If you're a movie fan of a particular geographical sort, you may still be fortunate enough to have a drive-in theater nearby. Living in a small town in rural Florida, I'm equally surprised and thankful that my local drive-in is still in business. Going into a nice multiplex to catch a summer blockbuster is all well and good, but it can feel a little... sanitized. Meanwhile, pulling into a local drive-in off the side of a country highway just brings a completely different feeling along with it. Cars line up before the screen smack dab in the outdoors, sometimes with the treeline creating a natural auditorium, not so far removed from public theaters of antiquity. Maybe the place has loose lighting, maybe the concessions make you wonder about your risk of a gastric incident, and maybe the movies being projected aren't the same ones you'd find at AMC or Regal. So many drive-ins across the nation are off-center, communal, and unique. They may not have the glimmer of big-time theaters, but they emanate a feeling of home for so many of us.
Sadly, the concept of the drive-in, and even communal cinema in general, is losing steam. In our age of DRM-free downloads and streaming platforms, the idea of kicking back in one's vehicle, a speaker in the window, to enjoy a cult film, is fading fast. Lovers of the drive-ins, cult films, and the community they garner refuse to go quietly though. Social media has made it easier than ever to connect with people that would love nothing more than to debate with you about Dario Argento's best Giallo film or deduce exactly what the hell is going on throughout the Phantasm series. Most fortunately of all, those of us who revel in the lights of the drive-in still have a champion: one Joe Bob Briggs. Writer, film critic, comedian, and horror and exploitation host extraordinaire.
Briggs is the charismatic persona of one John Bloom, which emerged while the Dallas-born (and Arkansas raised) writer was working as a film reviewer at the Dallas Times Herald. Bringing a blue-collar and unmistakably Texan twist to his reviews of exploitation and genre film, Briggs' personality in his pieces was infectious and endearing. This led to Briggs bringing his persona on the road during stage shows, landing him a gig for The Movie Channel's Drive-In Theater. It wasn't long before Briggs' reception made the show his own, and it was subsequently named Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater.
Espousing the sordid beauty of drive-in movies and making a few jokes about highbrow movie reviewers and elaborate publications' views towards B-movies along the way. Like many horror and exploitation hosts, Briggs spent time in interim segments of the films regaling audiences with fun trivia about the film's production and conducting interviews with guests. With a fastened bolo tie and a bottle of Lone Star in hand, Briggs graded the film of the evening by the standard of his Drive-In Totals: A running count of deaths, nudity, and kill methods (chainsaw fu, flamethrower fu, and many, many more). All the while, Joe Bob recanted wild stories (some real, some likely imagined) of abandon, but had plenty of moments of sincerity and genuine wisdom for watchers all the same.
Briggs' time at TMC would come to an end, and he'd be picked up by TNT shortly thereafter, stepping in to host horror movie marathons on Monstervision after Penn & Teller's guest-hosting duties had ended. Briggs became the veritable face of Monstervision, appearing often during the horror marathon's segment breaks, much more so than he even did back at TMC. For four delightful years, Briggs headed a party for professed drive-in mutants every Friday night at 11:00pm EST along with his trailer park mail girls including Honey (Honey Gregory) and Rusty (Sharon Vincent), who brought fan mail to Briggs during break segments and sharde the voice of fans worldwide. Monstervision's original run with Briggs would run until 2000, where Briggs seemingly unknowingly hosted his last episode of Monstervision during a viewing of Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992). After various format changes over the show's four-year tenure with Briggs, TNT pulled the plug on Monstervision. The details on the show's cancellation wouldn't be divulged for some time, though interviews from Mondo Video with Briggs and Honey the Mail Girl certainly helped. Things went quiet for quite a while, but Briggs stayed active in his writing (National Lampoon, Playboy, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice) and TV appearances, including a segment on The Daily Show known as "God Stuff," bringing his brand of parody to the more... eccentric facets of organized religion, something he was (and still is) quite fond of.
No matter what set watchers found Briggs occupying, he always had an interesting story to tell. His magnetic charisma brought watchers in to sit with him on the level, not as a critic speaking down to the general audience, but as a fellow lover of off-color movies speaking to his counterparts. The Academy Award-winners and arthouse films? Those were indoor bullstuff to drive-in mutants. Wherever Briggs went, his fanbase would surely follow. Time and time again fans came back to wherever they could find Briggs' content, written or recorded, for another helping of relatable comedy laced with cult film knowledge and an intimate knowledge of the beaten paths of America. Doing so got difficult there for a stretch of years, but then the folks at the streaming platform Shudder made a particularly wise business decision.
Shudder, ironically an AMC subsidiary, signed Briggs on for a 13-film horror marathon titled The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs. Originally intended as a final send-off to Briggs and his time as a horror host, the marathon's reception caused a pretty quick change of plans. Shudder had been testing its live-streaming features on the platform, and what better way to do so than with a beloved horror host running a mega-sized marathon? With Joe Bob alongside new co-host Darcy the Mail Girl (Diana Prince) and the unforgettable Ernie the Drive-In Dragon (a bearded dragon with a penchant for cowboy hats), incoming traffic hit Shudder's live-streaming servers so hard that the platform's servers crashed temporarily. Even with its technical hiccups, the marathon was an absolute hit, and many fans even sent in mail or social media mentions during the marathon begging Shudder to keep Joe Bob on as a permanent fixture on the platform.
Who was Shudder to refuse? Joe Bob, Darcy, and everyone in between would return for two holiday specials: Dinners of Death for Thanksgiving and A Very Joe Bob Xmas for Christmas. Dinners of Death featured The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), the "greatest movie ever made," according to Briggs, as well as the likes of Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes alongside special guest Michael Berryman. The subsequent Christmas special would be a marathon centered entirely on the mind-bending Phantasm series with Reggie and Gigi Bannister. Servers may not have crashed with these specials, but reception was once again lights-out, and Shudder angled to give the drive-in mutants more of what they wanted. The Last Drive-In became an ongoing weekly series with seasonal marathons held throughout the year. With Joe Bob's Heartbreak Trailer Park in the rearview mirror for Valentine's Day, the next big day on any drive-in mutant's calendar is likely April 29, when The Last Drive-In's fourth season is gearing to kick off. In-between seasons and specials, Briggs and Darcy are still doing a huge amount of traveling. Appearing at horror conventions and hosting film fests country-wide, the dedication of The Last Drive-In's cast and crew has ensured that cult horror and exploitation movie fans still have a place to congregate outside the confines of social media.
In 2022, the odds of most TV watchers flipping the power on and witnessing a movie marathon hosted by a flesh and blood person are pretty slim. The days of the movie marathon host, and sadly the horror host, have just about all but evaporated. Briggs himself has even labeled himself as "the last of a dying breed," but his enduring popularity shows us that there's still plenty of enjoyment to be had from the format.
Social media has become an excellent tool to support it in particular, with mutants chiming in on all sorts of social media platforms to discuss the current movie, send in "Stump Joe Bob" trivia questions, and chat with Darcy about her latest cosplay. This has afforded a level of interaction that fans couldn't have quite had during the days of Monstervision or Joe Bob's Drive-In. Film watching has often become a solo activity in the age of Netflix and HBO Max, but shows like The Last Drive-In show us that communal watching and discussion still has a thriving home. Broadcasted live before being uploaded for later viewing, plenty of watchers still jump over to Shudder's live-streaming service to hear that memorable theme song by John Brennan and the Bigfeet and dive into a new episode of The Last Drive-In. Much like many of us did during Monstervision, we set ourselves down in front of our screens for a heartfelt and engaging commentary from Joe Bob Briggs, Darcy, the guests, and the rest of the cast and crew. And of course, Ernie always shows up dressed to impress.
Even as the number of physical drive-ins dwindles over time, the number of drive-in mutants has stood strong. Decades after Briggs' writing and hosting career began, mutants everywhere are still partying like jungle animals and boogying 'til we puke, because the drive-in will never truly die.