Search - American Drive-In on DVD

Unsexy, unfunny sex comedy

John Hartzell | Oak Park, IL | 03/03/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This originally straight-to-VHS cowpie is a lamer-than-usual entry in the softcore sex comedy sweepstakes. It stars no one and has little reason to exist. It was produced and directed by Krishna Shah, with Shashi Patel as the Executive Producer. Clearly, these are a couple of Indian guys who tried to make a fast buck off us stupid Americans (can you blame them?) by slapping together a cheap piece of crap and putting it in a video box accentuating its (minimal) sexual content. This alone would not necessarily invalidate the film. Unfortunately, it would appear that these guys got all of their information about life in the U.S. by watching teenage sex comedies and added not one whit to the old formula. A young couple in a van visit the tiny City Limits Drive-In, where they are harassed by slick-haired, leather jacket-wearing toughs. The stereotype-ridden cast of characters includes lots of stupid old people, a prostitute who boffs guys in her trailer, two gay cowpokes, and fat people who eat like pigs in fast motion and disgusting close-ups. There are buttloads of pointless shenanigans, such as a guy hooking up the drive-in speakers to play the sound of a couple making out. Hardy-har-har. The film showing at the drive-in is Hard Rock Zombies, an actual movie that was also produced and directed by Krishna Shah (man, has this clown distinguished himself). It's about a bunch of dead heavy metal guys that come back to life and eat people and do a bunch of other stupid stuff. People attending the drive-in are constantly referring to the movie and repeating dialog from it. A midget who actually appeared in Hard Rock Zombies sits in his car and comments on how good he is in the movie. There's some occasional nudity and very lightweight sex. In one scene, a girl sitting on top of a guy is topless, but is clearly wearing [intimate wear] while supposedly having intercourse. An incredibly tasteless and criminally unfunny continuing bit has a guy trying in vain to get his girlfriend to give him a hummer. (...) The film gets its one and only star for its setting, the tiny drive-in that is the best part of the movie. Drive-in fans like myself have little enough reason to check this stupid thing out. Normal people should avoid it entirely.
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This Is Why We Need Drive-Ins To Come Back!

Stanley Runk | Camp North Pines | 05/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Hard Rock Zombies is playing at the local drive-in, and an assorted cast of characters are all there to watch it one evening. There are too many oddball characters to go through, but some highlights are a film snob who continuously refuses his date's advances to critique the film, a nerd who has seen the film numerous times and shouts out the dialogue, a guy trying to get his girlfriend to go down on him, two little old ladies, a prostitute operating out of her trailer, mischievous children, a drunk projectionist, and a guy trying to make a drug bust to become mayor. Horror fans will recognize Phil Fondacaro starring as one of the stars of Hard Rock Zombies(which he is) who comes to the drive-in to watch and praise his performance in the film.
Most of the film shows these characters engaged in a bunch of pranks and shenanigans, but a plot unfolds as Jack and his girlfriend Bobby Ann are continuously harassed-and later assaulted-by a gang of four thugs. Numerous attempted rapes and beatings by these thugs kinda offset the comedy aspect.
I'm obviously in the minority here, but I really enjoyed this movie. Even with all it's cliched characters and situations, and it's juvenile attempts at humor, I found myself not so much laughing out loud(which I did do though a time or two), but pleasantly grinning often.
Makes me wanna watch Hard Rock Zombies again, and I never thought I'd say that!"