as Shelly Desai as the cult figure who just sort of pops up at the end. You may recognize him as Charlie’s landlord in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Plus… there is a chase scene with a cop dressed as a mime.
Best line: “New York is famous for good eating.”
Society (1989)
There is just something to the idea of the rich eating the poor as a genesis to a good horror film, isn’t there? Joe Bob points out a number of films with this theme, but this one is the only one on that list the depicts “shunting.” Not aware of what shunting is? You will by the end of Society. Society is another 4 star drive-in entry according to Joe Bob, and he has a lot to say about the film, orgies, and director Brian Yuzna. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this episode may not be a particular factoid from the film, but rather that Joe Bob is possibly a third wave feminist, or that Darcy has seen some really fucked up stuff in some L.A. orgies. Don’t worry, though, there is still a lot of fantastic info to be learned, such as how Brian Yuzna and Stuart Gordon were set to work on Disney’s Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Yep. This was a weird episode.
Society is a 1989 film about a Beverly Hills teenager who makes a horrifying discovery about his family and the social class he is part of. This body horror film features astounding special effects work by legendary artist Screaming Mad George. The film features Billy Warlock, Devin DeVasquez, Evan Richards, and Ben Meyerson. It also features what seems to be about 50 gallons of lubricant for the shunting. This was the first movie directed Brian Yuzna who until this point what best known as a producer.
As for the Haunted MTL rating, Society is good, very good, and we rate it 3.5 stars. The shunting scene is worth the price of admission alone, as is the “tactical fisting” scene. The only issue with society is that there is a lot of plot to get to the main point of the film – the pile of flesh that is the Beverly Hills elite. Some elements of the film are just sort of there and are unexplained, such as Clarrissa’s mom. Still, these are minor quibbles. Any film that features the protagonist pulling someone’s head through their own asshole (we think, it might also have been through his dick) is an automatic drive-in legend.
Best Line: “Paranoid? I’m not paranoid, all my fears are real.” I mean, we’re fudging this a bit. The best line is “First we dine, then copulation,” but Joe Bob already claimed it.
Haunted MTL’s Drive-In Totals
Like last week, we’ve tracked some of our own totals we think you might appreciate:
- 1 Red, white, and blue shirt with bolo tie
- 1 Darcy cosplay (hello, Clarissa)
- 1 fallen sex doll
- 1 Catholic joke
- 1 Medieval joke
- 1 Shelly Desai-ting
- Gratuitous L.A. orgy questions
- Gratuitous claymation cops
- Knocking magnets off the trailer’s fridge fu
- Darcy stalking Clint Howard fu
The Drive-In will never die…
As always, please share your thoughts with us about The Last Drive-In. Also, please check out our other great content here at Haunted MTL.
Let’s close out with Michael Moriarty to serenade us, shall we?
Episode two of Amazon Prime’s Fallout was equal parts funny and bloody. This almost always leads to a good time.
The story
We begin this episode with the birth of some puppies that look like they’ve had a rough start to life. Each one is weighed, with the ones who fall short being incinerated.
One pup who is just below the correct weight gets a bit of a thumb on their scale. The scientist weighing them, Wilzig, writes down the proper weight. He later takes the puppy home to raise instead of putting them into what looks like an unforgiving training program.
Eventually, we see Wilzig put some blue glowing thing into his neck. When a soldier comes for him, Dog attacks the soldier, and the two escape.
We go from there to the wilderness, where Lucy is recovering from the last episode and enjoying a campfire at night. Wilzig and Dog come out of the shadows, saving Lucy from a bug monster. Wilzig tells Lucy she should go home. And if she’s not going to go home, she needs to evolve.
The next day Lucy finds her way to a town called Filly. As a Pennsylvanian, it hurts me to spell it that way. Lucy is entranced by this town, though clearly put off by the fact that no one is very nice here.
She eventually finds her way to a shop run by a delightful woman named Ma June. Ma doesn’t seem particularly interested in helping Lucy. Or, frankly, having Lucy in her shop.
Or in her town.
Eventually, Wilzig is tracked to this same shop, being tracked by The Ghoul. This is our final primary character. Lucy defends Wilzig, being aided at the last moment by Maximus.
Maximus, by the way, has been having a terrible time. After finally becoming a squire he’s disappointed to find that his knight, Knight Titus, is a terrible person.
Fortunately, Maximus doesn’t have to put up with Titus for long. After Titus gets the bright idea to go hunting, he’s attacked by a mutated bear. Maximus freezes, unable to save him. Then, well, he decides not to save him.
It was Titus’s idea to go hunt the bear, after all.
What worked
The first thing I want to draw attention to is the shootout scene at Filly. This scene checked every box a fight scene should check. It was fun to watch, with great effects. But it also gave us insight into the characters. Lucy is a decent fighter and has a strong moral compass. The Ghoul is callus and desensitized to death. And Maximus continues to be, well, sort of bad at this whole fighting thing. But with enough moral fortitude that we have a hard time blaming him.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the dog. Who’s name, as far as I’ve been able to ascertain, is just Dog. Which is fine. He doesn’t need to have a name to be a very good boy. He’s sweet, loyal, and fearless.
Also, puppies. Puppies are always great.
Finally, I’d like to shine a spotlight on Lucy’s reaction to the world at large. She is both amazed and terrified by everything. And while she certainly doesn’t want to be rude, she also doesn’t want to be taken advantage of. The best example of this is when she stops to ask for directions with a bright smile and a gun.
Once again, I don’t have anything bad to say about this episode. It was funny, dark, and fun to watch. I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the season.
(4 / 5)
Launching with worldwide excitement, Fallout is based on the extremely popular game series of the same name. Fans of the series have waited with anticipation and trepidation to see if the Prime series would live up to the game.
Having now watched the first episode I can say that, so far, it’s successful.
The story
Our story begins with a children’s birthday party. A performer is there with his daughter, giving horse rides and taking pictures with the kids.
As much as the adults try to focus on the party and the kids, it’s impossible to ignore the looming threat of war that’s on everyone’s mind.
Of course, it’s during this party that war comes, and the bombs drop.
We then cut to after the war and into one of the vaults established to protect humankind and the American Way. For future reference, this is Vault 33. We meet Lucy, our first main character, who’s petitioning to be married to a man from Vault 32 to ensure DNA diversity.
On the wedding night, though, Lucy and the rest of Vault 33 are met with a horrible surprise. The group they let in is not in fact from Vault 32, but is instead a team of raiders from the surface. The raiders kill a lot of the vault dwellers and kidnap Lucy’s father.
We are then introduced to our second main character, Maximus. He is in training to become a Knight in the Brotherhood of Steel. And, well, he’s not doing great.
Things get worse when his best friend Dane becomes a squire before him. But when Dane is hurt, Maximus gets their spot.
We then go back to Lucy, who has decided to leave the vault and find her dad. Of course, the council of her vault doesn’t want her to go. So she is aided by her brother Norm and cousin Chet in a wild escape.
What worked
The first thing that deserves attention is the exceptional character work. Our three main characters are fleshed out and relatable right away. We feel sympathetic for The Ghoul before he’s even introduced as such. We love Lucy’s nativity and selflessness. And we love Maximus for his honesty and passion for his cause.
While these characters are their own people, they also exhibit the three responses we might expect to see in a post-apocalyptic world. We have the hopeful optimist who doesn’t understand how bad things are. We have the aspiring hero who wants to make the world better by force. And we have the self-serving individual who’s given up on the rest of humanity and is only focused on surviving.
Another thing I enjoyed about this episode was the balance of humor and gore. Because there was certainly enough blood and guts for even the most hardcore horror lover. We had a violent sabotage, a brawl with raiders, and even several nuclear bombs.
But there were a lot of funny moments as well. Usually from Lucy. Her overall goodwill and fearless gumption are absolutely hilarious, especially given the horrors she’s facing. It never ceases to amuse me.
Both of these aspects are done perfectly. The jokes land and the bloody scenes pull no punches. It was delightful.
All in all, this was an exciting start to a much-anticipated series. Here’s hoping they’re able to stick the landing.
For more tv shows based on video games, check out my review of Witcher.
(4 / 5)
Episode seven of American Horror Story Delicate was a classic AHS flashback episode. If you were excited to see what Preecher had to say to Anna at the end of the last episode, I’m sorry to say that you will not get that satisfaction. However, we did learn all sorts of other fascinating things about the strange coven hunting Anna. And, we learned all sorts of things we didn’t know about Dex’s first wife, Adeline.
The story
We begin our story with a woman giving birth alone in a barn. When it becomes clear that she’s not going to be able to deliver vaginally, she pulls out a knife and cuts her stomach open to pull out her children.
For whatever reason, this is when the coven of witches decides to make themselves known.
We then cut to 2013, when Dex was still married to Adeline. In true Dex fashion, he’s surprised her with a puppy.
While that sounds great in theory, dogs are something a couple should talk about, not gift each other with as a surprise. An adult would know that. A trust fund boy like Dex does not.
Adeline owns a vegan restaurant called Ave Hestia. Love that name. She seems to be living a great life. She has a career she’s passionate about, friends who love her, and a husband she seems kind of fond of.
Maybe that’s why she didn’t want a puppy. She already had one.
Of course, things aren’t as good as they appear. We soon find out that Adeline was one of those babies we saw at the start of the episode. The other baby was Sonia, the painter.
And yes, both of these characters are played by Annabelle Dexter-Jones.
Adeline has stepped away from their family, and whatever dark things they do. But the family isn’t happy with her decision. And if she isn’t going to come back willingly, they’re going to make her.
What worked
To start with, I loved the character, Adeline. She is fierce, she is fearless, and relentless. I feel like this would have been a far different story if Adeline had been our main character. It was astounding to see her interact with the same people Anna has, and get a completely different response. It’s clear now, how much everyone around Anna resents her for simply not being Adeline.
I also appreciated that there was just a shocking amount of blood in this episode. From the start when Adeline and Sonia are born, to the climactic end of Adeline, this episode is just drenched in blood.
Finally, I’m fascinated by the changes in this season from the book it’s based on. Because absolutely none of this was in the book. Compared to this, the book is heartwarming.
The book is kind of heartwarming even without the comparison.
But I love the fact that, even with just two episodes left in the season, I have no idea what’s going to happen. I do not know what Anna is carrying. I do not know if she’s going to survive this. I do not know what these people want with her.
But I can’t wait to find out.
What didn’t work
All that being said, it is a bit frustrating to have no forward momentum in this episode. This was all backstory, and it felt like there wasn’t enough backstory to fill a full forty minutes. Because of that, it dragged. There were a lot of scenes that just didn’t need to be as long as they were. It felt like they could have cut that down considerably, and had some time to check in with our main characters at either the start or the end of the episode.
There are only two episodes left in the season, and I can honestly say I have no idea what’s going to happen. But so far the story has been dark, bloody, and provocative. So I hope they can manage to end it on a high note.
(4 / 5)
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